Title : Far from stingy prices for upcoming Sting concert

Date : 01 July 2008 1855 hrs (SST) URL : Channelnewsasia.com

SINGAPORE: Multi Grammy award-winning British musician Sting is set to arrive on our sunny island in the very near future. Even better, he has been scheduled to perform a one-night only concert to a 1,700-crowd at the Esplanade Concert Hall on December 8 this year.

In support of a special edition of the critically-acclaimed album, "Songs from the Labyrinth" – a personal tribute to late 16th-century Elizabethan composer, John Dowland (1563–1626) - Sting will embark on a tour of Australia and Asia, joined by esteemed lutenist, Edin Karamazov, who has been Sting’s partner in this project since its conception.

Joining Sting and Karamazov are British a cappella choir Stile Antico, who are featured in all the European performances of "Songs from the Labyrinth" to date, giving vocal accompaniment to some of the more raucous tavern songs and gentle lullabies that are found in Dowland’s wide-ranging music.

While I’m sure many are gleaming with excitement knowing that Sting has chosen to make Singapore one of his stops on his Asian tour, fans should also be prepared for a tight squeeze as tickets are being priced at a low of S$100 and a high of S$600.

The last time Sting was here, albeit a part of The Police, top-tier tickets were also priced at S$600, setting a record for the most expensive concert staged in Singapore.

Previously, the show that came closest to costing this much was The Rolling Stones in 2003 at S$500. This was followed by S$499 for The Eagles (2004), S$399 for Eric Clapton last year, S$395 for Whitney Houston (1997), S$260 for Mariah Carey (2000) and S$255 for David Bowie (2004).

This is of course not taking into consideration hunky South Korean superstar, Rain’s concert in 2007 which saw tickets being priced and publicised at S$888 and S$688 for the top-tier tickets and S$188 for the lowest.

However, organisers then went on to clarify that the S$888 and S$688 tickets were not being sold to the public but were instead being reserved for VIP guests, much to the disgruntlement of many die-hard Rain fans who had been prepared to fork out the money to secure a place in the first row at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The Police played to a sell-out crowd when they were here in Singapore, their only South-east Asian stop of their world tour, which was touted to be the most profitable tour of last year.

So the question remains, with ticket prices matching record highs, will Sting have enough pulling power of his own to draw in the crowds when he takes to the stage?

I, personally, am inclined to think – yes.

Sting’s tour, which opens at the Sydney Opera House on November 30, will move on to the Jockey Club Auditorium (1,000 seats) in Hong Kong on December 10 after the Singapore stop.

Tickets for both Singapore and Hong Kong concerts go on sale from July 7 at SISTIC and HK TICKETING outlets respectively.

- CNA/os

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