Gig review: Sting at the Piece Hall, Halifax

Sting live on stage at the Piece Hall, Halifax. Picture: Anthony Longstaff

Sting serenades a packed venue with a selection of highlights from his enduring songbook

For someone who has honed his craft for over 40 years, Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE, aka Sting, is still as relevant in today’s music world as he was back in 1977.

Bringing his ‘My Songs’ tour to the marvellous Piece Hall in Halifax, the former frontman, bassist and songwriter of The Police carries a substantial portfolio of influential and well-known hits.

Throughout his four-and-a-half decade strong career, Sting has bestrode the music industry with a constant presence. He has been nominated for over 100 awards, won over 40 including Grammys, Brits and American Music Awards, and has written some of the most well-known pop songs ever.

Tonight, he is supported by his very talented son Joe Sumner and the alluring Dagny at a sold-out show in the piazza of one of Yorkshire’s favourite landmarks.

As 9pm approaches, the sun is residing and the atmosphere is electric as Sting takes to the stage.

With a myriad ‘My Songs’ to choose from, Sting opens with a euphonic trio – two from his time in The Police, Message in a Bottle and Everything She Does is Magic, sandwich one of his best-known solo numbers, Englishman in New York.

If that didn’t whet the appetite of an already serenading crowd, he follows it with If I Ever Lose My Faith, the enduringly popular ballad Fields of Gold and The Police’s 1979 chart-topper Walking on the Moon.

Sting's show at the Piece Hall in Halifax was sold out. Picture: Cuffe and Taylor & The Piece Hall

With a magnanimous selection of tracks to choose from, the thought that went into choosing a quintessential greatest hits set list must have been thorough. With around 20 albums, including his time in The Police, the song numbers rise into their hundreds.

Sting rounds off his set with Every Breath You Take and Desert Rose, then encores with two classic hits, Roxanne and Fragile.

At 71, Sting is in magnificent form, pitch perfect, joyful and in pretty amazing shape. The set was relaxed, charismatic and a masterclass to songwriting. His genre-hopping covers such a vast range from pop to reggae, with every track established as a masterpiece.