Sting’s Back to Bass concert at the Big Dome

MANILA, Philippines - Sting will return to Manila for a major concert on Dec. 9 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, it was announced by Ovation Productions. The rocker shot to international fame in the ’70s and ‘80s as the principal songwriter, lead singer and bass guitarist of the new wave rock band The Police and later as a solo act.

Organizers said that tickets to the show are now available through Ticketnet and that the mechanics have been set in place for the refund of tickets to the former venue, ticket exchange for hard tickets/redeemed tickets and ticket exchange for unredeemed tickets (purchased online but not yet claimed). 

Ticket-holders can find the complete details online via www.ovationproductionsmanila.com, Facebook.com/ovationproductions or Twitter:@ovationprod, or call 532-8883.

The one-night-only musical event dubbed as Back To Bass Tour is part of the multi-awarded performer’s 2011-2012 world tour. This December, it’s headed to Southeast Asia, which also includes stops in Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore and Jakarta.

It is in support of Sting’s recently-released three CD-DVD box set collection, Sting 25 Years, and the 12-track CD retrospective, Sting: The Best of 25 Years.

The gig will reunite Sting with his millions of Filipino fans 18 years after his smash debut appearance here in 1994 at the Ultra outdoor stadium in Pasig City, also produced by Ovation Productions.

The concert will showcase Sting’s extraordinary talents as musician, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist through a rich catalogue of chart-topping songs that he created and performed during a successful career spanning more than 35 years.

The concert, which has drawn wide acclaim in North America, Europe, the United Kingdom and Africa, will feature Sting playing his main instrument — the bass guitar — together with a three-man band composed of Sting’s favorite sidemen Dominic Miller (guitar), David Sancious (keyboards) and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), plus Peter Tickell (electric fiddle) and Jo Lawry (vocals).

Among the songs expected to be included in the set list for the show are choice cuts from Sting’s work with The Police, as well as those from his hit solo albums, such as Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Driven To Tears, Demolition Man, Every Breath You Take, Message In A Bottle, All This Time, Seven Days, Fortress Around Your Heart, Fields Of Gold, Heavy Cloud, No Rain, among many others.

The man born Gordon Matthew Summer in Newcastle, England developed an interest in music at an early age and even while he was performing his professional duties as a certified primary school teacher in his home city.

After playing in jazz/rock bands like Last Exit and one dixieland jazz band, where he got the nickname Sting because of the yellow and black striped shirt he wore, he moved to London in 1977 and joined Stewart Copeland and Henry Padovani (who was soon replaced by Andy Summers) in forming The Police.

Between 1978 and 1983, the group released five chart-topping albums and won six Grammy Awards. Its last album, Synchronicity (1983), included Every Breath You Take, which is officially listed as the most requested radio song of all time. In August of 1983, Sting left The Police and went on to record several solo albums.

He made his solo debut in September of 1984, performing versions of Roxanne and Message In A Bottle on all four nights of the fourth Amnesty International benefit, The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball; while his first solo record, The Dreams Of The Blue Turtles, was released in 1985 and garnered a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.

His 1993 album, Ten Summoner’s Tales (which peaked at No. 2 in the UK and US charts), went Platinum in just one year. One of the album’s singles, If I Ever Lose My Faith In You, won for Sting his second Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 36th Grammys in 1993 following his first Grammy Award for the same category in 1987 for Bring On The Night.

As a solo musician and as member of The Police, Sting has received a total of 16 Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award and several Oscar nominations for Best Original Song for his work.

He is a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame.

(Back To Bass Tour is produced by Ovation Productions. Tickets are priced at P15,840 (VIP- reserved seating), P10,560 (patron-reserved seating), P7,920 (lower box-reserved seating), P5,810 (upper box A-reserved seating), P3,700 (upper box B-reserved seating) and P1,030 (general admission-free seating). For details, call Ticketnet at 911-5555.)