Sting – Lincoln Castle: Live Review...

Another day, another gig at Lincoln Castle. Built in 1068 by William the Conqueror this stone fortress has withstood several sieges. It’s walls stood firm across the centuries but can they withstand the awesome megawatt force of power trio Sting 3.0?

But before Mr Sumner and his band step on step we have Irish singer songwriter and multi instrumentalist Imelda May with her rockabilly revival fused with jazz offerings. She’s a tremendous singer. Her vocals are clear and powerful. And about the biggest compliment that one can give her is that she regularly played with Jeff Beck – who is rightly considered the best guitarist of his generation. She’s easily one of the most talented support acts I’ve ever seen (we saw her headline one night at the 2022 Underneath The Stars festival) and the price of the tickets which seemed steep compared to other gigs at the castle is fully justified due to her inclusion on tonight’s bill. 

She’s full of thanks and praise for Sting who has obviously invited her to join him at selected venues on this tour and we are lucky to get her here at Lincoln Castle. She plays a mixture of her own songs, those that she would have sung with Beck until his untimely death a few years ago and covers including Tainted Love which is a huge hit with the crowd.

Sting 3.0 bound onto the stage and open with a string of hits including Message In A Bottle, I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart) and If I Ever Lose My Faith In You. Sting has a strong voice even at 73 years of age and he’s kept himself fit and has a commanding stage presence. The crowd is immediately clapping and cheering along to the songs. Bass players make rare lead singers but the few that have done it have been very popular, and perhaps Sting is at the top of that list.

Band introductions come early in the set as Sting welcomes his long time band mates Dominic Miller on guitar and Chris Maas on drums before they play the opening notes of the next song. “You know this song?” the crowd respond in the affirmative. “Okay you do,” says Sting, as the crowd begin to sing. “Don’t sing the whole song! That’s my job,” he says as they get into Englishman In New York. The hits keep coming, this guy has got a serious back catalogue of hit songs. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic complete with crowd interaction at the end.

“I’ve never been to the city of Lincoln in my life,” Sting admits. “What a beautiful castle and a view of the cathedral. What have I been missing? I’m sorry I’ve not been here before,” he says. “I’ve got a small house, in the English countryside. Well it’s a castle really. A little bit bigger than this one. We’ve got fields of barley. I was looking at the field one morning and I think to myself… There’s a song there,” he says before giving us a beautiful rendition of Fields Of Gold which includes a huge cheer from the crowd.

Never Coming Home, Driven To Tears and Shape Of My Heart make up the middle of the set, before the home stretch comes into view with the awesome Walking On The Moon, So Lonely, Desert Rose and King Of Pain before the main set ends with none other than Every Breath You Take.

The encore is naturally a raucous version of Roxanne which tops even the brilliance of Every Breath… before Sting gives us a few parting words. “I like to finish the evening with something quiet and thoughtful… so you can go home quiet and thoughtful,” he says before ending with Fragile.

“Thank you Lincoln castle. Goodnight. God bless. We will see you again.”

(c) At The Barrier by Kevin Stanley