A few years back I was having a musical discussion with one of my old bar mates, as I was wont to do. The above-named Police song was playing in the background. I just paused and said something to the effect of, “These lyrics are so simple and nonsensical, and yet they have more feeling behind them than most of the crap on the radio today.” I wasn’t trying to be a snob about it (as much fun as that can be), but it was like something clicked in my head that made me realize what an awesome band The Police had been. My only mistake at that point was continuing to rely upon a greatest hits compilation rather than picking up all of their albums.
Why am I prattling on about this? Because last night I got to totally rock out at Giants Stadium for one of The Police’s reunion shows. And dammit if they weren’t absolutely stellar. They put together a great setlist featuring pretty much every classic track I could think of (except “Canary in a Coalmine” and “Spirits in the Material World”) and a number of great album tracks mixed in. But this was no ordinary re-hashing of their heyday – Sting, Copeland and Summers are all back in top form and pumped an unbelievable energy back into their music. I can’t wait for a bootleg to pop up at my usual sources, because I can’t even think clearly enough to name all of the highlights (“So Lonely”, “Roxanne”, “King of Pain” and “When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around” come to mind).
I was pretty amazed that being in such a large venue as Giants Stadium did not detract from the show at all. The light and video displays were great, and the band’s chemistry was evident even from up in the thin atmosphere. I hope this tour is a harbinger of more good things.
So here’s a big shout out to Chris for acquiring the tickets when the rest of us failed miserably. He scored back some of the cool points he lost after the Peter Criss post.
