Gig Adventure: Sting in Glasgow.

[Kandinskyesque]

I think this will have been my 6th or 7th Sting/The Police gig last night.
I forked out on 'VIP' tickets this time because it was an outdoor gig and wanted a decent view.
I've not been to an outdoor gig since The Boss in 2013, and I can't say that I'm a fan of roofless and seatless gigs but I wasn't going to miss one of my top 3 musical acts.

The Mrs and I had planned an afternoon in Glasgow pre-gig but family life scuppered that. Instead, we had the mad dash down to the West End of Glasgow at 6.30pm, through the rush hour traffic to my usual parking spot next to the underground train station to catch the tube over to the south of the city which would then involve a mile walk to the venue.
Instead, Mrs K suggested an Uber from where we'd parked to the venue; I've never been in an Uber before so that was a first for me.

By the time we arrived at the venue, we'd missed the support act; Alison Moyet, I was disappointed; I've seen her live a few times and her voice is fantastic.

Just to add to the adversity, the fates decided to have us bump into my brother and his wife, both drunk as skunks and very boisterous but poetic I suppose since my brother's first gig was when aged 11 I took him to see Sting in 1986.

Sting open with "Message in a Bottle" a really big and rich sound for a three-piece band (Dominic Miller guitar; Chris Mass drums). It only goes to show the musicianship of leaving space for each other to play creates a bigger sound than layers and layers of instruments in a live setting.
However, Dominic Miller's two Mesa Boogie Lonestars with extra 2x12" cabs might go some way in creating a huge guitar tone despite his minimalist playing at times.

The band ran a 2-hour set which felt half as long.

cont/...

 

[Kandinskyesque]

cont/...
Followed by a half hour encore with them finishing with "Fragile" to chill the mood at the end with Sting playing his Guild Paloma (which has reignited my GAS)

Mrs K only had a couple of beers, in sharp contrast to our companions, however, at nearly 13 years sober and as somebody who used to go overboard at gigs with alcohol, I will have to admit that one of the great gifts of being sober is enjoying the finer details of a performance at live events.

After the gig we walked to the tube station, only to find the tube workers are on strike so opted for a walk to the car on the other side of the River Clyde. We passed the area where (as an Irish immigrant kid) my faither grew up in the 40s/50s, in the notorious "Wine Alley" which is long gone and just industrial units.

We also got the opportunity to cross the new footbridge over the river on our 5-mile trek back to the car.
Then a drive to my daughter's place to drop Mrs K off because she is watching the grandkids today before taking the 35-mile drive home and in bed for 2.30am.

A great day and despite my medical condition I'm feeling rather fresh albeit with sore legs from the 5 mile walk.
I'll bet fresh is not the word that would describe how my brother and his wife are feeling today

 

[robt57]

Thanks for that share. Brought me back to our 9/23 Scotland vaca.

 

[runstendt]

Sounds like it was a great time.

 

[Toto'sDad]

Great story all around! Glad you made it okay, and your wife too! Five miles is a good little hike!

 

[Stubee]

What a superb review of a great day!

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Wow, sounds like a great time.

I watched his red rocks set from a month or so back.

My buddy and his girlfriend happened to be there very close to the front 11th row or something?

Uh…Sting needed a harmony singer/unison/background vox/somebody else back there.

There I said it.

Der Stingle doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting on his own !

(Love Dominic too !)

 

[buster poser]

Great story and pics, thanks for sharing. You and your better half look great. So do you and your sib, hope he and his are not too hungover. I've surely been there.

I have remained a big fan of most of his work since, but saw Sting just once with his former trio, memorable as my first show where the folks didn't accompany me, just dropped me and a friend off and picked us up after. I was 11 years old (!):

The Police Setlist at Reunion Arena, Dallas

Get the The Police Setlist of the concert at Reunion Arena, Dallas, TX, USA on March 23, 1982 from the Ghost in the Machine Tour and other The Police Setlists for free on setlist.fm!

www.setlist.fm

Aside: I saw Dream of the Blue Turtles turned 40 a week or so ago. What a record.

 

[stxrus]

I really enjoy your adventures. I doubt I’ll ever get there but Scotland is such a beautiful country and I can visit through your stories

 

[Kandinskyesque]

Uh…Sting needed a harmony singer/unison/background vox/somebody else back there.

There I said it.

I noticed a harmoniser on Dominic Miller's backing vocals during one song.
Probably the same with Sting I suppose; there has been plugins and machines around for 15 years now.

I've used one myself, set very low as a doubler or octave below, even used the harmoniser part (low setting) when doing backing vocals.

At least he wasn't using autotune

 

[Flyboy]

I noticed a harmoniser on Dominic Miller's backing vocals during one song.
Probably the same with Sting I suppose; there has been plugins and machines around for 15 years now.

I've used one myself, set very low as a doubler or octave below, even used the harmoniser part (low setting) when doing backing vocals.

At least he wasn't using autotune

Harmonisers....man, I have a tale to tell about these things.

Back in the mid-95's I was 'between engagements', as one would say, and took a job working for an MI shop called Sound Control. The big thing I remember back then was older guys using 'arranger' keyboards that took MIDI-file floppies, on which sat popular song backing tracks. Then came out the MIDI-file player (see attached) !! Suddenly, every would-be workingmen's club Sinatra came out of the woodwork, thinking they'd be able to get a one-man gig and rake in the sponds. Then, these same guys discovered harmonisers!! But what they failed to realise was that a harmoniser was shyte in, shyte out unit, meaning that if you didn't have a voice that could hold a note, the harmoniser would augment the warbling and off-key notes!!

I was in the shop one Monday when one of these warblers came stomping into the shop, wanting to return his (digitec) harmoniser that he'd bought the previous week. 'This thing' shyte!! Ah've never been so embarrassed in ma life!! People were laughing at me!!' We could only accept returns on faulty equipment back then, but this guy raised such a ruckus that we decided to refund him, just to get him out of the shop. He wasn't the only one, by the way. I'd have loved to have been at that gig to watch the audio disaster unfold.

Glad you enjoyed the gig.