I just got back from Montreux, Lucky Me!!!! :-)

Great time. We arrive by car from France with my very good friend fbien at 5PM just to meet with the gang alreadt there since a while!!! Fred, Andrea, Jeremy, Debs, Andy, Paul, Estelle, Christophe, Jerome, sorry for the one I forgot... I hoped to met Rudiger as I believed he was coming, but no chance... Anyway, most of the hardcore fans were there!!! Karel... When will I meet you??? OH my god you should I've been there...

First word by fellow Jeremy were: "Show totally different tonight, 100% sure"... First Heart attack...

I won't tell more about what the guys and girls waid to us before to get in, anyway we were all thrilled. I was coming with the idea it would be a classic show, not wanting to expect to much of Sting. Of course I was expecting something special but I couldn't believe he would do it...

For your memories, yesterday Montreux gig was the exact 10 anniversary of the Montreux acoustic contrux from 91, which is for many fans the best sting show ever...

We add a great time talking to the friends before to get in, realising how much things costs in switzerland, ouch!!! :-) After a silly rush in a terrible never ending stairs we finally reach the concert hall, just to realize that nobody will have front row because of Montreux staff seating on the floor to get a safe place for photographers and video cameras as all Montreux shows are taped for video. We were quite all stuck in there and it was beginning to be hot...

Jeff Beck did his set... he's just great, plays so well, but as Jer summed it up "I like him but I wanna see Sting now". Wise words from the wise man...

Then, right on time, Sting came... With no loud keyboards and darkness, just him and his bass... Oh!!! I forgot to say there were a real piano on stage as well as a pedal steel!!! :-)

He reached the mike under the screams and said something that sounded like this: "Hi all, thanks you , blah bla bla... First I want to say that it's a great honor for me to perform after Jeff Beck, he is one of my favorite musician of all time " Big sheers from the audience... "And also that we are very proud to play the Montreux Jazz Festival. We've been now touring for almost 2 years, and tonight we wanna try something new. That's why we'll begin the show very quietly, and it will need that you stay quiet, I know you're the kind of audience for those experiments..." LOUD LOUD Sheer!!!

"this first song is called a thousand years"
And then Jason began a solo introduction on piano.
Sting add is bass, dominic acoustic guitar, sat on a chair.
Kipper on keyboards, Chris, Manu as usual, and Jeff Young on backing vocals...
They slipped in a very very soft acoustic version of a thousand years, Sting almost whispering the words...
Man, I couldn't believe my ears... after the firt chorus they began an instrumental parts and Sting launch the bass line to perfect love gone wrong...
Still so soft, so gentle, so jazzy...
They all seemed to be in heaven on stage, and we were in the audience...
No rap part (for god's sake!!!) and they slipped back into a thousand years to end this terrific first number...

UNBELIEVABLE...

I mean, this is not a bad joke, it really happened, many people can testify!!! :-)

After they launch a very long intro of all this time... Was played greatly... And BJ cole, the pedal steel player that gueted in Royal Albert Hall, played on most of the tracks, really really nice...
Then Mad about You, with a sort of clavecin (don't know the english word) in place of the trumpet solo...
seven days, fill her up, fields of gold... All those sounded pretty much like on the rest of the tour with the addition of the pedal stell, which was very nice...

No need to say that after a so incredible begenning we felt a bit disapointed by the way the things were turning...

Then every little thing she does is magic... Oh No.. Please Sting, don't do that!!! And he heard!!! :-)

"So now we are going to play so songs that we never played on stage (lier) before, Anyway, that's no excuse... This song is called Big Lie Small World..."""
True!!!
And Dominic started very gently on the guitar... "I sat down..."
They seemed to have some difficulties but it sounded awesome.
Just the idea of having this in the set was terrific anyway!!!
Manu Katche started to hit the drums very heavely in the end, launching the band really strong and having a great moment for him, at last!!!
It was great great great...

And then... Ghost story..................................
Just before they had to lauch the counrty part after the bridge, they dived into: I'm so happy I can't stop dreaming!!!

The pedal steel was nice, saving the fact we would have prefered another song for sure...

After that it turned back to be pretty a normal show. Which was so frustrating.
No brand new day, no shape of my heart, no message in a bottle, no cheb mami.

The last killing news was that they were supposed to play Dienda after fragile and that Sting made a sign to Jason saying that they won't in the last seconds...

Here is the setlist as I can remember it:
a thousand years / perfect love
all this time
mad about you
seven days
fill her up
fields of gold
every little thing she does is magic
big lie small world
ghost story / I'm so happy
moon over bourbon street
englishman in new york
roxanne
desert rose
Bring on the night / when...

If I ever lose
every breath you take
Fragile

no if you love somebody, no after the rain / we'll be together...

I do forgot to say that they did the excellent jazz part for englishman, as they did in the last today show.
Also when the world solo was kinda hot hot...
Sting let Chris Botti play is note for years without stoping him in bourbon street when he usually come to him to see what happen... Chris stopped, near cardiac attack and came to Sting saying "you bastard" (this is Fred's excellent notions of lips reading that gave us this historical sentence!!!)...

When we were finally expecting something spectacular, we all got out a bit frustrated...

Of course I would die in the minute If wouldn't have been there (lol...) but we were so enthousiastic at the first song that it should have stopped there!!!

After the show we lost each other, than met again outside to have meal and drinks!!!
Montreux was just FULL of people... We gave so singing lessons to swiss people but they didn't like it!!! :-)
It was a great time...

Finally at 2AM, fbien and me had a warm goodbye to the gang, see you next time all of you...
And we drove to the hotel in Lausanne to get some sleep, at last!!!
Most of the others were heading to Zurich for today, you crazy people.
I personnaly have my correct dose of BND shows...

For all of you heading to Dublin, Cardiff and London, have a great time!!!
Karel, we were so disapointed you couldn't see this with us...

Now I going back to sleep while you won't be able to close an eye tonight!!! :-)

Take all care and see you again!!! Martin