rock, paper, scissors

Continuing to catch up on overdue posts, here's a quick bit about the other awesome concert I saw this summer... Sting and Peter Gabriel, together at The Hollywood Bowl, for their joint Rock, Paper Scissors tour.

I've seen Sting in concert at least nine times (twice on The Police reunion tour, the rest solo shows at lovely places like The Bowl, The Greek, and Universal Amphitheater [RIP]). Of late, he's been very experimental in his musical styles (see Symphonicities and his Broadway show The Last Ship). And while the music on this tour didn't wildly diverge from what the two artists are known for, the format of the show did ... and it was awesome!

The awesome venue, where I've seen more live concerts than anywhere else.

Both Sting and Peter Gabriel had their full bands on stage with them for the entire show. Peter's band was "The Red Team," Sting's "The Blue Team." Everyone on each team -- including Sting and Peter -- wore at least a swatch of their team color. 

They would play together at times, separately at times. Sting would sing lead on Peter's songs and vice versa. And on some songs they traded verses. 

It was a really cool way to hear songs I've been listening to since the 80s in a whole new way. It was also awesome to see Sting (who's known for being "moody") having such a blast on stage. After the first two songs, he and Peter stopped to talk to the audience and give them a little intro to the format of the show. Sting said it's the most fun he's had on tour in decades and he hoped we all had fun too. If you don't believe him.. just check out the video for "In Your Eyes" below and look on the screens for his awesome back-up singer dance moves, in unison with the female back-up singers ;)