Reviewing Sting's most recent live recording All This Time... is not an easy task - the most daunting obstacle to an objective review of this album is the fact that it was recorded two years ago, on September 11, 2001. I've thought for a long time how I could best review this album - ticktockman wrote an absolutely incredible essay for the DVD release of this concert, and I believe that his article speaks most eloquently about the emotions Sting and his band must have felt upon taking the stage mere hours after the tragedy began in New York City. My other Sting reviews have tended towards a discussion based on the history of each of his albums; in this particular case, I don't think that rehashing all of the day's events is necessary. However, I would like to share some of the personal recollections of one of those who attended the concert, to give you a glimpse of how special this concert would turn out to be.

what is my reaction, what should it be

The event was originally planned as a backyard dinner and concert for 250 invited guests (primarily selected fans) at his home in Tuscany. Just as guests were beginning to be transported up to the house, the news of the tragedy began to arrive. Many of the guests could not believe what little news they received while on their buses until they disembarked in the courtyard and found that the news was indeed true. The guests came together in the backyard to talk with and comfort each other. Giovanni Pollastri, one of the guests that evening, said "Everything was ready (for) a joyful party, with tables ready for the dinner to come, with candles and all that stuff! Kathy Schenker (Sting's manager) came to us to say Sting was absolutely confused about what to do, and asked us (for) a suggestion; none of us, I can say for sure, was...thinking that a cancellation of the show was a bad move; it was the obvious choice in a way"*

Sting and the band were sitting at a long table on an outside patio discussing their emotions and feelings about performing. Most agreed that the set could not be done as planned. Sting said that there were several songs he could not bring himself to perform. Each of the band members gave an opinion, and most expressed the desire to at least perform Fragile, if not a few other appropriate songs. Backup singer Janice Pendarvis gave an impassioned plea to perform a majority of the set, saying, "I just can't stand the thought of letting them win" Finally, Sting proposed that they play Fragile, shut down the planned webcast at that point out of respect for the victims, and then decide what to do after that. The band took the stage, and Sting told the crowd of the decision to play only Fragile, "and then it's up to you...It's difficult for all of us. I'm angry, I'm confused, I'm frightened, and I don't really want to give this meaningless act of violence any credence...We'll sing this song for those people who have lost their lives**

Pollastri says of the ensuing version of Fragile, "we thought about our friends coming from the US; during 'Fragile' many of us were crying, and everything was so real, and unbelievable; Sting was singing in his house in front of us...There was...applause, and Sting didn't say anything else, and he used his music to respond, to react.

...a million doors to eternity

The first two songs, Fragile and A Thousand Years, are both quiet anthems about loss and form the perfect opening to the evening. Though Fragile had traditionally been played as an encore in concerts, here it was the only choice to begin the evening. The lyrics, written in 1987, eerily reflect the events of this day -

If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the colour of the evening sun
Tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay

The new arrangement includes a new bridge where the song switches from a minor to a major key, and the song takes on a more hopeful tone, as if to suggest that all is not lost, that though evil may have it's day, good will triumph in the end. Just as Fragile is a reflection of the day, A Thousand Years seems to provide a eulogy for those lost -

A thousand years, a thousand more,
A thousand times a million doors to eternity
I may have lived a thousand lives, a thousand times
An endless turning stairway climbs
To a tower of souls
If it takes another thousand years, a thousand wars,
The towers rise to numberless floors in space
I could shed another million tears, a million breaths,
A million names but only one truth to face

The song is played in nearly the same arrangement as the original, found on the album Brand New Day, but there is a more somber tone underlying this version. The song segues into Perfect Love, Gone Wrong... which continues in the same arrangement as A Thousand Years - it is an interesting change that brings new insight to the lyric of someone who has lost his love to another. Sting takes the time to introduce some of his band in this song, which features Chris Botti on trumpet, Jason Rebello on piano and Clark Gayton on trombone.

a connecting principle...

All of the songs flow smoothly from one to the next, and even though some strange combinations are made (Don't Stand So Close to Me into When We Dance?) they all work wonderfully. The middle section of the album is mostly subdued and quiet, full of gentle jazz versions of familiar tunes, utilizing primarily piano, acoustic bass, and cello. The effect of this new instrumentation is striking; songs are turned upside down and rejuvenated by these new sounds.

