Three men committed a smash-and-grab raid in north London last night. Call The Police! In an act of brazen nighttime daring, rock superstar Sting led a tightly drilled trio into the dingy environs of the Forum in Kentish Town and blasted through a set of familiar hits with a panache that was breathtaking to witness.
I’m not sure how Sting’s former bandmates in The Police will feel about this revival of their USP. Along with drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers, Sting (as bassist, singer and songwriter) was part of one of the most successful trios in pop history. Although their working relationships were rather embattled at times, The Police ruled the charts from 1977 to 1984, and had a brief, lucrative reunion in 2007 to 2008.
Copeland and Summers are currently suing Sting for alleged underpayment of royalties, which Sting denies (asserting that he has actually overpaid them), making any further reunions highly unlikely. Time to bring on the reserves. Sting’s new band, Sting 3.0, formed in 2024, recreates the lean but loose format of The Police with drummer Chris Maas and guitarist Dominic Miller (Sting’s sideman for 30 years); but, crucially, Sting himself has complete control (the way, one gets the impression, that he has always preferred it).
The resulting band of hired hands lack the gladiatorial intensity of The Police at full blast: a trio who really pulled songs apart and played as much against one another as with each other. Instead, Sting 3.0 offer a sleek togetherness and dazzling musicality, one thrilling hit segueing into the next. A full half of their 22-song set were Police hits, with the other half comprising remodelled Sting solo classics. The format allowed the bandleader to reinvent such fantastic songs as Englishman In New York, Shape of My Heart and Desert Rose, in the lean, spacey and immensely pliable style of The Police.
