What were you doing in 1983? Sting was topping charts with The Police, possibly wearing leather trousers, and definitely penning the sort of heartbreak anthems that still sneak into your Spotify rotation during your more ‘reflective’ moods. Fast-forward four decades, several tantric jokes too many, and a not-so-quiet solo career later, and the 17-time Grammy winner is headed to Bangkok. Yes, that Sting. And on September 25, the man who made melancholy sound sexy will bring his STING 3.0 tour to Bangkok’s UOB LIVE.
While many of us spent lockdown hoarding houseplants and sourdough starters, Sting did what Sting does – wrote a new song. I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart) is his latest, mixed by the ever-decorated Robert Orton and released under Cherrytree Music Company/Interscope. It’s giving raw. It’s giving intimate. It’s giving ‘how is this man still writing songs at 72?’
Beyond the music, the man’s activism has never been a background chorus. Since 1989, Sting and wife Trudie Styler have championed the Rainforest Fund, an initiative that protects both the lungs of the planet and the people who call them home. Add Amnesty International and Live Aid to the mix, and you’ve got someone who doesn’t just perform to packed arenas – he performs with purpose.
The Bangkok show is part of a broader Asia sprint – Kobe, Tokyo, Singapore, Kaohsiung. Tickets range from B2,800 to B6,500 via Thaiticket Major, with fan club presales kicking off on April 28. Mastercard holders get their turn soon after, as do Live Nation Tero members, before the unwashed public storm the gates on May 3.
If you’ve been looking for a reason to feel your feelings in public, this might be it. Just try not to sob audibly when Shape of My Heart starts. Or do. It’s Sting.