Sometimes It’s Worth Staying Out Late On a School Night

OK. Still vibrating from THE CONCERT, so bear with me if this isn’t completely coherent.

Right. First impressions? For 20, 000 people, we were a very well-behaved crowd, even the sloppy beer-drinkers. Second? Good lord those boys can rawk. Seriously – I was in awe from the sound of the opening gong. Third? Fiction Plane is probably going to do just fine thanks, famous daddy or no. They opened the show with a short set, while folks were still milling about being all excited about Being! At! The! Police! Concert! They’re a young band, and yes, I know a lot of people (me included) thought there was more than a touch of nepotism involved in their selection, but the truth is I liked them – they were a good choice. Shades of Sting in a couple of Joe’s mannerisms (the head tossed back when going for a high note – classic!), but the music, to my mind was way different, and I plan on keeping an ear in their direction.

***

“The stage setup is really simple – it’s the music that’s complex.” - Stewart Copeland interview with New York Post

When I read that quote, I wondered how simple it would really be, and whether or not the crowd would get bored.

What the heck was I thinking?

Stewart started the show off with a single strike to a giant gong. You know how folks talk about shivers running down the spine and hair standing on end? I thought it was a myth, but I experienced both at that moment. It was definitely a foreshadowing of things to come.

The energy only flagged once, and only a touch, which wasn’t at all surprising considering  how long a set they played. AND they gave us two encores. I knew better than to expect anything new (they said they weren’t writing any new pieces for the tour), but I was pleasantly surprised by what they did give us. The best I can come up with at the moment is that they stripped the songs down to their essence, then rebuilt them, stronger, even more technically proficient than before.

***

“Since we haven’t been together in 25 years, I’d like to introduce the band. Andy, this is Stewart” – Sting, on stage, to Andy and Stewart.

I hadn’t really expected any of their much-written about animosity, and I didn’t see any. Instead, there was a very relaxed, “what’s past is past, we’re all grown-ups here” vibe. Most of the repartee was directed at the crowd rather than each other, but you could see that they were tapping into each other’s energy. The guys looked like a band, and they worked well together. I’ve seen Sting perform before on his own, so I thought I was prepared, but seeing him interact with musicians he has a long history with, who are equally as meticulous and proficient – that was a completely different experience.

List Nerds Unite!

Yes – we wrote down the playlist. Sue us.

• Message In A Bottle
• Synchronicity II
• Spirits in a Material World
• Voices Inside My Head mixed with
• When the World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around
• Don’t Stand So Close To Me
• Driven To Tears
• Walking On The Moon
• Truth Hits Everybody
• Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
• Wrapped Around Your Finger
• The Bed’s Too Big Without You
• Murder By Numbers (which Sting introduced to the crowd by saying that when the tune came out in 83, Rev. Jerry Falwell decided it was written by the devil, which confused Sting and Andy to no end, since “we thought we’d written the f*ng song”.)
• De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
• Invisible Sun (surprisingly political)
• Walking In Your Footsteps (They had the coolest background effect for this…)
• Can’t Stand Losing You
• Roxanne

Encore I

• King Of Pain
• So Lonely
• ‘Every Breath You Take’

Encore II

• Next To You

Overall? There was a moment during the show, when I looked around at the sea of fans, the lightshow, and the three guys on stage and thought “this is music history in the making”. And how often does anyone get to say that in their lifetime?

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The Police, Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland, Fiction Plane, Police World Tour 2007
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