The following
article appeared in an April
2005
issue
of The Grand Rapids Press. The
author was John Sinkevics.
Sting's 'gang'
relives popularity of The Police...
It's the next best thing to
being in The Police.
After all, there's Sting,
the charismatic lead singer of the trailblazing rock band, singing such
classics as Roxanne, Every Breath You Take and Message in a Bottle.
And there are the ecstatic,
huge-arena audiences, singing along - word for word, note for note.
"It's incredible. I
couldn't wish for a better audience, really," said Sting's longtime
guitarist Dominic Miller, who's gotten a chance on the singer's Broken Music
Tour to play more Police songs than ever before due to the four-piece band's
rock-laced sets.
"They seem to identify very
well with The Police stuff and the punkier rock stuff."
While Sting isn't
abandoning his impressive solo catalog on the U.S. tour that stops Sunday at
Van Andel Arena, it's also clear he's embracing the distinctive rock that
made The Police one of the world's most popular bands in the late '70s and
early '80s.
"Of course, it's fun,"
Miller, 45, said in a recent phone interview after a sound check for a
concert at the University of Missouri. "I like playing Police songs, because
they're very playable songs. I've become a Police fan. Playing these songs
is just great."
Stepping back from the
big-production, big-band tours of Sting's past has given the six-week U.S.
tour a stripped-down, rock-edged disposition. Joining Sting on bass and
Miller on guitar are drummer Josh Freese, from A Perfect Circle, and
guitarist Shane Fontayne, who's played with Bruce Springsteen and Lone
Justice.
"There's a lot more space
in the music - it can breathe better," said Miller, who's played with Sting
for 15 years. "It's different, and I'm enjoying it more. To be honest with
you, it's guitar rock."
It also makes each
performance a group effort. "Once we're on that stage, this is a band,"
Miller said. "We're not like sidemen with an artist. I feel that I'm part of
a group, a gang."
So while Sting remains the
"consummate bandleader," Miller said no one takes criticism personally.
"In this band, I feel
you're innocent until proven guilty, so you can try different things. He's a
really great bandleader."
The change in approach also
has Sting and his band "mixing and matching" 40 songs they rehearsed for the
tour, including The Beatles' A Day in the Life.
Exploring different songs
and musical styles long has been the forte of Sting, who began his musical
career in England as a jazz musician.
"One of the great things
about meeting Sting was that I've found a home for my confused kind of
schizophrenic guitar-playing," said Miller, who lives in London. "I'm so
into different styles: classical, jazz, rock, bossa nova. I've found a home
for my way of playing.
"(Sting's) music is very,
very diverse. I'm kind of a jack-of-all-trades, and so is he. That's why we
were made for each other. ...I think he's a great person to work with, and
he's fair, and he's a gentleman, and he's direct, and he's honest."
And Sting found a touring
format that clicks.
"I feel that after 15
years, I've arrived at the sound that it really should be," Miller said. "I
feel we've discovered something.
