I have been meaning since getting home Sunday night to offer thoughts on what I felt to be a remarkable reunion show by one of my all-time favorite bands, The Police. Here it is Friday, however, and still no review — as my wife pointed out yesterday.
But then I read this review of last night’s tour closer at Madison Square Garden — a show that sounded quite similar to the one I attended, right down to the cartoon image of Porky Pig on the video screen after the final encore.
I was skeptical of the reunion tour when I first learned that they would be hitting the road, interested in getting tickets, but wary because Sting’s solo career has made it easy to forget just how powerful a band The Police were in their prime.
I saw them for the first time in 1981, when they played one of two U.S. shows during a break from recording Ghost in the Machine. The festival show — which also featured the Coasters, Oingo Boingo, the Go-Gos and The Specials — offered previews of the unfinished album (I still remember the band unveiling “Demolition Man,” which fairly exploded from the stage.
Their 1983 show at Shea was just as good. And then they broke up, their clashing egos leading then to disband at the height of the powers.
But that doesn’t really say anything about Sunday’s show in Holmdel (Asbury Park Press review here).
First, the band still rocks. The 18-song set (they merged “Voices Inside My Head” with “When the World is Running Down You Make the Best of What’s Still Around”) offered a compendium of greatest hits, most of them played at a break-neck pace that kept the packed house standing for nearly the entire show.
Second, Stuart Copeland is one of the great rock drummers (if not the greatest) and Andy Summers belongs on any short list of guitar greats. I’ve been listening to the band since high school, since the release of Outlandos D’Amor, and have witnessed their transformation from ska/punk through what I would call reggae/art rock to a sound that defies easy categorization. The musicianship — and this includes Sting’s bass playing — makes this transformation seem natural, especially when recontextualized in concert and removed from a chronological setting.
Third, Sting can still sing rock and roll. (He really should do a lot more of it, rather than that weak junk he has spent much of his solo career playing.)
Elvis Costello opened with a dozen-song set that set the bar incredibly high. (I should say up front that I probably like EC more than The Police, though that’s like choosing between Ben and Jerry’s and Edy’s — that’s to say that both are great.)
Elvis played a lot from his latest, Momofuku, one of the best records of his career (he called it a record, as opposed to “one of those little silver things you throw at your brother”), with old material mixed in.
The highlight of the set, however, was “Alison,” on which he was joined by Sting.
After watching the set, I updated by Facebook page by writing that I thought that if the Police were to be as good as EC, we were “in for one special night.”
We were.
Set lists:
Elvis Costello
- “Stella Hurts”
- “Pump It Up”
- “Either Side of the Same Town”
- “Every Day I Write the Book”
- “American Gangster Time”
- “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea”
- “45”
- “Flutter and Wow”
- “Turpentine”
- “Watching the Detectives”
- “Alison” w/Sting
- “(What’s So Funny ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?”
The Police
- “Message In A Bottle”
- “Walking On The Moon”
- “Demolition Man”
- “Voices Inside My Head”
- “When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around”
- “Don’t Stand So Close To Me”
- “Driven To Tears”
- “Hole In My Life”
- “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
- “Wrapped Around Your Finger”
- “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”
- “Invisible Sun”
- “Can’t Stand Losing You”
- *”Roxanne”
- *”King Of Pain”
- *”So Lonely”
- *”Every Breath You Take”
- **”Next to You”
* First encore
** Second encore
Hank Kalet 