Notwithstanding how much of a fan I am, it was definitely worth the extra $110 to see The Police for a second time on their ‘reunion tour’. I took in their July 25, 2007 show at the Bell Centre in Montreal (click here for that blog post), and last night’s opener of the third and final leg of their tour and career as The Police, here in Ottawa.

Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland looked and sounded very refreshed following a two month break. They opened with a ‘controlled’ version of Bring on The Night with Sting on acoustic guitar and bass pedals which gave the song a presence that could be felt in your rib cage. It wasn’t the whip-the-audience-into-a-frenzy start you’d expect from this tour. It was an entrance full of finesse. They saved the frenzy for their second number, a ripping version of Demolition Man. It was a one-two combination of songs they didn’t include in Montreal and both are very welcome additions to the set.

Sting seemed to enjoy himself much more last night than he did in Montreal. He moved about the stage more naturally and worked the arena with good banter, all in English (Sting has a history of fumbling through his French during previous appearances in Ottawa). He conducted the room through a few ’sing-alongs’ that were more reminiscent of their heyday than last year’s performance in Montreal. Andy also seemed more in place last night and worked the arena on several occassions; a bonus. Stewart is always fun to watch.

At one point Sting recalled a 1979 performance in a theatre here in Ottawa. I remember an article in the Ottawa Citizen (many years ago) with the original Barrymore’s owner about his biggest regret being the cancellation of an appearance by The Police during their first Canadian tour. The cancellation was on the grounds that they were a punk band and he was having bad experiences with the punk scene in his bar. I hereby announce my intention to find out if they did actually play Ottawa.

While there were a couple of weak moments in the show (Invisible Sun didn’t carry enough umph and Don’t Stand So Close To Me remains a near show killer on this tour) the concert was filled with musical highlights like Driven To Tears, Voice Inside My Head/When The World Is Running Down, Synchronicity II, Message In A Bottle, Can’t Stand Losing You, So Lonely and a great if not slightly-slower-than-it-should-be version of Hole In My Life. Noticeably absent was their reworked version of Walking In Your Footsteps and thankfully absent was their watered down version of Truth Hits Everybody.

The concert ended on a high with an edgier-than-Montreal version of Next To You. It was their second encore and, by all accounts, the beginning of the home stretch of all Police collaboration. Too bad, really. The record industry would get a great lift if they produced a new studio album. Of course, this tour was never supposed to happen so we can always hang on to that hope.

Thanks for the Ottawa show, boys! It was great to be able to see you in my hometown. Good luck with the rest of the tour and thanks for the music.

When The Police announced that they were reuniting for a reunion tour (almost exactly a year ago), I told my two daughters that if the band made it to Ottawa I’d dye my hair blonde. I forgot about that. My youngest daughter didn’t. So, when I told to her today that The Police have announced that they’re kicking off the third — and final — leg of their world tour in Ottawa on May 1, she started doing a dance, swinging a pointed finger at me and chanting “you’re dying your hair”.

So, as I contemplate the idea of spreading peroxide in my hair… I am also struck by the fact that Elvis Costello will be opening for The Police on their final stretch. Why is this interesting? Back in the day, Elvis Costello had some unflattering things to say about Sting and the boys.

A concert with two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bands is worth the outrageous ticket price I’m sure to pay.

In an interview with Australia’s TV3 yesterday, Sting said that The Police reunion tour is the antidote that both the band and fans needed put closure to the disintegration of the band twenty-four years ago.

I suppose the suggestion is that the tour fulfills Sting’s commitment to the band, and the band’s commitment to its fans.

On many levels I like the idea that the tour will put a bow on their career and we can all get on with our lives. Yet, part of me feels that the commercial music industry is no longer able to generate strong characters and music. Record companies have become more and more dependent on the acts of yesterday — the acts that can actually write, arrange, record and perform; bands like The Police, Genesis, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen (seeing a pattern here??) — to keep the industry alive. In that respect, The Police breathed new life into an otherwise quiet touring industry.

Which means that if The Police don’t go back to the studio after their reunion tour, the industry is living on borrowed time.

Eavesdrop on some of the conversation as four high-school friends travel to see The Police perform at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Mark, Jay, Franc and Tom recall memories of The Police, being in bands, Loverboy on Good Rockin’ Tonight (with Terry David Mulligan), brushes with celebrity and going to concerts including Sting, Rolling Stones, The Who, Billy Idol and KISS. A post concert analysis takes place on the drive home.

This show qualifies as iTunes explicit.

 

 Roadtrip to see The Police [30:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I waited twenty-five years to see The Police and it was worth every minute of the wait (though, it would have been amazing to see them perform during their original run). I have the photos, memories and the $40 t-shirt (I know, I know) to prove I was there — the July 25th show at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

It’s amazing that three people can create such incredible music. The degree of complexity, simplicity, depth of sound and open spaces is astounding. It’s no wonder The Police have cemented their place in music history and that people are flocking to their shows in amazing numbers and at record rates — makes you think that Sting, Stewart and Andy should seriously consider long term plans including another studio album and a supporting tour.

