Looking Back on Sting's CT Performances

This Sunday night, we're playing back the Police's 1983 masterpiece, Synchronicity, as the I-95 Album of the Week. You can hear it all the way through, with no interruptions, Sunday night at 11 PM.

That got me thinking about some of the concerts Sting has played in Connecticut. We'll start with the first and only time I saw the Police, in 1983 at the Hartford Civic Center. I was working part time for I-95's AM sister station, WINE, at the time and our Promotion Director had given us the opportunity to buy these satin I-95 jackets with the Synchronicity artwork on the back. Even though I wasn't on the air at I-95 yet, they let me buy one and I was so proud of it. I have no idea what happened to it. I wish I still had it, and I have no recollection of getting rid of it, so maybe it will surprise me in some random box of stuff some day. Needless to say, the show was fantastic. The Police were at the top of their popularity and power at the time and the place went nuts.

Side note, REM opened up the show and their early, jangly sound was not ready for arenas yet. I remember Peter Buck, the guitarist, getting fed up with the lack of reaction from the crowd and saying "You know, 5 years from now, you were gonna say you were here." I guess he got that one right.

There are lots of great crowd videos of Sting in CT on Youtube. Here's an awesome clip of "Desert Rose" and "Every Breath You Take" from the Oakdale in 2011.

From the same show, here's "Message In A Bottle."

And here is a little of Sting with the rest of the Police at Rentschler Field in Hartford from 2007.

Enjoy the album this week. If there's an album you'd like to hear us play all the way through, leave us a comment below or on our Facebook page.