English
Sting, Trudie: Beard Good for Sex Life
 Trudie Styler and Sting |
To shave or not to shave: As Sting and the Police head to their final show ever at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, a non-musical controversy has reared its head or, rather, neck: whether or not Sting should get rid of the rapidly graying growth he’s displayed since The Police began the last leg of their tour on May 1.
Sting bristled at the idea that the beard had been a turn-off. “The ladies love it!” he declared Monday night after The Police finished the first of two shows at Jones Beach with Elvis Costello and The Imposters.
His assertion was ratified by witty wife, Trudie Styler, who added, rather colorfully, that the beard stoked her sexual ardor.
“I like it,” she professed with characteristic British playfulness, although only at certain times that cannot be addressed in this column. (Note to pal Madonna: Styler absolutely refused to give us any scandalous tidbits about the recent A-Rod dust-up. She’s a loyal friend!)
Still, it seems that a feature of Thursday’s show, a charity fundraiser for PBS featuring The B52s as opening act, may be a public elimination of the cantankerous mask either by straight razor, scissors, hedge clippers or a combination of all three before The Police tour ends and the rocker heads to Tuscany for retreat.
And if Monday night’s show is any indication, the big finale on Thursday should be memorable musically, as well. The first Jones Beach show featured some of The Police’s more brilliant musicianship, with Andy Summers pulling off several sterling guitar solos and Stewart Copeland banging his gongs with extra power as Sting led them through a set list that combined different parts of this 15-month tour.
Highlights included the rousing “Hole in My Life” and “Can’t Stand Losing You” from the first Police album and rockers like “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and “Demolition Man” that remain as supple as their two-decade-old-plus original recordings.
Uniquely the Police songs seem to have their own elasticity and resonance: They don’t get old no matter how many times you hear them because Sting’s arrangements have kept them fresh.
That was made clear not just by the official performances but by the sound check in the afternoon. That was when about three dozen fans who’d won contests through charities Unitus: Innovative Solutions to Global Poverty (www.unitus.com) got to test out their, uh, amateur vocal abilities on stage with the group on songs such as “Every Breath You Take.” Ouch!
Opening performer Costello, who’d been jamming with the group just before, was seen scurrying to his dressing room as Sting’s songs faced this good-natured test of resiliency.
Monday night’s show featured Sting duet-ing with Costello on his signature hit, “Alison,” a kind of historic moment in rock history that I hope someone got on video for YouTube.
The pair, who were never close during their rise to fame and fortune in the early ’80s, make such a compelling duo that they are planning to combine forces in Paris this November when they sing in a new opera by Costello keyboardist Steve Nieve called “Welcome to the Voice.”
In the meantime, the Police will tape a last TV appearance Wednesday at the Apollo Theater for Costello’s upcoming Sundance Channel series.
Source: Fox News
More Top News
Hollywood heavyweights Robert De Niro and Al Pacino reunited on the red carpet in New York Wednesday night for the premiere of their new crime thriller “Righteous Kill” — their first film together since making 1995’s “Heat.”
The movie also stars
The Pakistani Army has been given orders to retaliate against any unilateral strike by the Afghanistan-based US troops inside the country.
Army Spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed the orders in a brief interview with Geo News on late Thursday night.
The
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he will not accept military action or new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear activities.
“We should not take any unilateral steps. It is not acceptable to opt for a military scenario. It would be dangerous,”
As the world marks the seventh anniversary of 9/11, some European experts say security improvements in the US have been undercut by fairly basic mistakes. Among the remedies is more trust in America’s laws and allies.
Seven years after the attacks
David Miliband has allegedly come in for a rather undiplomatic tongue-lashing from his Russian counterpart.
The Foreign Secretary was apparently given a furious dressing down by Sergei Lavrov over the telephone.
Mr Miliband’s criticism of Russia’s recent incursion into Georgia is believed
PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa - A South African judge ruled Friday that prosecutors were wrong to charge ANC President Jacob Zuma with corruption, effectively clearing way for the 66-year-old former freedom fighter to become the country’s next president.
Judge Chris Nicholson’s ruling
Thailand’s political turmoil deepened Friday when the ruling coalition failed to turn up to parliament to reelect leader Samak Sundaravej as prime minister.
Lawmakers from the six-party coalition did not attend an emergency session of parliament called to choose a prime minister, three days after a court stripped Samak of power for accepting payments for hosting
Feeds