John Hendow

The Police arrived at a perfect time in my musical education. I was interested in punk, new wave, and reggae. Somehow they gracefully balanced these musical styles and found commercial success in the process. Unquestionably, the band did groundbreaking work in the late 70s and early 80s with their defining albums “Outlandos D’Amour” (1978),  “Regatta De Blanc” (1979), “Zenyatta Mondatta” (1980), “Ghost In The Machine” (1981), and “Synchronicity” (1983). I saw them in concert twice during that period and was impressed with their performances.

During the last 25 years, the band has basically been inert. The three members have pursued their own paths and explored new artistic forms. I once attended a symposium on “Scoring for Film”, at which a panel of composers spoke about the challenges and rewards of writing music for movies. Stuart Copeland was one of the panelists, and while I enjoyed his comments, it was much more entertaining to speak with him afterwards about the experience of playing live music.

When The Police decided to reunite for a tour I was skeptical but optimistic. Tickets for the Seattle shows sold out very quickly and scalping immediately ensued. I didn’t manage to get tickets until the day before the second show, and that was only through very good fortune and the kindness of a wonderful friend. Our seats were great and the show was a lot of fun.

Read the rest of this post for my review…

Observation #1: “Here’s my son, he’ll be opening the show”
The opening band was Fictionplane, an up-and-coming trio whose lead singer / bassist happens to be the son of another famous lead singer / bassist. Sting’s son, unsurprisingly, sounds a lot like Sting. I enjoyed some of their material, but I wondered how difficult it must be to tour in support of such a dominant band. Especially being the son of such a well-known artist. Still, what a great opportunity to hone a band’s chops, touring with seasoned pros and playing big arenas.

Observation #2: “Hey, maybe we could get along this time”
One of the well-known historical aspects of The Police was the friction between Stuart Copeland and Sting. Andy Summers, the guitarist, was apparently fairly zen about the whole thing. But Stuart and Sting had some tug-of-war issues over tempo and feel, culminating in some legendary (and perhaps exaggerated) backstage brawls.
At any rate, they seemed pretty chummy last night, and played well together.

Observation #3: “Being zen doesn’t ensure you won’t get lost”
To be fair, this was only the fourth concert of the entire tour. But Andy Summers got lost during the latter half of “Driven to Tears”.  The guitar part has a somewhat syncopated riff that connects the four-bar phrases during the verse. Last night Andy went a musically afield during that section. Sting provided some cues to set him back on track, as did Andy’s guitar tech who tried to mime / conduct those parts. By the time the chorus / refrain rolled around Andy had found his spot again and all was well.

Observation #4: “Just because you get lost once, you can still go for it on every solo”
I love it when a musician swings for the fence. Taking chances during a live show is what music is all about. Andy Summers went for it during every solo, rarely playing something “canned” or just repeating the album solo. That is the essence of musicianship, and I appreciated his energy. His guitar tone is carefully sculped and layered, and he’s a tasteful understated player.

Observation #5: “Stuart Copeland is a much better drummer than people realize”
Most people think he’s pretty good. And that’s an underestimation of his talent. The man is a rhythmatist. Great drummer, great percussionist, great writer. He’s incredibly energetic and intense. He positively nailed the complex percussion parts on songs like “Wrapped Around Your Finger”.

Observation #6: “Sting is good. Seriously.”
I thought Sting to be somewhat over-rated. I recognize he’s very talented, but his superstardom always seemed overblown (to me) although he was a wonderfully evil Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Dune. When he was touring as a solo artist, surrounded by top-call jazz / session players, the band sounded awesome. How could they not? It seemed to me Sting was in good company, and therefore was buoyed by the collective talent of the band. Seeing him back in the trio format of The Police, there’s no denying that he’s a really great musician. Yes, he can sing well. But I mean the man plays really cool bass lines that are the backbone of the band. All this time I thought Stuart was the rock in that band, but last night I became convinced that Sting is really deserving of some of the accolades he has received. With two such very strong musical personalities in the band, it’s small wonder that Sting and Stuart occasionally wrestled over leadership.

Observation #7: “Can I actually be as old as the other people at this show?”
What was the average age in the audience last night? Was everyone in their mid-fourties?! It was like a high-school reunion. I kept looking at people and thinking “hey, I remember when that haircut was popular”. Oh man. Can I really be this old? Is this my demographic? And why am I out so far past my bedtime?

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Overall, this was a solid B+ effort from the band. I would love to see them play one of the later shows of this tour, because I’m sure they synergy and creative energy will only be greater. This has the potential to be one of those legendary reunion tours, and it would be wonderful to hear them record some new music as a result. For many younger fans, this band has only existed on classic rock albums filched from their parents or older siblings. Being able to actually see them in concert, rocking with vitality… priceless.