2004-05-07
On 2004-05-07, Sting was scheduled to perform at the Arena in Newcastle, United Kingdom as part of the 2003-2005 Sacred Love Tour. This show was canceled.[1]
http://www.sting.com/news/news.php?uid=3905
The Variety Club of Great Britain honoured Sting on May 7 at a star studded event held at the Civic Centre in Newcastle. The tribute lunch started at 1pm and the fun and entertainment went on for almost three hours. Guest of honour Sting was seated with Trudie on the top table along with Jools Holland and the cream of Geordie musical and acting talent - Mark Knopfler, Jimmy Nail, Tim Healy, Denise Welch, Ray Laidlaw and Robson Greene plus a crop of sporting heroes past and present with Bobby Robson, Alan Shearer, Rob Andrew, Peter Beardsley, Jackie Charlton Glenn McRory, and Jonathan Edwards.
Many of Sting's friends and family were in attendance including eldest son Joe, daughter Mickey, brother Phil and sisters Angela and Anita. Many of Sting's former bandmates were there such as Gordon Solomon (who originally coined the name 'Sting'), Gerry Richardson, John Hedley, Andy Hudson and Paul Elliot. Jim Berryman author of 'A Sting in the Tale' was there too as was Sting's old economics teacher!
Jools Holland, Mark Knopfler and Jimmy Nail all gave heartfelt speeches about Sting who in reply made a tremendously warm speech about how fiercely proud he was of coming from Newcastle and what it meant to him. Sting also broke the bad news that the evening's concert at the Metro Arena had been postponed as he was still struggling with laryngitis, but that he was still going to play at the lunch.
Naturally, he couldn't sing, but at the rehearsals the previous day at Newcastle College, two of the students - Hannah Taylor and Andrew Mockler - had performed so well guesting on vocals, that Sting had invited them to stand in for him at the Variety Club. In effect, he was their bass player for the day! Hannah performed a warm and jazzy version of 'Walking On The Moon' accompanied by Sting on double bass and Gerry Richardson's band, and Andrew provided some gutsy vocals to 'If I Ever Lose My Faith In You', 'Every Breath You Take' and a tremendous version of 'All This Time'.
After lunch, a charity auction was held including two signed Sting Signature Precision Fender basses (raising £4,000 each), a day as an extra on the new series of 'Auf Wiedersehn Pet' (£10,000), a signed mint copy of the Newcastle Big Band album (£1,000), a signed mint copy of Whispering Voices the only Last Exit single (£1,000) and some signed photographs £2,500 a piece.
The lunch reached a finale with the presentation to Sting of the Variety Club's highest accolade, 'The Silver Heart'. After signing countless autographs and posing for hundreds of photographs Sting and Trudie then made took a short walk across the road to the scene of his first paid gig - the Newcastle Playhouse - which he formally renamed as the Northern Stage.
Hannah and Andrew - the two Newcastle College students that sang with Sting - told Sting.com that "There are hardly words to describe the rush of feelings each of us had when we were on that stage! It was an amazing experience that can be rivaled by no other. Sting is a huge inspiration as a musician, and has influenced us both.
"It is hard to believe that 36 hours ago neither of us knew that any of this was going to happen. From the start of the lecture (at Newcastle College), it was an exciting feeling to have a musician as great and well respected as Sting, teaching us about the industry. When we both got up to sing, there was an amazing rush. This rush was not from the audience or the press, but from playing with the calibre of musicians, not just Sting but the rest of Gerry Richardson's big idea. To have Sting stood to our left whilst we sang was one of the best feelings we could ever have."
