Sting‘s new trio featuring guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas made their North American debut on Tuesday at the Fillmore in Detroit. See a complete set list and fan-shot video below.
The format clearly informed Sting’s song selection, which leaned heavily into the Police catalog. Half of the 20 songs in the set list were originally released with his former band.
In previous shows, Sting also dug more deeply into his storied past: He originally launched the Sting 3.0 tour back in May at Dresden, Germany, with “Voices Inside My Head,” a song from Zenyatta Mondatta last played in 2006. The Police’s “Synchronicity II” had been absent from set lists since 2018.
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Tuesday’s Fillmore Detroit show kicked off a series of two-day stands, with similar stops in Toronto (Sept. 20-21), Philadelphia (Sept. 30-Oct. 1), Chicago (Oct. 28-29), San Francisco (Nov. 6-7) and Los Angeles (Nov. 12-13). Sting is playing three nights in Brooklyn on Oct, 7, 9-10, among other dates.
At 72, the busy Sting has also scheduled a handful of tandem stadium dates with Billy Joel – and there are long-range plans to remain out on the road. “Why not? I’m not wearing a corset or anything,” Sting recently mused. “As long as I can get into my rock star pants, I’ll be fine.”
Watch Sting Perform ‘Roxanne’ in Detroit
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This month saw the earlier arrival of “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart),” also featuring Miller and Maas. “I wanted to throw something together with simple chords and that’s what I came up with,” Sting told the Democrat and Chronicle. “There were virtually no overdubs or thoughts about production. It was just the way the band sounds – and that elemental, aggressive sound is the surprise I wanted to give people this time.”
The Police’s final album, 1983’s Synchronicity, was recently reissued as an expanded six-CD box set. So far, a full-length solo LP hasn’t been announced to accompany “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart),” which marked Sting’s first new music since 2021’s The Bridge.
Watch Sting Perform ‘Every Breath You Take’ in Detroit
Watch Sting Perform ‘Every Little Thing is Magic’ in Detroit
Watch Sting Perform ‘King of Pain’ in Detroit
Sting’s Fillmore Detroit Set List, Sept. 17, 2024
“Message in a Bottle”
“If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”
“Englishman in New York”
“Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
“Fields of Gold”
“Never Coming Home”
“Mad About You”
“Why Should I Cry for You?”
“All This Time”
“Driven to Tears”
“Can’t Stand Losing You”
“I Wrote Your Name”
“Shape of My Heart”
“Walking on the Moon”
“So Lonely”
“Desert Rose”
“King of Pain”
“Every Breath You Take”
Encore:
“Roxanne”
“Fragile”
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Some of these concert recordings sold millions of copies, while others received little fanfare. Still, they remain the best of the best.
Gallery Credit: Corey Irwin
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