Suffering flu, Sting doesn’t fly at The Joint

Spencer Patterson

Monday, Feb. 23, 2004 | 8:29 a.m.

I hate to kick an artist when he's down, but I have to question whether Sting really should have rescheduled his Las Vegas stopover for Friday night.

Originally slated for Feb. 15, Sting's concert at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel was postponed after the 52-year-old Brit came down with flu-like symptoms.

But while shows in San Diego, Phoenix and Oakland, Calif., were simply canceled, the Vegas gig was put back on the calendar, just three days after the axed Oakland date.

Clearly, that wasn't enough time for the man to get well.

Throughout the two-hour performance, Sting's vocals were placed far too low in the mix, and he demonstrated a general reluctance to fully unleash his famous high voice. It was as if Sting and his sound engineers did all they could to hide the fact that he wasn't in top physical form.

Further evidence of his lingering malady came late in the show, as Sting and his eight-piece band prepared to play Police classic "Roxanne."

"My manager asked me if I wanted to do (Las Vegas), and I said I wanted to," Sting explained to the crowd. "He said, 'OK, but you can't do that song, the one where you go up really high. He said if you're going to do that one you're in trouble."

Sting then asked the crowd of around 1,500 to help him sing "Roxanne." It sounded like a joke, but sadly, it wasn't. Sting mouthed the words to at least half the lyrics, while the audience filled in the gaps.

Much as fans seemed to be enjoying themselves, I had to wonder if they could have had the same experience at a karaoke bar and saved the $150 to $500 they spent for tickets.

Of course, even if Sting had been in peak condition, I'm fairly sure I wouldn't have enjoyed the show. Much as many like to think of him as a groundbreaking musician, the reality is that the man who fronted the Police in the late 1970s and early '80s is gone.

He's been replaced by a songwriter with an inclination toward smooth jazz and lifeless adult contemporary stylings. Fine, I suppose, if that's your idea of inspired music, but it's depressing when you consider the edgy stuff Sting was once capable of creating.

Apparently, advanced age has also stripped Sting of his ability to craft a decent set list. All night, he jerked his fans in and out of their seats by alternating between upbeat rockers (mostly Police tunes) and slow, quiet fare (mostly solo work), which made it difficult to maintain any sort of momentum.

I know this is Sting's "Sacred Love Tour," but was it really necessary for the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and 16-time Grammy award winner to play nine of the 10 songs from his latest album, as if he were an up-and-comer hawking his debut record?

When Sting did delve into his past, the results were usually impressive: jazzy takes on "Walking on the Moon" and "Englishman in New York" with Sting on stand-up bass, poignant versions of "Fragile" and "Fields of Gold" (which would have been even better if Sting's voice had been fully audible) and fully rocked-out renditions of the Police's "Hole in My Life" and "Synchronicity II."

Otherwise, the show worked best as a sleep inducer, even for those of us who weren't on cold medication.