Sting brings a string of solo-acoustic shows to the Metropolitan Museum of Art this week, performing songs inspired by his childhood and thematically congruent with the current “Thomas Cole’s Journey: Atlantic Crossings” exhibit. Against a backdrop that projected Cole’s paintings, Sting took turns between telling stories and singing songs that were inspired by his humble beginnings in the ship town of Wallsend, England.
The tenured singer/songwriter came out and played “Englishman in New York”, right there in one of the most famous museums in the world, located on the east side of Central Park. With just an acoustic guitar in tow, he really dazzled in a minimalistic way in front of the intimate crowd.
In the set was “The Night The Pugilist Learned How To Dance”, “Dead Man’s Boots”, “August Winds”, and “The Last Ship”, all new tracks from his 2013 album The Last Ship, which saw the accomplished musician musing on his childhood in Wallsend. The songs are tainted with a folky Scottish twist and a waltzy rhythm, and sounded really great performed in this stripped-down environment.
Sting ended things with an encore of “Message in a Bottle”, proving that the old Police material has really stood the test of time and still sounds great. A few more older tunes would have really stretched the night into a special territory, but we were happy for an intimate chance to hang with this legend.