Sting and Shaggy Bring Brit-Jamaican Collab to the Bay...

When I first heard that Sting and Shaggy were coming to town, my initial reaction was “Shaggy’s opening for Sting?” It seemed like an odd pairing since their music is so different and the two really weren’t part of the same musical movements when they were coming up. Then shortly later when I learned that they’d be performing together as a duo I just didn’t get it.

The pair that was supposed to play two weeks ago at the Masonic had to cancel because Sting had gotten ill and was advised by his doctor to stay put. But last night he looked in tip-top shape and performed a brilliant setlist comprised mostly of Sting and The Police classics with one or two Shaggy songs peppered in there to make it feel like this was a truly a collaborative effort. But let’s face it, most of the audience was there for Sting, at least last night it was pretty evident.

Shaggy mainly played the role of sidekick hypeman during the two-hour-plus set, much in the same way someone like Little John or Pitbull would alongside a posse of rappers. It worked at times, while at others it felt a little out of place. A few interesting moments in the show included an unexpected transition from “Roxanne” to the Shaggy mega-hit “Boombastic,” as well as a cute kitschy theater bit that served as an intro to “Dreaming in the U.S.A.” This eventually led up to the most heartwarming point of the show as Shaggy orchestrated a heartfelt chant of unison, peace, and acceptance amongst the multicultural folks in attendance.

But all this begs the question, how did this collaboration come about? During an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Sting explained. “He just walked onstage during Roxanne,” said Sting. “I thought it was Sean Paul,” he joked. This inspired them to get together and realized in the process that their voices worked very well together.

Although their voices did indeed work well together, especially on the more reggae-heavy Sting/Police songs, the addition of Shaggy sometimes fell flat. And while overall the show was a good time and lots of fun, for any die-hard Sting fans like myself, you just couldn’t help but hope that the sideman would step aside even for just a song or two. In the end though, this was a small price to pay for a chance to see rock royalty in the flesh in an intimate venue of this size.

(c) Music in SF by Louis Raphael

Sting & Shaggy @ the Masonic...

A few weeks back, my Monday evening started out better than expected, with light traffic, beautiful weather, and amazing parking opportunities. As I approached the venue a man from San Francisco's Masonic Auditorium asked if I was going to the show. I replied, "Yes, what's up?" He said, "The show's been postponed". My heart sank as he calmly explained that one of the artists was sick and they wouldn't perform that evening. "They've already left for the hotel", he continued. What he also said was that it wasn't a cancelled event, so the show would or could be rescheduled for another night. The artist it turns out was Sting, who is touring the country with Shaggy promoting their new collaboration, 44/876 (iTunes).

Sting was forced to put a handful of shows on hold as he rested while getting over his illness. Thankfully the show was rescheduled along with a few others. Our show was just a few nights ago, this time on a Friday evening which tends to make for larger crowds.

Now, a few I spoke to thought that the Sting and Shaggy combo was an odd pairing. Perhaps many think of Sting as that mellow, middle-age, soft-sided singer turning out cool jazzy tunes, yet they'd only be partially right. But anyone who knows the musician knows that he has quite a history in the music business, starting out in the late 70's with the new wave rock band The Police, and spanning the world of music from there on out. His solo career includes rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age and worldbeat styles, and combined with The Police, he has received 16 Grammy Awards along with countless others for his efforts. Shaggy himself is no stranger to the Grammys, winning one in 1996 for Best Reggae Album after two previous records in '93 and '94. His style is his alone, developing his signature singing voice while enlisted in the US Marine Corps.

What set The Police apart from so many other bands was their use of reggae beats throughout their songs. While rock beats hit on the 2 & 4, reggae beats are on the 1 & 3. Combined with an edgier sound and their youthful energy, they won over fans all over the world. Their songs became instant classics and continue to be played on mainstream radio. In the late 90's and early 2000's, Shaggy developed his own sound and grew as an artist himself. He collaborated and played on many other artists' albums bringing his unique flavour to spice up their tunes, so it was only a matter of time before these two artists would meet up and work together.

This year in April they put out their album 44/876 -- a title based on each others' country area codes. Heavy with a reggae beat, this album has sold extremely well so far this year. With over 500,000 copies sold world-wide, it is on it's way to becoming Platinum Certified by early next year. Of course, artists tour cities and countries as much, or as often as they can to promote these albums. It's a good thing that they do because quite often fans miss the fact that these bands have new material that is really good! And these two are no exception. Although heavily laced with Sting's solo and Police material, they were able to seamlessly work 8 of their 12 songs into the set. It was very cool how they bounced around from a Sting song to a new song, then a Police song to a Shaggy song into a combined Police/Shaggy song, and so on. The intermixing was so organic that it made you almost forget who's tune it was, as Shaggy would often take lead on one or the other.

After going on at 8:40pm, a bit later than expected, they came out by priming the crowd with Sting's "Englishman in New York". Twisting the lyrics a bit, Shaggy would then sing "A Jamaicanman in New York". It was a great way to start the show off by showing that they could have fun with each other and sing each other's songs, which they did from then on out. After the opener, they paused for a few moments as Sting addressed the crowd offering his great appreciation to all who turned out that night, and apologizing for having to cancel the originally scheduled show. It was hard on many who travelled from out of town as I did. I met some that night that came from Santa Cruz, others as far as South Lake Tahoe. I'm not sure if they returned, but others did as the venue was nearly filled to capacity. The floor was general admission for this show, with seating to the rear and in the balcony above. Looking down from my perch, I watched the crowd as the band pumped out hit after hit of "Oh Carolina", "Gotta Get My Baby Back", "Angel", and my favorite of the night, The Police's "So Lonely". People were jammed together in a 'sea of humanity', swaying back and forth, singing, fist-pumping, and dancing together during all of these songs and more.

The upper balcony was not much different than the floor, though with a little more space between everyone, and seating. Yet, when songs like Shaggy's "Angel", new tune "Dreaming in the U.S.A.", and The Police cover "Walking on the Moon" almost everyone was on their feet and dancing. And, if you know Shaggy's song "It Wasn't Me" this was the call to get up if you weren't already! After kicking out the mashup of "Roxanne" and "Bombastic" they came back with that party tune and sent the roof right off the building.

This duo may not be one that we will see more from in the future, but perhaps we will? They've turned out a great album and their stage show together is super fun. Shaggy is that kind of performer that loves to get the crowd involved and keeps them pumped the whole time. As he moves from one side of the stage to the other, he makes contact with the crowd while adding his flair to the song at hand. I have to say I was really blown away at how much fun this show was. I hope they continue with their collaboration because it seems to be working quite well. And as they wrap up their North American tour with a few of those other postponed dates, they take this union overseas for some select dates in Eastern Europe and Russia. Let's hope they can spread some love and peace along the way, and maybe they'll come back your way real soon.

(c) sfbayareaconcerts.com by Ken McCain