STING

The voice on the phone said this is Kathying calling or at least that is what I heard. She asked if we could accommodate 45 people on a Wednesday night for dinner off the menu. I assured her we could and that we had a bar, wine list and new sushi bar. She called back and confirmed the reservation. I put it under Kathy and that the bill was going all on one tab. I was happy; it is slow during the summer in Red Bank as most people are at the shore.

When the 45 men and some women arrived totting many English and American accents I asked where they were from. “We are the road crew for Sting,” was the reply. You could have knocked me over with a feather. When Kathy arrived I realized that over the phone she said this is Kathy from Sting but I heard it wrong. They were here for an end of a leg of the tour celebration dinner. Tam, Sting's head man, told me that every couple of months he sends them out of a grand night of dining and wine as a thank you for the job they do.

The next six hours were spent serving them and unlimited supply of steaks, sushi, seafood, wines, desserts, brandies and cigars. It was a great night for me and my staff as they were a great group to hang out with. By the end of the evening we were invited to go back stage the following night for Sting's performance at the GSAC/PNC Art Center.

The following night we arrived with tickets and back stages passes. It had been years since I had been back stage there. In the early years of the Art Center I was there almost constantly but that is the next story to follow. We met our friends from then night before and were escorted back stage. As we stood talking to the crew from the night before strolling up to see what was going on was Sting.

He is a very impressive man in person, tall and casual but with a very strong presence. He was very cordial to me and the girls. It took hours to wipe the smile off of my Daughters face. His crew told me he loves touring and is around back stage during the entire night until he goes on. A tour can last for a year and a half or longer. He has home over looking Central Park when he is performing on the East Coast and goes out each night to the gig. There is another in Chicago for the Mid West and another in Malibu California for the West Coast and so it goes around the World. At the age of 55 and being a star for 30 years he has as life style that most people can't even dream about.

We stood back stage for the opening act with Annie Lennox. She was magnificent. We took our seats for Sting as we basically melted into the music, lights, and choreography of his performance. He is one of the great stars of our time. As I sat there I wondered why I had not been here for many years. The Center opened the same year as I did in 1969-1970 and for years I had been a figure in the audience and back stage. Somewhere in the 80’s I had stopped going.

All I could thing of was that we live so close to it we take it for granted and don’t enjoy it as much as those do traveling for miles to get here. It is a magic place when the top stars are performing. I need to make notes to myself to get there more often. I had forgotten what a great mini vacation a night at the GSAC could be. Yeah, I know it is the PNC Art Center now but I have been around for too many years and I will always call it the Garden State Art Center.