Though I have to agree that some reviewers are right about Sting's current tour, last night at PNC offered some refreshing departures from Sting. I haven't seen him this experimental in quite a while. Roxanne was drawn out to a slow jam as usual, but unlike anything I'd ever heard him play before. It was more the kind of thing you'd expect at a jazz club. And to our delight, not only did he actually sing the words "King of Pain" in addition to the first verse, he actually sang a snippet of SO LONELY! "Roxanne, don't leave me lonely, don't leave me lonely... So lonely..." He spiced up the rest of the show with subliminal tip of the hats to other songs, like humming Brand New Day during Every Breath. I have seen numerous shows where he is just on auto pilot, but it seemed like last night he was just letting go.

That said, there are still major flaws in the set list. As much as I like This War, it goes over people's heads and doesn't grip the audience. I understand the intention of it, but he needs to let it go. Sacred Love has lost the fervor it had earlier in the tour. And the whole middle part of the show drags on before picking up again with Englishman. Though this is the Sacred Love tour, it's also a summer double-headliner tour. It's a shorter set list, so it need to have maximum impact -- cut a couple of Sacred Love songs and put back high-energy hits.