Sting prays voice will return for homecoming gig
Rock star Sting today said he was “praying” his voice would be fit on the eve of the opening date of his UK tour as he announced details of an extraordinary event next year.
The singer was back in his native North East of England to reveal plans for a spectacular show on the banks of the River Tyne which celebrates the opening of a music centre next summer.
Sting, who has had to cancel recent European tour dates because of laryngitis, opens the UK leg of his world tour in his home city of Newcastle tomorrow night.
He said today: ” I’m praying I get my voice back by tomorrow.”
He was at the Baltic arts centre, Gateshead for the announcement of an extravaganza to mark the opening of the Sage music centre, whose striking glass and steel exterior has recently been completed.
Sting will perform an adaptation of the Geordie folk song Waters of the Tyne while French high wire artist Phillipe Petit crosses the river on a daring inclined walk from the Newcastle quayside, and into the building on the other side.
Thousands of people are expected to come to Newcastle and Gateshead for the event on June 21 next year – midsummer day.
It will be lit by award-winning artists Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer and Sting will be accompanied by the Northern Sinfonia.
The rock star, son of a milkman from Wallsend, North Tyneside, said he was delighted to be performing alongside Petit – his friend of 20 years whom he met in New York.
“This is my home town and it seemed appropriate that I could add something to the chemistry,” he said.
“My idea was that we should use an old song and adapt it for orchestra and voice in a new, modern way.
“It’s important that the tradition of the area will be maintained.”
Petit, who walked between New York’s Twin Towers in the 1970s, said his 170m walk will see him rise 50m from the riverside to an open window in the building.
He said: “This will not only be a walk by me, quite a few artists are joining together and it is going to be something unique.”
Lucy Bird, Sage marketing director, said the building will open this winter.
It will have a 1,700-seat concert hall, 400-seat auditorium and space for rehearsal, teaching and conference use.
The midsummer event was timed to celebrate the Sage’s first months, she said.
“The entire event will be the most extraordinary night and one anyone who experiences it will never forget.“.
