Sting gets back to his roots with latest band; North American tour opens in Detroit – The Oakland Press

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Sting began his recording career with a trio — a rather famous one at that.

This year, The Police man is back with a different three-man band, for one basic reason.

“My inclination is always to try and surprise people in the songs I write or in the format I present the song,” he explains via Zoom from New York. “I don’t think anyone was expecting a trio.

“I’ve worked with these big seven, eight-piece bands, and it’s a bit like driving a Bentley. It kind of drives itself and it’s comfortable. So I decided I would put myself out of my comfort zone in order to get something on the back end that wasn’t guaranteed — a risk if you like.”

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So 40 years after The Police stopped working actively, Sting marshaled longtime guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas for shows that began earlier this year in Europe and begins a North American run this week at the Fillmore Detroit. The set list boasts plenty of hits and favorites from The Police and Sting's subsequent 15-album solo career — plus the brand new song "I Wrote Your Name" — but they're approached differently than in his previous band configurations.

"There's a space that you have been instruments," explains Sting, 72, "the clarity, the mutual listening between the members of the band, the risk factor, stripping the songs down to their basic essence and having them work. You take all the fat away, but the basic structure of the song is very satisfying.

"We've had a blast. There's no let-up here. You can't cruise. You have to be right on the money the whole time. But the songs are holding up. The singer's holding up.'"

And, Sting acknowledges, that wasn't a given, either.

"I was kind of anxious all the way up to the first gig," he says. "And then halfway through that first gig, I realized this is exactly what I want to do. I'm enjoying the challenge."

He's also "glad we're starting the tour in Detroit. It's such a seminal location for rock 'n' roll, for Motown, for MC5. … All that history is not lost on me. So beginning the tour there, particularly with this (trio) format, seems to be correct."

Another trio is also a surprise because of the legend of trauma and dysfunction that was supposedly part and parcel of The Police. "There might be some therapy about it," Sting quips, but he's quick to portray that as more legend than fact.

"We all got on — and get on," maintains the father of six and grandfather of eight. "We'd fight about justifiable things, but at the end of the day, we made good records."

Sting has more music-making in mind now. "I Wrote Your Name," whose energy and raspy vocal — the latter from "being in the middle of a tour and being fatigued — recalls the early releases by The Police. “It’s a surprising record from me — very, very basic, like maybe four and a half chords," Sting notes.

And, he adds: "I'd like to make (an album) with this trio. I've got the bare bones of a few things. Playing every night, it's still very experimental, so a lot of things are happening that weren't planned and that's the territory I will draw from to make a new album. It's very exciting."

Sting celebrated a belated 40th anniversary of The Police's final album, "Synchronicity," with a boxed set earlier this year, though he's given no thought yet to commemorating a similar mark for his first solo album, 1985's "The Dream of the Blue Turtles." Besides the possible new album, he's also focused on the continuing life of "The Last Ship," his Tony Award-nominated stage musical inspired by the shipbuilding industry in and around his home town of Wailsend, England. It opened 10 years ago in Chicago and then moved to Broadway and has since played in various locations around the world, with European performances slated for next year.

"We're currently writing a new iteration," Sting (born Gordon Sumner) says. "I would say it's not a work that's ever going to be finished. It's always in process. Songs are taken out. New songs are put in their place. Characters leave. New characters take their place. It's a fascinating, organic process which I'm completely into.

"I'm very passionate about it because it's such a personal story for me, about my community, about people I was brought up with. So I don't think I’ll ever finish it."

Sting and Elew perform Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 17-18, at the Fillmore Detroit, 2115 Woodward Ave. Doors at 7 p.m. Tickets are sold out. 313-961-5451 or thefillmoredetroit.com.

Originally Published: September 13, 2024 at 1:23 p.m.

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