The former Police frontman and solo superstar returns for a welcome homecoming as his kicks off his tour

This relatively intimate night at Kentish Town Forum – the first of four scaled down shows across London this week – was something of a homecoming for Sting.

Sting lived in nearby Highgate (“upper Kentish Town”) in the 90s, he told us, before leaving for a “small house in the countryside… well actually it was more of a castle.” He then movingly dispatched the song inspired by those surroundings, “Fields of Gold,” a ballad so good that Paul McCartney once claimed it was the one song he wished he’d written. It was what we’ve come to expect from Sting: some knowing self-regard with the receipts to back it up.

But this wasn’t a night for indulgence. This version of the man born Gordon Sumner – billed as Sting 3.0 – saw him in back-to-basics crowd pleasing mode. There was no grandstanding on world events, no songs from his array of peculiar projects (no Elizabethan flute, and certainly no Shaggy) and little in the way of the indulgent noodling he’s prone to. This was Sting in his original form: strapping on the bass and leading a three-piece band through a career’s worth of expertly crafted reggae influenced pop-rock. Squint and it could have been 1978 all over again. It suited him.

With his Madonna-style head mic allowing him to meander the stage looking rather pleased with himself, in his tight t-shirt and glowing tan he came over like a wellness guru about to stage a lecture on the benefits of a probiotic diet (though at 74 he looked great, so whatever he’s doing is working). He launched straight into “Message in a Bottle,” the first of 10 songs from The Police, half of the 21-song set, with drive and purpose. While drummer Chris Maas is no Stewart Copeland and long-term guitarist Dominic Miller no Andy Summers (probably just as well given the pair are currently suing Sting over lost Police royalties), they proved a dynamic duo in the way they attacked “Can’t Stand Losing You” and “So Lonely;” they helped turn “Driven to Tears” into an impressive squalling racket. The sinister, deathless “Every Breath You Take” was knocked off nonchalantly.

A mid-section of deeper cuts brought a slight lull, but a forgivable one given the sheer number of hits either side. The soulful, slower solo hits were a treat throughout: “If I Ever Lose my Faith in You” (the line about losing faith in politicians brought a huge cheer from the hungry crowd) and particularly the beautiful “Shape of My Heart”, Sting’s aged voice doing enough to rise to the moment. “Roxanne” might have been extended a bit too far into weird reggae breakdown (Sting does love his “eey-oh” call and response trick) but it was still a fun encore before delicate ballad “Fragile” closed on a sombre note. By stripping everything back, Sting found a convincing way to update his past.

(c) The I Paper by Shaun Curran