On Friday February 25, 2011 Sting played with an orchestra at the Festival de Viña del Mar in Chile. The festival lasts about week and each night there are at least two acts. The time printed on our tickets was 22:00, 10 pm. We set out from our hotel in Valparaiso at 9:30, thinking we’d arrive around 10, see the first act, then Sting would come on around midnight. (Everything happens later in South America.)
When we reached the grounds and began passing through the three ticket checkpoints (things are very orderly in Chile), a lot of people were running past us. Everyone was wearing pants or jeans, bufandas (scarves), and even some with winter coats. (It’s summer here but the evenings are getting cool, especially by the sea.) Seeing these bundled up Chilenos made me worry that I was going to freeze tonight, waiting hours to see Sting. As we approached the seating area the sound of “Englishman in new York” reached our ears. My husband said to me, “Is that Sting?” I listened closely…maybe it was a recording? When do concerts ever start at the exact time stated on the ticket? Especially in Chile? No, it was our man! We hurried up the stairway and a security woman helped us find our seats. I can’t believe I was late to see Sting! This never happened to me before—how many times have I arrived so early at the concert venue and then waited?
Anyway, we were in the middle of it. Sting was singing and the orchestra was playing away. We had to work our way down our row, which was bleacher-style seats. The other concert goers were not pleased with us squeezing past them. I felt badly. I’d be annoyed, too, in their shoes. Finally we found some space and sat down.
Sting looked great, as always, in spite of the crew cut he’s sporting these days. He wore very fitted black jeans-style pants and a shiny black shirt. A long-sleeved shirt so I couldn’t see his gorgeous arms.
The set list went something like this:
Englishman in New York
Roxanne
This Cowboy Song
Russians
When we Dance
Fields of Gold
They Dance Alone
She’s Too Good For Me
King of Pain
Every Breath You Take
Next to You
Message in a Bottle
Desert Rose
Fragile
On stage with him was Dominic Miller, a female backup singer, and I regret that I cannot say for sure who the other musicians were. The orchestra was Chileno. He had that table with the blue-green-white design on it.
Sting went through about four songs without speaking to the audience. When he finally addressed us he said Qué tal (How are you?), and that was it. This was my first time seeing Sting in a non-English-speaking country. Perhaps he didn’t want to say a few things in Spanish. (Remember the EP Nada Como El Sol?) But, he could have used English. His music is in English and all these people turned out to see him perform. Anyway, I love Chile and am so impressed with this country and its people that I expected him to comment on the incredible rescue of the miners, or the earthquake—the first anniversary of which is today, two days after his show. Instead, this show was all about communicating with his fans through music, which he did fantastically.
He seemed in very good spirits, his voice sounded great. He danced a little. The audience loved him. It was a very neat experience to be in what for me was an international audience (I’m from the US). I got to see first-hand how great his worldwide appeal is. Is it ever overwhelming for a performer to go to so many different countries and have so many fans? I was impressed for Sting! I’ve loved him and The Police forever, I get it that he’s world famous, but being in one of his international audiences was special.
He performed “They Dance Alone,” a very meaningful song for Chile, which brought roars of applause from the audience. This is the song from Nothing Like The Sun about the mothers of the people who were murdered or disappeared during the dictatorship. It’s also called “Gueca Solo”, which refers to Chile’s national dance, the cueca or gueca, which is always danced with a partner, not alone. It’s a traditional dance, but not obsolete; every Chileno knows how to dance the cueca. Dominic spoke the Spanish verse. That was one of the highlights of the show for me.
“Russians” sounded great with the orchestra, though I don’t really like that song. “Next To You” sounded great and rocked hard. “Message in a Bottle” was terrific. Everyone knew the words to that and was singing along.
Some members of the audience had messages for Sting on posters. “Welcome to Chile”, “Your music is my inspiration”, “Now I can die happy”, “I love Sting”, all were in English. A few people held yellow Amnistía Internacional posters proclaiming No más violencia contra las mujeres (No more violence against women).
There were two encores. Before each one two Festival hosts came out and praised him and his performance, and thanked him for playing at the Festival. He was presented with an award before the first encore. Then, before the second encore he got three awards. The audience was chanting de oro “give gold.” This took me a while to figure out. What do they want? He already did ‘Fields of Gold’…. Then Sting was given an award with a gold seagull in flight, a symbol of Viña. Apparently this trophy is given according to the audience’s wishes. Chile gave Sting gold.