When I saw on Stingus.net that Sting would be playing a show for American Express card members on February 19th in Newark, 30 minutes from my house, I thought it was the perfect birthday present for my wife Andrea whose birthday is the next day. This show was a little harder to get into than just buying tickets on ticketmaster with your Amex card though. It turns out that the show was "by invitation only" for American Express Centurion card members. I don't know too many Sting fans with an American Express black card... I was able to get two great seats, 8th row center aisle, from Craiglist. I totally surprised Andrea - she didn't know who we were seeing until we walked into the venue. She said she never thought I could surprise her with a Sting show! But since this wasn't advertized at all, she knew nothing about it. And neither did I until Holly's post two days ago. I was expecting a Symphonicity show and was extremely pleasantly surprised to learn that Vinnie and David Sancious were back. Ok, so a little bit of a rant here. This was a private show for people with a LOT of money who are not necessarily Sting fans but got complimentary tickets to an exclusive Sting show with complimentary food and drinks. And what does Sting do? He reunites what is in his words from Saturday, his "FAVORITE BAND." And he gives the audience an eclectic setlist on top of that. And aside from recognizing the hits, 99% of the audience has no real appreciation for the coolness factor of Vinnie and David being there or gems like Seven Days being dusted off. Why cater to THIS audience? There were isolated pockets of fans in the audience who were out of their seats for most of the show, but the rest of the audience just sat politely... Anyway, this was a great ROCK show, the likes of which I was starting to doubt we'd ever see from Sting after the lute album, the winter album, and the symphony album. Some songs were given new life, like a bluesy arrangement of Set Them Free, and Hounds of Winter which really shined with Jo Lawry on vocals. The show was heavy on Police songs and Ten Summoner's Tales and Mercury Falling. There was not a single song from The Soul Cages, Brand New Day or Sacred Love. A little disappointing since this was the reunited Soul Cages band :( Here's the setlist: If I Ever Lose My Faith Message In A Bottle Englishman in New York Synchronicity II Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic When We Dance I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying I Hung My Head Fields Of Gold If You Love Somebody Hound of Winter Driven To Tears Shape Of My Heart Seven Days Heavy Cloud, No Rain Wrapped Around Your Finger Bring On The Night/When The World Is Running Down Roxanne King Of Pain Every Breath You Take Next To You The other nice thing about this show - it made me feel like it was '96 and I was 21 again! ;-) ________________________________ The information contained in this communication and any enclosures or attachments may be confidential and/or proprietary. It is intended only for the recipient or recipients named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication or its contents or attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately advise the sender and delete the original and any copies from your computer system.