While at the “Genius Bar” in the Apple Store, I inquired about the stage set up on the lobby level. “Sting is playing tonight” the Apple staff explained. “Its free”. “First come first serve, just go up and get your wrist tagged”. You could not sell it for profit. Tearing it off made it invalid, but…who would?

The concept was so Steve, so democratic , so Californian, so the 60′s world he grew up in….but also brilliant marketing to introduce the new IPad app, “Appumentary”.

http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/11/15/sting-swings-with-new-ipad-appumentary

Once I secured my pass, I dashed home, grabbed my camera, and returned to claim my third row, center seat when Stings wife, Trudy, walked in front of me and looked directly into my camera. I wasn’t ready! My flash wasn’t turned on. As a photographer, I should have learned by now the best opportunities pass you by (literally) when you are not expecting it. A metaphor for life.  My apologies to Trudy for shooting her without a flash. The shot was almost black but I lightened it to the max. Her radiance still came thru.

Afterwards, she said something sweet, patted my shoulder, and sat in the seat directly behind me.  It was all rather surreal.

Then came her husband….Sting.

We were all overcome with emotion. You cannot compare a concert at Madison Square Garden to a concert played for an intimate group of about 150 people.

He was interviewed first. He told us he lived in NYC, rides his bike everywhere,  and that being famous in NYC was the easiest city to be famous in. “New Yorkers”, he said “are all such strong individuals who all run their own individual show, in fact” he joked…”you’re not at my show tonight”…”I’m at yours”. We all laughed and clapped. He knows us so well.

He admitted he was actually a shy man…and it was apparent during the interview. It’s one thing singing with his band, focusing an audience on the music. Quite another being cross examined by an interviewer on stage with 150 pairs of eyes staring at him.

It was lovely how he continued to look out into the audience to find his wife Trudy and sought out her smile several times throughout the evening, his face beaming with delight each time his gaze met hers. For those who are not aware, the tremendous bond of devoted love and authentic passion they have for each other….is legendary. Together now 30 years. If only we could all be so lucky to find a mate we could have that kind of connection with. What a happier place, earth would be.

He played many of his songs we love and then for the finale, he dedicated to Steven Jobs his song, “Fragile”.

Steve’s passing, though expected, saddened me when it arrived. At 56, his end came too soon. He had so much left to do.  The end of an era of a great visionary who brought his dreams to life and changed the world. You can educate a person with facts and figures, but you can not teach creative genius. It is….or it isn’t. Listening to Sting sing “Fragile” was such a special and fitting display of respect for the man whose life’s work, benefited us all. We were all moved. I’ve included it below with the lyrics.

Thank you Sting for your gift of song to us.

If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the colour of the evening sun
Tomorrow’s rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay
Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime’s argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are
How fragile we are how fragile we are

….Sting