Last night I headed back to Red Rocks for the second time this summer. This time we would be seeing Sting perform with the over forty piece Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.  There would be no opening act, just the headliners performing two sets and a series of encores.  They played nearly a dozen of the hits to start and end the night, and filled the rest with some lesser known ballads. I definitely enjoyed the beginning and end of the performance better than the seemingly never-ending list of ballads. While a little sleepy at times, the orchestra really helped to bring the ballads to life for most of the show. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting to see, but still a cool performance nonetheless.

With all of that said, Sting can really sing, especially for someone who is going on sixty years old!  And he really moves around quite a bit during the performance, though not as much as the orchestra conductor, who was bouncing around his platform nearly the entire show.  I would have preferred the entire thing to be a little more upbeat.  For example, “Roxanne” was rearranged to be a much more ballad type song.  I think many people like it, but I would prefer it in its original form.  However, there were a few faster and louder hits played, highlights being “Every Little Thing She Does,” “King of Pain,” and “Desert Rose.”  Notice that nearly all the songs I mentioned are Police songs, and not just Sting songs, so maybe I need to see a full show from the Police.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed for another reunion.