Bring On The Night

In today's rock world only two composers immediately spring to mind whose work commands the kind of attention we used to give an upcoming Beatles release: Prince, the ultra-flamboyant king of pop-rock, whose outrageous antics are equaled only by his musical genius; and Gordon Matthew Sumner, a.k.a. Sting, ex-lead singer of The Police. Bring on the Night, Michael Apted's excellent rock documentary, is the story of Sting's gamble on solo stardom. Having made 'reggae' a household word during his years with The Police, Sting suddenly left the band last year to record the solo LP "Dream of the Blue Turtles". Flying in the face of pop star formulaics, he assembled a backup band of outstanding jazz musicians, holed up in a French chateau, and chiseled out an eclectic mix of jazz/rock jewels. As the film cuts from interviews with band members to Sting's expectant girlfriend to the band experimenting with songs, steadily building towards the climax of the opening night concert, Apted (Coal Miner's Daughter) masterfully captures the nervousness and joys surrounding birth--both of the band and Sting's son. You can count the good rock documentaries available on one hand, but just within the past year we've seen Stop Making Sense, and now Bring on the Night. Highly recommended.