Sting, a dashing septuagenarian, rocks the Nîmes Arena at 100 miles an hour...

The former Police frontman returns to the Nîmes Festival this Monday. In great form.

First, there's a little guy who's not so little anymore. His name is Joe Sumner, well into his forties, and he delivers a 35-minute opening set, alone with his Fender guitar, a pop-rock sound, and silver shoes. Joe has class. The arena audience applauds. They get the feeling this guy is no stranger to them, but let's move on. We'll see later.

An angel passes by during intermission. And then Sting appears on stage. A young man! Wearing a bright yellow jacket over a striped T-shirt, with a big bass guitar in his hands, the former Police frontman, now a spry 70, kicks off the evening with a bang! With hits, of course. "Message in a Bottle" by the Police is thrown into the sea of people. Followed by "Englishman in New York," which everyone agrees on. We take a look at the Brit's entourage. There are eight of them on stage. Two guitars, a keyboard, two backing vocals, a drummer, a wonderful harmonica player... Plus Sting, a powerful bassist.

After "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," Sting embarks on a series of his own songs. Recent ones, like "Rushing Water," with its very rock chorus (2021), or older ones like "Seven Days" (1993) and especially "Fields of Gold," a marvelous ballad that rocks arenas. Or Shape of my heart, an opportunity to hear the voice of backing singer Gene Noble soar in a duet with Sting.

And then everything comes together. Walking on the moon, So lonely and King of pain, where Joe, the opening act, reappears, still wearing silver shoes. When it's time to introduce the musicians, Sting lets it out. "Joe Sumner, my son!" In fact, we kind of suspected it! Joe forms a heart with his hands. On Every breath you take, then Roxanne and Fragile, as an encore, the heart of the arena beats at a hundred miles an hour.

(c) Midi Libre by Adrien Boudet

Sting has a blast with his family...

With Sting, concerts are all about family. Accompanied by his eldest son, Joe Sumner, as the opening act, as well as another of his sons, a guitarist, the English star generously shared his repertoire with a fervent audience at the Arènes on Monday, July 4, 2022.

Joe Sumner is no stranger to opening, but he almost tiptoes in as the opening act for his intimidating father, Sting. After warming up the Nîmes crowd for about an hour, it was the turn of the former Police singer, whose solo career is punctuated by international hits. And the English artist reels them off to the great delight of the Arenas, who recognize each hit from the first chords: Englishman in New York, Message in a Bottle, Every breathe you Take, Shape of my Heart, Redlight, Desert Rose, Roxanne... Between two sentences introducing his musicians and backing singers, Sting even launches into a few successful covers of Steevy Wonder or Bob Marley. Disappointment is briefly visible on some faces when the singer leaves after only two encores. But we can bet that this Arena regular will be back.

(c) ObjectifGard by Pierre Havez