The Police Concert

Well, it was awesome! I expected nothing less. Our seats were exactly what we expected for $15 each.... directly behind the stage, toward the top. But hey, we were just glad to be there. I totally had a goofy grin on my face the whole time, and I couldn't help giggling a lot.

(The view from our seats.... with a not-so-great cellphone camera.)

Sting is absolutely amazing. It sounds totally cliche, but he is truly a very talented musician. Not only are his songs interesting musically, but his lyrics are intelligent and clever. Andy Summers was intense and serious, and played incredibly well. Stewart Copeland just cracked me up... he always had this huge grin on his face. He has so much energy. He looked like he was having a blast. And did I mention that Sting was incredible? I could listen to his voice all day long. The music was even better than on their recordings. They are amazing... no bells and whistles.... just 3 really talented guys making great music.

They started with "Message in a Bottle," and followed with:

Synchronicity II

Walking On the Moon

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

The Bed's Too Big Without You

Truth Hits Everybody

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

Wrapped Around Your Finger

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da

Invisible Sun

Walking in Your Footsteps

Can't Stand Losing You

Roxanne

First encore:

King of Pain

So Lonely

Second encore:

Every Breath You Take

Next to You

A lot of people complained that the performance veered to much from the original, but I thought it was just enough to make it interesting (why would you go to a live concert if you want to hear music played exactly as it is recorded?), but not enough to alienate.

HIGHLIGHTS:
- Singing along with Sting. "Walking on the Moon" and "King of Pain" were especially fun.
- Snagging a FREE on-street parking space directly across the street from the arena. Sweet.
- Sting shouting "Phoenix, Arizona" three times during "So Lonely."
- Copeland running around the stage like a kid.

LOW POINTS:
- Stepping in the beer that the guy next to me spilled.
- The opening act, "FICTIONPLANE." There were terrible. I wondered how such a stinking awful band could have been opening for "The Police" until I learned that Sting's son, Joe Sumner, is the guitarist and singer. They had a couple of songs that were decent, and the last one was totally offensive and disgusting. Most of them were just plain boring. Basically, they were totally unoriginal.

Since we didn't have to pay $20 for parking, Jay decided we should buy a shirt. It's very UNFLATTERING on me, but I still like it.Check out this slide show of the concert. If you look really closely, you can see me. :)