The Police concert--Phoenix, AZ 06/18/07

It was totally an extravagance: drive down to Albuquerque, plane over, two-night stay (the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass resort: PDG, I should elaborate sometime).

The tickets, in the biggest arena (where the Suns play), were purchased within minutes of the start of advance (not secret, in-group) sales, but still couldn't get four in a row. So we got two halfway up on the side, and two behind the stage, next-to-very-last row. That's where I saw it, with my 11-year-old son (wife and niece down below); we were supposed to change if there was a break between sets, but alas!

It was one set only, of about two hours, followed by four encore songs (a tip of the hat between two and three). The set list, as best I could scribble it in the darkness (comments only where I feel they're necessary):

1. Message in a Bottle
2. Synchronicity II--"many miles away, under a Spanish lake..."a good choice from their least anthologized final album. This was the song I left there humming; it's also one I don't own in any form! At the beginning of this tune, they brought up the lights they had (physically) lowered down to the band for the first song. What a relief--I could barely see! They didn't bring them back down again. I have the feeling the band may have intervened on the behalf of those benighted ones of us, vs. the usual lighting for amphitheater-style seating. It also introduced the idea of some slides, instead of varying shots of the performers, as part of the package.
3. Walkin' on the Moon (long)
4. Regatta-- ("things that you said")...into "When the World is Running Down; You make the best of what's still around". Good segway, but the original one on "Zenyatta Mondatta" of "Driven to Tears/When the World..." is even better. I mention also that it pretty much sums up Sting's political philosophy in 20 syllables. Not that I disagree in the slightest.
5. Don't Stand So Close to Me--Using the more recent opening instead of the original, overly prolonged one.
6. Driven to Tears--for my money, their best single tune, and their treatment at Phoenix was excellent. The uptempo coda was expanded and given a long, 12-tone guitar chord solo, along the lines of the first, familiar but disconcerting, 12-tone riff solo on the original track. I think it's the best The Police song because it utilizes so well the qualities of guitarist Summers and drummer Copeland. Sting's bass line is a simple counterpoint line any tuba player would recognize, and the lyrics, though brief, are stinging calls out into the "darkness and insanity", as Nick Lowe expressed it. Twenty-seven years old this song, and it would slay if it were released today. (see "Weltschmerz")

7. The Bed's Too Big Without You--My opinion here is, Stewart likes this song better than some of the other lesser ones on "Regatta en Blanc", and by that theory he lobbied for the inclusion of this one. It gives him plenty of chance to change rhythms and bang them out hard.

8. Truth Hits Everyone.
9. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.
10. Wrapped Around Your Finger. This might have been the one where Copeland had some tipani and other little percussion bits with various tones pop up to the stage so he could play on them. I forgot to note it, but it was around here and would seem to fit this particular song. This song's lyrics is Sting near his worst, with rhymes too cute in a song seeking profundity.
11. Doo Doo Doo Dah Dah Dah.
12. Invisible Sun--The slide show of poor people seemed almost obligatory. The kids were getting restless.
13. Walkin' in the Footsteps--This song was totally unfamiliar, but it was so accessible it went down real easy. Something about dinosaurs disappearing; no doubt ironic. Is there to be a release of new The Police music?
14. I Can't Stand Losing You into another Regatta ("ee-yo--ee-yay-o") --I think they overdid the "ee-yo" bit a little. And they didn't get such great audience reaction on it...I think their arrangements (and the drumming, of course) are reggae enough; they don't need to go all Ras Tafar I with their vocals. Did I mention that, after a song or two to warm them up, Sting's vocal cords were in great shape? And that, though his moptop is grey-turning-white, Stewart is in great shape, and showed himself totally committed to the performance?
15. Roxanne-- I suppose the surprise was that they didn't open with it, but ending the main set also makes perfect sense. No problem generating plenty of audience support for encores coming out of that.

Encores
16. King of Pain--does that make two from "Synchronicity"?
17. So Lonely--Or, as my son likes to sing, Southwest style: "Chi- Potle"
18. Every Breath You Take--probably their most popular single, after "Roxanne" (and, it is an honor worth contesting). Once they'd played that, I knew we were on short rations. They pretty much covered all the major The Police cuts, staying away from songs with piano for fill, with the possible exception of the catchy, but confused "Canary in a Coalmine". We're past that now; we all know the ambience is cascading.
19. All I Want Is To Be Next to You-- "But dig, I just can't DO that", as Jimi said. Just in case there's any scores to be taken, one might think uncharitably.

I don't actually know if Trudie is travelling with Sting and the Boys, but I'd guess "yes". Word in the stands was that it was Sting's own son who did the bass/lead vocals role for the warmup act, a band called "Fictionplane". They had a pretty neat logo, based around a Rorshach-looking pair of ballerinas holding pistols, with the words below it: "The Right Side of the Brain." Could it be the cover of their new album they were hawking? I don't know, didn't care much. Professional presentation, but I'll withhold comment on the substance.

The concert as a whole rates about a 95; a solid "A". I'll check in with the ratings in the fashion I proposed elsewhere. As I would an album. Directly (meaning "when I get around to it").

My feeling was, the personalities involved in the band are very volatile. I feel it's unlikely they will play together more than a tour or two (in this incarnation), so this was a must-see.