symphonicity

I just got home from the Hollywood Bowl, where I experienced another musical spectacular from Sting, who, like fine wine, just gets better and better with age. I don't know how many times I've seen the man in concert (let's just say "a lot"), but tonight was unlike anything he's done before. He was backed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra + a tiny band, fronted by his long-time guitarist and songwriting partner Dominic Miller. It was, in a word, AWESOME. The evening was a beautiful celebration of music, lyrics and the stories behind them, as Sting introduced almost every song with some sort of anecdote about how he was inspired to write it, or why he wrote it. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the show as much as the audience was, playing guitar, tambourine, and collaborating on stage with Dominic and guest trumpeter Chris Botti. And experiencing this concert at the Bowl, which is one of my favorite places to listen to music -- outside, under the stars, with a slight chill in the air tonight -- only added to the beauty of the evening. It was an amazing show.