Englishmen in Ottawa

Gordon Sumner, aka Sting, and his eldest son Joe Sumner serenaded an appreciative crowd in Ottawa last night and we were there to soak it all in!

After a long hiatus of no live music in the national capital, we’ve been treated to some great shows over the last number of weeks. James Taylor and Jackson Browne made an appearance last week before their tour was postponed due to the virus that shall not be named. Before that the boys from Imagine Dragons had us singing along to their catchy choruses while confetti floated to the ground around us. Last night the Canadian Tire Centre was home to another world-class performer named for a black and gold striped jersey he used to wear as a kid. At the ripe old age of 70, Sting still has the voice and stamina of a 25 year old and the ability to make certain members of the audience swoon.

Before the main attraction, Sting’s eldest son Joe Sumner took to the stage to warm up the crowd. If you’re a long time fan of Sting and The Police you may remember Sumner and his band Fiction Plane opening up for The Police during their reunion tour in 2007. In 2022, a more mature looking Sumner, with shorter hair and a few more years under his belt uncannily resembles and sounds like his father. An ultra talented singer-songwriter in his own right, Sumner got the crowd pumped up with some toe-tapping pop rock acoustic tunes filled with personal and inspiring lyrics. He’s been through some stuff, and he’s not afraid to talk about it.

Joe Sumner performs at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Photo: Renée Doiron

As a concert photographer and occasional reviewer, I have seen more than my fair share of concerts over the years. I’ve been in dingy dive bars on Tuesday nights and spent Saturday nights at arena shows to see some of the greatest artists of our time. This one though. This concert ranks amongst my top ten of all time. I’m an engineer by training, and therefore a scientist at heart. Science tells us that during adolescent development, our brains are changing and the songs we enjoy the most are encoded in our memories due to the strong emotional connections our brain makes with them. They call this music nostalgia. You’ve had it happen to you before. You hear a few chords from a song you had on repeat when you were in your late teens or early twenties and you remember every word as though you listened to it just yesterday. When I was in my early twenties and cramming for math and physics exams, Ten Summoner’s Tales was on repeat in my dorm room. Over and over again I would listen to his songs like Fields of Gold and Shape of My Heart. You can imagine how excited I was to hear that our outlet had been approved to shoot and review the Sting concert! Although I had seen The Police during their reunion tour on their Montreal stop, this would be the first time for me with the big camera and big lens shooting the man himself.

 

Sting performs at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Photo: Renée Doiron

Acknowledging that his fans were here to hear the hits, the set list was a cornucopia of classic Police and solo tunes with a few new “maybe they’ll be hits someday” songs about love in the mix. Opening with the upbeat Message in a Bottle, he got the crowd to its feet almost instantly and before the spotlight lit him up. There were several memorable moments during the show, including a little story about him wanting to be a cowboy when he was a kid and being so happy that Johnny Cash had covered I Hung My Head before strumming the first few bars of that song.

Without giving it all away, if you’re catching this show during another stop in the tour, you can be comforted in the knowledge that yes, he does Roxanne and Every Breath You Take, but he also throws in a nice mix of solo work such as the heart wrenching Fields of Gold and Shape of My Heart. His voice is as strong as ever and the artists he has working with him are phenomenal. As an example, there was some amazing harmonica work on Brand New Day. Almost as good as Stevie Wonder himself. The tour continues tonight in Montreal before heading south of the border to Michigan and beyond.

MORE PHOTOS