Sting's magical atmospheres, for a select few...

The "legend" no longer draws as much attention as he once did, but he's still capable of endearing himself to the public...

Five thousand spectators, albeit laboriously garnered over months of advance ticket sales, wouldn't be a bad outcome for a promising rocker. But if those five thousand are all that Sting can draw, then last night's concert deserves, in the colourful jargon of music management, the definition of a "fireworks." A disaster, come on. Lost in a Palastampa too large for a hero now too small, the admirers of the man who was a star with the Police and a legend on his own, yesterday witnessed a show of undeniable elegance, and refined boredom. Of course, Sting doesn't disappoint those who flock to hear him: he has a "tailor-made" audience, good chic, good genre, who certainly wouldn't appreciate sweat and metal noise. A largely non-adolescent audience, and moreover cultured, well-off, enamoured with the refined atmosphere that the English singer skilfully creates.

An audience that arrives at the concert on time, doesn't crowd at the gates, doesn't go on a rampage. Many ladies in designer casuals, many gentlemen in sports jackets: an unusual presence at a rock concert. The misunderstanding—fuelled by organizers always eager for "events"—lies precisely in passing off as a "rock concert" what is, in reality, a tranquil show that would look good in a theatre. The cunning Sting masterfully tempts his followers: he starts with songs from his new album, "Mercury Falling," because record promotion is always at the forefront of every music worker's mind. But he immediately turns to memory lane, unsparingly reeling off the Police's old repertoire, from "Roxanne" to "Synchronicity": songs that were all the rage precisely twenty years ago, when those moms and dads who listen to Mr. Gordon Sumner today were kids, and, in jeans and T-shirts, enthusiastically crowded under the rock stages. Sting's day in Turin was very short: arriving by car around 5 pm, he immediately went to rehearsals, staying locked in the dressing room until it was time to go on stage.

After the concert, he immediately left for Milan.

(c) La Stampa by Ferraris Gabriele