Usually I try to avoid watching award shows. I never see the movies, TV shows or listen to the music that is rewarded at these "mainstream" events. If I do tune in to the Academy Awards or the Juno's or even the Grammy's, it's because of that, "hard to turn away from a car crash" mentality again. When I heard the Police were getting back together for the Grammy's I figured I should for the sake of this blog and my own curiosity watch at least the first few minutes. Fortunately, the Police opened the program, It wasn't too disappointing, Sting looked literally pumped in his tight sleeveless t-shirt, Andy Summers has that Paul McCartney-neck thing happening and Stewart Copeland (with his glasses) looked even more intelligent than Sting thinks he is. I love the song Roxanne, (my kid's said, "this is the original?" they have only heard the Moulin Rouge version) but what's with the annoying middle instrumental bit, Sting couldn't remember the second verse? and couldn't he reach up an octave higher during the chorus? Don't get me wrong, I like the Police, well I loved them circa, their first two albums. They got too big, then their music got too commercial and boring and I never felt a love for Sting. Outlandos d'Armour and Regatta de Blanc were excellent albums to me they never topped, this was when they were at their punkiest and best. With the help of MTV and the music video craze, their follow up albums sold massively worldwide, and they became huge and so did Sting's ego.
As expected, the Police announced dates for their first North American tour in 23 years. I saw them on their last tour (Synchronicity tour) at the Winnipeg Arena back in 83 or 84. I remember this show clearly, I worked at the concessions so I could get into the show, I worked only during the warmup band and the intermission, then I was able to escape to see the whole Police set. I remember it being swelteringly hot sitting in the upper deck looking right down onto the band, it felt very surreal, I didn't care for their newer material on vinyl, but it sure sounded great live. This was a concert experience that I will never forget, it probably was the first time (and wouldn't be the last) I saw a band without a friend with me, it was a chance to really savour the moment. This was well before I taped shows, which is too bad because I don't think there's a recording out there for this show. I remember the awful opening act was the Thompson Twins, a band I despised, probably the worst band of the 80's. This gave you an idea of what kind of audience the Police were then attracting, so it was cool they were still able to please an old die-hard like myself.
Tickets for the 2007 tour will probably reach unbelievably high prices and they will only be playing in hockey arenas and football stadiums, but like all major reunion tours, the fans will be a little older (need to sit down) and a lot richer than they were the first time around.
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR ITINERARY 2007
28 May GM Place, Vancouver BC
06 Jun Key Arena, Seattle WA
09 Jun Pepsi Center, Denver CO
15 Jun MGM Grand Garden, Las Vegas, NV
16 Jun Bonnaroo Festival, Manchester, TN
18 Jun US Airways Arena, Phoenix, AZ
26 Jun American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
30 Jun New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA
02 Jul Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO
22 Jul Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
25 Jul Bell Centre, Montreal, PQ
28 Jul Fenway Park, Boston, MA
01 Aug Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
03 Aug Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
additional dates may also include (closer to home), Minneapolis and Edmonton.
POLICE- Grammy Awards, February 11, 2007
Roxanne (live) mp3
Roxanne (live) video (Youtube)
