Inside Salisbury

By Annette J Beveridge

AN ADVENTURE of a lifetime beckoned for one ardent music fan living in Amesbury when she met her idol Sting.

Jane Davies, 57, had been a fan of the pop group The Police when the band first made the charts in the 1980s. Since then, her love of the group and of Sting’s music has only grown.

An unexpected email from the fan club invited her to join Sting and his wife Trudie at the opening of their new Taverna in Tuscany for an evening of music and wine.

Jane said: “About 100 fans and guests were invited. I had to write back to confirm whether I wanted to go.”

She tried not to build her hopes up and waited with some trepidation to see whether she had been successful. From the time she received the first email on the Tuesday, Jane and her daughter Ellie were at the private party in Tuscany on the Saturday.

She said: “It was that quick. I still didn’t quite believe it until the Friday morning when we went to get on the plane.”

They flew into Florence and made their way to Tuscany.

From the conversation with me, it was obvious that Jane was still excited about the whole experience.

The food and alcohol were free and Jane indulged in a white wine.

Jane said: “It was called ‘Message in a Bottle’.”

Respectful of Sting’s right to privacy and just happy to be there, Jane suddenly found herself near to him unexpectedly.

She said: “He turned to me and asked if I was having a nice time and where I was from. I told him I had come from Amesbury and he replied that he had too.”

Sting and wife Trudie own Lake House in the Woodford valley but also, spend time at their villa in Italy.

Jane’s daughter managed to take a photo and capture the moment. 

Sting made his way to the stage to start his performance.

She said: “The acoustic set was truly incredible. When Sting got onto the stage, he told us he had thought long and hard about what to play for us. He chose songs from his childhood which had meant a lot to him.”

Sting sang Elvis’s, All Shook Up, Paul Simon’s, America and the Beach Boys’ song God Only Knows. He also performed some of his own songs. The acoustic set was performed alongside his and Trudie’s child Eliot, long-time guitarist Dominic and his son Pablo.

In addition to the weekend event, Jane has also managed to attend three of Sting’s concerts this year.

She said: “I just love the music, the songs, and his voice. It is just the soundtrack to my life.

“I was 11 when The Police started. I was lucky in 1983 when I started work and another employee who was also a massive fan worked there. I went with her to Wembley Stadium and that was it. When live, it is just at an upper level.”

Jane added: “It was the experience of a lifetime, a dream come true. If someone had said to me the week before that I was going to be at Sting’s villa at a private acoustic event, I would have said dream on.”