The SRO Show – Sting/Peter Gabriel
Rock Paper Scissors
Produced by Lawrence Standifer Stevens
Written by Joseph E. Casanova
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It isn’t often that two high-profile artists join for a tour. . . but that’s what has happened with the Rock Paper Scissors Tour.
Two of the greatest front men in rock history, Sting and Peter Gabriel will co-headline a North American trek this summer performing some of their biggest solo hits including We’ll Be Together Tonight and Sledgehammer.
The 19-date Rock Paper Scissors Tour will begin in Columbus, Ohio in June and finish in Edmonton, Alberta in July.
According to published reports, Sting and Gabriel will play individual sets but could “meld their bands to explore each other’s most celebrated songs.”
Wouldn’t it be cool to hear Gabriel’s most coveted ballads, In Your Eyes and Don’t Give Up, sound as sleazy as the Police’s Roxanne?
The same could be said for Shock the Monkey. What if it sounded as melodic as Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic?
Gabriel could make the brooding ballads King of Pain and Fortress Around Your Heart sound as funky and danceable as Big Time and Steam.
He could also transform Sting’s Russians or Synchronicity II into art rock opuses, fitting in quite comfortably on previous Genesis works such as The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Considered British punk/new wave pioneers of the late 70’s, Sting and the Police fused reggae and jazz into their unique style. The trio earned their greatest success with Synchronicity in 1983 and the international smashes Every Breath You Take and Wrapped Around Your Finger.
The former school teacher embarked on a solo career, releasing one of the biggest albums of 1985 with The Dream of the Blue Turtles.
Gabriel led Genesis to the forefront of the early 70’s art rock movement with over the top costumes and performances of numbers lasting at least 7 minutes or longer.
He already had three critically acclaimed solo efforts under his belt, but it was 1986’s So which catapulted him into the American mainstream. Selling over 5 million copies, So has been regarded as one of that decade’s greatest LPs.
In the late 80’s, Sting and Peter Gabriel joined Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and folk music queen Tracy Chapman for the Amnesty International Human Rights Now tour.
With the recent deaths of David Bowie and Eagle Glenn Frey, the Rock Paper Scissors concerts should be on every music fan’s bucket list.
I know where I want to be this summer. Road trip anyone?
