Monday, November 19, 2007

The Police: Atlanta, Georgia



Somehow I was lucky enough to see the Police last night in Atlanta, Georgia. After several failed attempts (sold-out Bonnaroo tickets, three lost contests, and insufficient funds from my part time retail job), I was given a ticket to see one of my favorite bands on the last leg of their tour. The Police are composed of Sting (lead vocals and bass), Andy Summers (guitar and backup vocals), and Stewart Copeland (drums).



Aside from some cheesy graphics and being twenty years younger than most of the people in the crowd, the show was amazing. The Police were definitely there to please the crowd; the band played a compilation of their greatest hits, and Sting encouraged everyone to sing along. All the songs were played slightly differently than the originals. A lot of songs combined the classic Police catalog with a jazzier sound, especially in the area of percussion.



The Set List:
Message in a Bottle: The perfect opening song.
Synchronicity II: During this song, the screens (pictured above) flashed graphics from the Synchronicity album cover combined with live footage of the concert. Brushstrokes of red, blue, and yellow swept over the screens, coordinating with the movements of the three band members. These graphics were ultimately the most impressive special effects used in the show.
Walking On The Moon
Voices Inside My Head
When The World Is Running Down
Don't Stand So Close To Me: Very much a jam-version of the original song from the album Zenyattà Mondatta.
Driven To Tears
Truth Hits Everybody
Hole In My Life
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic: One of my favorite Police songs. An absolutely amazing experience to hear it live.
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking In Your Footsteps: For me, one of the worst parts of the show. The screens slowly revealed a walking brontosaurus skeleton: beginning with the bony foot of the dinosaur and eventually panning out into the full form of the creature walking across the three screens. I understand that the song is about dinosaurs, but this display was bizarre at best; it just didn’t fit with the rest of the show.
Can't Stand Losing You
Roxanne: Definitely not one of my favorite songs, but still good. The last song played before the encore. The song was accented by the appropriate red lighting (pictured in the second picture above). This song ended the first set.
King Of Pain: One of their absolute best songs. “King of Pain” began the four-song encore performance.
So Lonely: Including Sting’s somewhat condescending rendition of the lyrics: “Welcome to the Andy Summers/Stewart Copeland show.”
Every Breath You Take: It was amazing to see the mood of the show melt into a sappy, middle-aged love fest. Couples began to gaze into one another's eyes, lip-synching the lyrics to their partners, which is honestly a little creepy when you actually think about the lyrics of the song: "Oh, can't you see you belong to me...Every move you make, every step you take, I'll be watching you." Atleast there was no confusion as to who originally performed the song, thought by many (especially members of my generation) to be Puff Daddy with his rendition, "I'll Be Missing You."
Next To You

Sting has aged well. He seemed to genuinely enjoy performing. He used a brown sunburst bass with thick scratches along the base of the guitar. It looked like it was the same instrument Sting used when the band was still together in 1986 (a year before I was born).

Stewart Copeland still has an ego; he wants so desperately to be a rock star. Every time he played the larger percussion instruments outside his drum kit, he threw the bell mallets to the side of the stage instead of just sitting them down and reusing them. It was a little ridiculous and wasteful, but I suppose that in Andy Summer’s mind destroying instruments (well, tools used to play instruments) was the ultimate display of being a rock star (which doesn’t exactly align with the band’s promotion of going green…).

I felt a little bad for Andy Summers…he aged the most of the three members. At points I thought he was going to fall off the stage…he just seemed so old compared to Sting and Stewart Copeland. He used a red Fender Stratocaster with a white pick guard: the same guitar that chain music stores sell in starter packs for beginning guitar players. My brother has a black one at home. I was slightly bothered by this; the band can definitely afford to have better instruments (after all, Stewart Copeland had about 15 different drums), so why don’t they invest in some Gibson guitars?

I do realize that I have an unusual, obsessive love for the Police and that most people do not share in this worship. I think the Police are completely underappreciated lyrically and musically. The concert was an amazing experience and definitely worth the price of the tickets. The tour merchandise is overpriced though: $40 for a t-shirt is a little exploitative of the dedicated fans that have already spent $100+ on concert tickets.

This YouTube video is a recording of a part of “Roxanne” played during the Atlanta show:


More information:
The Police on MySpace
Sting's website
Wikipedia
The Police Official Store

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well written article.