I was relieved to figure out that the critics of the tour have it all wrong. They have complained about reworked and experimental versions of the hits. Anyone who has seen The Police live, or has watched or listened to any of their live recordings between ‘78 and ‘84 will know very well that the band has always explored, experimented and reworked songs in their live act. In fact, Regatta De Blanc (the song) evolved out of the extension of live version of Can’t Stand Losing You. I will concede that Don’t Stand So Close To Me was a bit dull with the leveled vocal range, and that the smoothed-out singing in Truth Hits Everybody and Next To You took away from their edginess.

Stewart performed in a shirt that read “Leroy Coolbreeze”, the nickname of his brother, Ian, who was the booking agent for The Police (among others). Sadly, Ian lost his fight with skin cancer in May 2006. If those shirts were available for sale at the concert, I would have bought one.

I did the road trip to Montreal for the concert with three high school friends. During the drive to Montreal we recorded some of our thoughts about The Police and concerts. On the way home, we did an impromptu review of the concert. I’ll release some of that audio as a podcast on this site in the next few days.

Would I see The Police, again? Without a doubt.

Click here to see my photos from the concert.
Click here to see photos in the Flickr Police Reunion Tour 2007 group.

From STLtoday.com, the online version of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, comes this excerpt of an interview with Stewart Copeland in which he was asked about his candid review of the first full-length concert of The Police reunion tour.

Q: Do you stand behind what you wrote on your blog about the band’s Vancouver show?

A: It was a private little joke on my private little site. A lot of artists have their own little sites, and mine is where I write a review of all the things I do and where I might give myself terrible reviews.

I might go through a show with a big smile, but an amp might have gone out and it might be what I call a disaster gig. And the audience has no idea. So I was just sharing this inside gag with a few people, and Reuters picked it up and misrepresented it.

Q: How did Sting and Andy react to the blog?

A: My two buddies have a sense of humor. They first heard about it from the wrong side, but then they got it. We can truly say we’re our own harshest critics, and that was the worst review we got. And it was a great gig anyway.

And, for my friend AJ of the Bob and AJ Show, here is the closing quote from the interview.

Q: What reunion would you like to see happen?

A: ABBA. I’m only sort of half-kidding. They did some really good pop songs, though they’re probably pretty ugly now. But we were ugly, too, and we’re still playing.

Photo: fboosman

There is a lot of excitement in the press and on the web about a forum post by Police drummer Stewart Copeland about the rough spots on the first gig of the Police reunion tour (see OUR FIRST DISASTER GIG!)

Critics of the post — and there are MANY — have decided that the post has doomed the tour and that Stewart is antagonizing bandmates Sting and Andy Summers through his remarks. They fail to recognize that the post is both humble and self-deprecating. It’s an honest and humourous look at the first full length concert performance by the band in twenty-three years — that they have to build up their endurance, learn their stage setup and get over their nervous energy of the beginning of a long and demanding tour.

What the critics have failed to acknowledge (or perhaps realize) is that the post is extremely positive. It illustrates the excitement and commitment of the band and the fans. Everyone is getting geared up and the wrinkles are getting ironed out. There also seems to be a recognition that now is the time to fix things up, at the beginning of the tour when mistakes are expected and forgiven.

I am happy to see that Stewart is embracing the new media mindset and is apparently trying to include everyone in the excitement of The Police reunion tour. I hope that all of this controversy that some people have invented doesn’t force the band to keep to itself during the tour and take issue with fans that are posting concert videos, audio and photos on the web.

Photo: Kris Krug (see his Police photos here) — Great photos, Kris! Thanks!

On May 9, Ajay tagged me in a post he did about seven songs he’s into right now — or, at the time anyway. Here is my long overdue list:

• Soldier Machismo - Fiction Plane
• Waste Our Time - The Between
• Pump It Up - Elvis Costello
• Love Slip Up On Ya - The Funky Meters
• The Road Not Taken - Bruce Hornsby
• Walking In Your Footsteps (live 2007) - The Police
• Can You Picture That - The Muppets

I wonder what Bob Goyetche, Jeff Parks, Terry Fallis and David Jones, Chris Brogan and Sage Tyrtle are listening to.

I’ve been waiting about twenty-four years for this. The Police are kicking off their sold-out world tour tonight in Vancouver. Last night they played a dress rehearsal for 4,000 people and by all accounts, they proved themselves a force to be reckoned with now as much as they ever were.

While I’ve seen Sting and Stewart Copeland live (not on the same stage), I’ve never seen The Police. I’m anxiously awaiting my chance to see them in Montreal.

Photo: Kris Krug (see his Police photos here) — Great photos, Kris! Thanks!

Considering I was originally blog-tagged four days ago by Bill Deys (and then two days ago by Charles Cadenhead), I would say that I’m decidedly late getting this post out.  I will spare you the excuses.  However, since I’m so late on the game for this one, I’m reluctant to tag anyone else since I’m probably the last one on the Internet to respond to this.

So, without further delay and in no particular order, here are my seven favourite songs based on current listening habits:

Sting - Fortress Around Your Heart
Xavier Rudd - Messages
The Police - Hole In My Life
Barenaked Ladies - Vanishing
Jack Johnson - Upside Down
Genesis - Trick of the Tail
Colin Hay - Waiting for My Real Life to Begin
Masters of Reality - She Got Me (When She Got Her Dress On)