Spirits In the Material World

Much to my surprise, I was able to score tickets to this show. Craigslist - and a young lady named Lisa - came through for me.

When I first heard that The Police were touring in celebration of their thirtieth anniversary, I was eager to attend. Then I saw the ticket prices. For the disposable income crowd, I suppose $100 and up per seat is no big deal. I am not a part of that crowd. Strangely, I felt that I would still attend - somehow - but didn't make a big deal out of it. When I started checking craigslist a couple days before the show, I found a fair amount of people parting with tickets for 50% of face value. And then I was in.

What can I say? They were good, but I foolishly expected them to play with the same gusto and vitality exhibited on albums they produced a quarter century ago. Again, silly me. While they were able to summon similar energies for the likes of "King of Pain" and "Truth Hits Everybody", more often than not their tastes turned to more downtempo revisions. Nothing drastic, but enough to suggest that they may find their respective tastes more refined than when they played these songs while in their twenties.

Big points to them for touring as a straight-up trio. They had no back-up singers, no extra guitarist, no keyboardist. While some keyboard intros were replaced with Andy Summers' guitar licks - such as on "Synchronicity II" - Stewart Copeland reminded me why he's remained my favorite member of the band. When required to fill in for an '80's synth - as on the show highpoint, "Wrapped Around Your Finger" - Copeland left his drum kit, climbed back to an assortment of chimes and percussive instruments from around the world, and created a thing of beauty. (EDIT: Here's a link to this performance.) Also, he's always seemed like the one who was having the most fun - even back in the day. This night, he was all smiles, doing what he clearly loves to do. When the show wrapped after three encores, and Summers and Sting headed for backstage, it was Copeland who stepped to the fore, exuberantly thanking everyone for coming out and expressing his joy.

I suspect one of two things will happen. Either the trio will barely make it through this tour and - once again - wall themselves up in their own personal fortress. Or, they'll enjoy it enough to continue. While I'd certainly applaud the latter, experience has shown me that - when I present myself with only one of two options - a third typically seems to manifest. I will be interested to see The Police's third option.