Fiction Plane, Ready For Take Off

Fiction Plane, Ready For Take Off

Son of Sting: Aidin Vaziri | How did a little-known band land the opening slot on the Police's much-anticipated reunion tour? In Fiction Plane's case, it probably helped that the group's front man and bassist Joe Sumner is Sting's eldest son. But that doesn't necessarily mean the stadium seats are teeming at show time. "We usually start off with five old people sitting down with their arms crossed and a couple of hot dog vendors," Sumner said, calling from a tour stop in Vancouver last week. "It just makes you work a little harder. By the time we finish our set it's pretty much at capacity." The trio is touring in support of "Left Side of the Brain," Fiction Plane's first album since 2003. While the 30-year-old singer may sound like a dead ringer for his famous father on the single "Two Sisters," it was actually another blonde that first inspired him to take to the microphone. "Kurt Cobain was the first pop star I thought was not annoying and cheesy," Sumner said. "I tried to be like him, but that didn't work at all." Fiction Plane has managed to squeeze in a few of its own club shows during the tour. "We get to connect to people a little closer and we get to play for as long as we want," in those shows, Sumner said. But is the band secretly getting the extra practice in the hopes of blowing the headliners off the stage before the end of the tour? "I did think about that once but even if we did blow them away no one is going to let us know that."