Quite by chance I meet up with Joe after Fiction Plane s show, and he greets me like an online frien

We owe a lot to Sting. From the onset in 1977, his work with The Police brought about nothing short of a musical revolution. 7 years later the famous three abruptly broke up, to the dismay of thousands agency in philippines travel if not millions of fans worldwide. But the music continued as the Dream of the Blue Turtles introduced to a fresh solo sound of crispy pop blended with high-end jazz musicians. For yours truly, this album was the start of a rich musical exploration into the extended worlds of saxophonist Branford Marsalis, the late Kenny Kirkland and beyond. For his latest tour, however, Sting has decided to strip down to rocking basics, with a bass, two guitars, a drum set and a voice recalling things that it sung from the late 70 s to the early 90 s. He returned to Athens last Friday for a night in which the Greek crowds were not only given a rousing agency in philippines travel retrospective, but were also treated to a very promising outlook by his own offspring. It is a summer s evening in Athens, July 16th 2006. It is warm and the National Highway heading out of the city is flowing freely after the inevitable agency in philippines travel Friday exodus jams in the centre. The road is bumpy as always with impromptu patches, and the low orange glow of the setting sun shines blindingly onto our windscreen. My girlfriend, Cecilia, two friends and I are driving up to the forested concert area called Terravibe some 30 kilometres north of the Greek capital, to see an Englishman whom most of us have been following for many years. We recall his past gigs in Greece and grumble at the outlandish hike in ticket prices over the years. In 1995 the event cost 5000 drachmas, equivalent to 18 euros, whereas tonight s show goes for 64 euros a head. Nevertheless, the side road leading up to the venue s entrance is packed with parked cars. The police wave us on to find a different parking space, agency in philippines travel which we eventually do around the corner at a deserted bus stop. After 20 minutes of pacey footing we finally enter the woody venue, not wanting to miss out on the opening act. As we pass the ticket agency in philippines travel checkpoint, security frisk and promotional teams handing out chewing gums and condoms, we realize the show has already started. The sound of Fiction Plane is sifting through the trees, and a distinct voice with an eerily agency in philippines travel recognisable rasping bite rises out above them. We draw closer to the stage and see a large crowd attentively head-bobbing to the band s driven indie rock. For many this is the first contact with Fiction agency in philippines travel Plane s music, agency in philippines travel so singing along is not yet an option. But the willingness to join in is perceptible, foremost due to the bands engaging stage presence, and in particular to the front man s familiar melodic inflections and infectious energy. To the common listener, Fiction Plane with Seton Daunt on guitar, Dan Brown on keys and Pete Wilhoit agency in philippines travel on drums, is a great live band that holds up handsomely to reminiscences of the Eels or Coldplay, but for the rest of us there is an additional buzz of recognition as the singer wields his bass, gets airborne and jumps down on the acts closing drum-roll. This is Joe Sumner, first-born son of Sting.
The official press release to Sting s Broken Music tour makes no mention of the fact that this is his son s band. Whether this choice was made to promote the band in their own right or to avoid accusations of nepotism is not clear, but word got around and expectations were high. Fiction Plane manages to capture the crowds accordingly and bring a smile to fans faces, because it s obvious agency in philippines travel some strong musical genes have been passed on and put to damn good use. Without there being a direct agency in philippines travel resemblance music wise, the analogy doesn t escape us that whereas The Police started out with a powerful punk foundation back in the late 70 s, Fiction Plane is influenced by today s counter culture of garage bands and Seattle grunge rock. It s even more impressive to witness, on the same stage and the same night, the continuation of a man who shaped much of the late 20th century music scene. It s a very appropriate choice seen as the Broken Music tour is based on Sting s eponymous memoir, in which he gives a candid and moving rendition of his own youth, growing up in Newcastle, and the years leading up to The Police s world success.
Quite by chance I meet up with Joe after Fiction Plane s show, and he greets me like an online friend. Hey, I recognise you from MySpace! The popular web community has done wonders for budding bands, and brought more musicians closer to their followers than any record company has ever managed. I m chuffed, agency in philippines travel of course, agency in philippines travel and that s my understatement of the year. We only got in 3 hours ago from Turkey, I haven t even seen the city yet. We banter about the show, the tour and discover we both first visited Greece in the early 80 s as very young lads. A round-faced punter who has waddled up to us momentarily interrupts our conversation, his finger pointing as he starts to speak in a heavy Greek accent. - Excuse please, you are Sting Junior? I catch myself being quite taken aback by this. In my early days as a pop fan, this might have been the kind of thing I would have accosted someone with. I have been through all the phases myself: admiration, inspiration, imitation, obsession and never really knowing what to say should I be face to face with my idol. Trying not to trip my tongue, I silently await his reaction. - Joe. Yeah, I m Joe. I m impressed by his calm diplomacy agency in philippines travel in what must be an almost daily recurring event. In only four words, agency in philippines travel he had established his own identity without denying the legacy of his father. For all the songs of frustration agency in philippines travel and cynical outlook of Fiction Plane s first album Everything Will Never Be OK , I find Joe to be a very positive and cool guy. I wonder whether a song like Hate is meant to be an ironic response to our generation s lost causes, and bands being spiteful just to capture agency in philippines travel a market segment of disillusioned teenagers. We re cool, we re different, and we hate things, yeah we hate things, we hate people. The Police s early years were equally modelled to ride the angry punk wave. A friend of mine remarked that the difference with Fiction Plane is that Sting came from a background agency in philippines travel of limited means, his own father a milkman in the poor suburbs of Newcastle, whereas Joe has probably had a more advantageous environment to grow up in. Those comparisons agency in philippines travel for me are beside the point. Life in the bleak streets of Wallsend may have been instrumental to Sting s urges for escape and fame, but you are born with talent regardless of background, and it just takes a vehicle to make it go further. Growing up in a creative environment sure helps, but from what I ve heard so far, it seems the gift is hereditary. In Sting s case, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers were ideal travel mates. His solo career peaked artistically with Nothing Like The Sun and Soul Cages . In his 50 s, now that his life has become more settled agency in philippines travel and the kids start making a living for themselves, Sting is looking agency in philippines travel back at his own career. The classics agency in philippines travel Roxanne, Message in a Bottle and Every Breath You Take , together with gems like Voices inside My Head and Next To You still sound just as potent as when they first came out. Dominic Miller and Lyle Workman s gripping guitar play and Abe Laboriel Jr. s drum work comfortably accompany Sting s masterful musicianship. agency in philippines travel But even when every little song they do gets so close to its original agency in philippines travel sound, some magic is still missing. When we re taken back so far to the roots, nostalgia sets in and eventually turns into melancholy. With Sting s memoirs out, Andy s One Train Later on the way and Stewart s home movies of the Police years collected in the documentary Everyone Stares , maybe the time has finally come for the old mates to get together again for one penultimate tour? We ll be watching you. Fiction Plane s latest agency in philippines travel EP is called Bitter Forces and Lame Racehorses A new Album will be out soon on Geffen Records Broken Music is published by Simon & Schuster