Intermission

Sting's concert in Poznań, part of his Symphonicity tour, was a night to remember, not least because it coincided with the official opening of the new city stadium. The 59-year-old Brit unleashed one hit after another for well over 2 hours and a half and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra fit the occasion and the venue just fine. For one thing, it added a sense of grandiosity to the event. It should also be held responsible for turning the volume up to the point where it brilliantly interplayed with the size of the stadium.

One funny thing halfway through the gig was how the audience fell completely short of grasping what Sting said before playing the last song before the break. Without caring too much whether people would be able to understand him or not, he muttered something like: "We're gonna have a short intermission after this one and then we'll come back to have some more fun". Few seemed to have got that, so the stadium roared for encores when the artists got up to leave the stage and it wasn't until the organizers explained what was going on when Sting's Polish fans relaxed. So much for Poles and their growing command of English.