Sting‘s on the road with his latest musical project, Sting 3.0: a “power trio” with himself on bass, Dominic Miller on guitar and Chris Maas on drums. If that lineup sounds familiar, it should: Sting’s former band The Police was also a bass/guitar/drums combo. Sting says touring with a trio now is all part of his ongoing effort to keep things interesting.
“I’m playing songs that I may have written 40 years ago … so I have to keep my curiosity about them intact. And I do that by putting myself out of my comfort zone,” he explains. “I think it’s a very creative place to be. It’s a little scary.”
He notes wryly, “I’ve had some experience with a three-piece band before, quite successfully, so it’s not entirely unknown territory. What’s very heartening is that the songs are sturdy enough to withstand a lot of stripping away … you just have the bare bones of the structure of the song, and it still gets over.”
Sting also stays on his toes by letting his guitarist choose a song in the middle of the performance.
“Dominic, who has a fantastic memory, will challenge me with with a song that I only half know,” he chuckles. “And I have my heart in my mouth, I’m wondering, ‘Is he going to ask for something that I don’t really know?’ But so far, it’s proved okay.”
In between the trio’s theater shows, they’re also co-headlining stadiums with Billy Joel, which will continue into 2025, along with a European tour. And Sting says he has no intention of slowing down.
“No, I don’t really want to stop. I mean, I walk out in front of 15, 20,000 people most nights and they’re pleased to see me,” he says. “You don’t want to give that up!”
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