At some point toward the middle of the concert, a change began to come over band and audience alike. Pollastri comments "The night was becoming something different; the music started getting the real only medicine to our devastated mind; and when I say 'our' I mean EVERYBODY! I was looking at our US friends and could see smile in their face, and I realized this was the right way to go on with the show; we all started dancing, and singing, and Sting too; music was getting us together...AGAINST EVERYTHING!

From listening to the CD, it seems to me that this point is reached during Roxanne as the band finally begins to turn towards a more joyous up tempo, though even this song begins in the same quiet manner as the songs that preceded. It is in the final third of the song where a jazzy bass walk begins and the trombone comes in with a raucous solo that gets the crowd clapping and the concert kicks into a higher gear for most of the final six songs. Highlights include the best ever version of If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, a bluesy, gospel treatment for Brand New Day that I find to be a great improvement over the original version, and a terrific, fairly straight ahead version of Every Breath You Take near the end of the evening. (Sting played Message In A Bottle to end the show, but this is not included on the CD)

Pollastri says, "I hugged Sting at the end, when he came down to say hello to everybody; I hugged many times Sting (sic) but this was completely different; I could read from his eyes he was blown away because of the sad event, and he probably read that from me too."

if a prayer today is spoken...

Two years on from this pivotal event, All This Time... continues to be an integral part of September 11, 2001 - though music composed for and influenced by the day's events have since been released, none can claim such a singular distinction as this particular recording. The concert itself was special to begin with; Sting opened his home in Tuscany that evening to a couple hundred friends and other guests who would be the first to hear new arrangements of familiar songs. That intimate garden setting became a quiet shelter in a world thrown suddenly into cacophonous confusion, and as if to counter their grief, the musicians gave not a performance, but an outpouring of their very souls. On this night, the barrier between celebrity and fan was broken; fragile, hurting people clung desperately to the common thread of music. Songs originally written for other purposes, speaking to other causes, all became infused with new emotions that at times seemed very close to overwhelming the performance. Ultimately, it is the art form, the act of performing that won the day - though the musicians began the evening with troubled hearts, a stout resolve to overcome grief began to shine in the music, and soon, the sheer joy of making music for music's sake overtook the dark of the night.

On any given day, music matters to me. On a day such as today, music is a glimpse of color on a blackened canvas, a beacon of light on a moonless night. Today, you may find yourself reflecting upon your own memories of a dark day; I encourage you to seek out that which brings color and light into your world - and find someone to share it with


all quoted lyrics are the copyrighted property of Sting
* all quotes from Giovanni Pollastri can be found in his essay on the concert, found at www.stingus.net/concerts/concert110901.htm
** quotes from Sting and Janice Pendarvis excerpted from the All This Time... DVD


The Original Song List (Items in bold are on the American CD release)
Fragile
A Thousand Years
Perfect Love...Gone Wrong
All This Time
Seven Days
Fill Her Up - CUT FROM SET
Ghost Story - CUT FROM SET
I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying - CUT FROM SET
Hounds of Winter
Dont Stand So Close To Me
When We Dance
Mad About You - CUT FROM SET
I Was Brought to My Senses - CUT FROM SET
Straight to my Heart - CUT FROM SET
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - CUT FROM SET
Dienda
Roxanne
If You Love Sombody Set Them Free
Brand New Day
Fields Of Gold
Englishman in New York - CUT FROM SET
Desert Rose - CUT FROM SET
She's Too Good For Me - CUT FROM SET
Shape of My Heart
If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
Every Breath You Take
Message in a Bottle

I highly recommend the DVD of All This Time... it contains all of the songs, and a wonderful documentary about the rehearsals and the interplay of the band in the two weeks prior to the concert.

My Sting Reviews

Concert Reviews

Sting and Annie Lennox - The 2004 Sacred Love Tour

The Solo Albums

The Dream of the Blue Turtles
Bring on the Night
Nothing Like the Sun
The Soul Cages
Ten Summoner's Tales
Fields of Gold
Mercury Falling
Brand New Day
Sacred Love

Singles

Nada Como El Sol
All This Time
You Still Touch Me
I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying
Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot
Demolition Man

Concert Films

The Soul Cages Tour (VHS)
All This Time...(DVD)
Inside Sacred Love (DVD)

Books

Broken Music - A Memoir

The Police

Outlandos D'Amour
Regatta de Blanc
Zenyatta Mondatta
Synchronicity

Recommended: Yes