Sound Advice

by Ted S. McGregor Jr., Leah Sottile and Mike Corrigan


He Was Born in the '50s -- With his recent tell-all memoir Broken Music and tour of the same name, Sting is back in the pop culture spotlight. And he was in Spokane -- for the first time ever -- on Monday night. Previously, you had to see Sting at places like the Gorge, so the great sound at the Arena's Star Theatre was a treat. And even though he's been mocked as too New Agey, he proved he can still rock 'n' roll -- at age 52. He dug deep into his repertoire, with near-forgotten gems like "Spirits in the Material World," "Why Should I Cry For You?" and "Synchronicity II." Of course, he dished up the crowd-pleasers, too, like "Roxanne," "Every Breath You Take" and "Fields of Gold." He even paid tribute to what he called his favorite band, the Beatles, with a cover of "A Day in the Life." Now if he'd only taken a couple turns at the stand-up bass, it would have been complete.





Girls! Girls! Girls! -- While many a ladies' night only earns you a cheap hangover, there's a joint in town that'll give you much, much more. We're talking about the B-Side and its new weekly Thursday night shindig in honor of its female patrons. There's no cover -- even for the fellas -- and all night long you can listen to the spinning vinyl of some of Spokane's best deejays: Breezy Brown, Brainchild, Cheddar Chad, DJ Doorman, DJ Spence and SuperVillain. Drinks are super-cheap for the ladies -- only $2 all night long. So go on, get your groove on every Thursday.





Jill's Back -- Lovers of thoughtful singer/songwriters in the vein of Sarah McLachlan and Joni Mitchell should not let Thursday night slip by without checking in with Jill Cohn, a Seattle-based artist performing April 7 at 9 pm at the Blvd., 333 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. She's currently touring in support of her sixth CD, Seven Year Surrender. And she's definitely worth a listen.





Publication date: 04/07/04