June 2007 - Police - mailman.xmission.com

Vancouver May 30
by Chris Ryan 02 Jun '07

02 Jun '07

I've been lurking here since the reunion announcement. I was on the list in the early 1990s. I was at the May 30 show (the "lame" one). I last saw the Police in Vancouver on August 31, 1983 at the Pacific Coliseum. 24 years later my memory of the Synchronicity show is fairly good, but of course it's a long time ago. I may write a more complete review later, but here are a few of my impressions and thoughts. Overall, although there were mistakes and a few miscues, I think the band played better. I remember them admitting that they didn't rehearse for the Synchronicity tour (they weren't even talking at that point), and the Vancouver rehearsals for this tour have paid off. A related factor is that all three have a quarter-century of additional professional experience. I was tempted to say that the earlier show had more energy, but I'm not sure. There was obviously a huge buzz in '83 because when they played Vancouver they were the biggest band in the world. This energy also carried the 1983 performance to some extent, for both audience and Sting, Andy, and Stewart. However, I don't think I have ever heard a crowd as loud as Vancouver the other night after the first encore. I'm not one for nostalgia. Most bands I listened to when I was younger haven't aged well for me. I listen mostly to new music; there's a lot of great stuff. However, when the reunion tour was announced I dutifully put Message In A Box on my iPod. Most of the stuff still sounds pretty fresh (although aside from the first three tracks, Ghost now sounds muddy to me). That's more than you can say about a lot of bands of the era. But there's something still vital to this music for me. Maybe it's the one band that really means something to me still. So I appreciated hearing "The Bed's Too Big," enjoyed "Every Little Thing," the new "Moon" bass line, and so on. I had a great time. Even "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (the verse, at least) seemed more "Police" to me than it did in the summer of 1983. Unfortunately they didn't play any of my Synchronicity favourites (Synchronicity I, O My God, Tea in the Sahara). Andy Summers had several problems with his guitar; I thought it was often mixed too low. I am tempted to say that the real test will be whether any new material is produced, and if so what it's like. They set the bar pretty high in their earlier career. I think they had an impact partly because they did five albums in six years. Can they do it again? As players, sure. The question is whether Sting can write any decent songs appropriate to the group. I followed him closely for his first three solo albums, thought Tales was a holding pattern, and it deteriorated from there to the point at which I didn't even buy the last (pre-lute) one. The crowd clearly love all three of them; this really struck me and it must have struck Sting, as well. A huge roar erupted when he sang "welcome to the Stewart Copeland show." The Police is almost a supergroup. I'm glad they're back. But I want new material. Better do it quickly; Andy is 64 years old. Chris

1 0

Re: [Police] What a geek I am
by DtmrCls＠aol.com 02 Jun '07

02 Jun '07

it is I've received it through Dortmund largest book store about two weeks ago dietmar Is his photo book out for the masses????

1 0

RE: [Police] Stew's comments being carried by Reuters all over...with headline of "lame" concert
by Gina Ercolini 02 Jun '07

02 Jun '07

This really pisses me off...and, yes, it's pretty bad compared to how and in what spirit Stewart wrote it...Stewart takes the time to post for those of us on SCnet...on a day off during the middle of the Biggest Tour Ever...and his comments are just lifted off his own website, completely extracted from thie context of his sardonic humor and self-depracating manner (pretty much the inverse of 'vitriol' as it was charactertized here) in the usual vein of his Dinner Tales and replicated this way...now Stewart's gonna get flak for giving his fans an unexpected treat during this tour, reports from the scene, and probably from Sting, too, given the way that the petulant pansy comment completely removed from its specific context, a specific moment of a poorly executed jump, and not an overall assessment or general comment like it's characterized here...just to artificially construct tension where there need not be any...f'in awesome, looks like that's the last thing we'll hear from Stewart on his site for a while...thanks Reuters! > Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 07:07:35 -0700> From: dlucky711(a)yahoo.com> To: police(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: [Police] Stew's comments being carried by Reuters all over...with headline of "lame" concert> > Article is not as bad as headline makes it sound...> > Police drummer rips band's "lame" concert> Fri Jun 1, 2007 7:09AM EDT> By Dean Goodman> LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The singer in the Police jumps like a "petulant pansy," the drummer is making a "complete hash," and who knows what the guitarist is doing?> Notes from a bitter critic? Actually, it's a disarmingly frank concert review from the aforementioned drummer of the newly reunited rock trio.> A philosophical Stewart Copeland unleashed his vitriol in a posting on his Web site on Thursday, a day after the band played its second show in Vancouver, the Canadian city where it began its first world tour in more than 20 years on Monday.> "This is unbelievably lame," Copeland wrote of Wednesday's show at the GM Place arena. "We are the mighty Police and we are totally at sea."> Most of the 20,000 fans at the venue might not have noticed a series of small flubs, but Copeland, singer/bassist Sting, and guitarist were painfully aware of them.> Copeland started the show off on the wrong foot, literally. He tripped as he took to the stage, and then banged his gong at the wrong time so that "the big pompous opening to the show is a damp squib."> He did not hear Summers' opening riff to "Message In a Bottle," and Sting in turn misheard Copeland's drum intro -- "so we are half a bar out of sync with each other. Andy is in Idaho."> They quickly recovered, but then Sting got his footwork wrong as he leapt into the air to signal the end to a shambolic version of their rat-race rant "Synchronicity II."> "The mighty Sting momentarily looks like a petulant pansy instead of the god of rock," Copeland reported.> "And so it goes, for song after song," he wrote, with tunes such as "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" and "Don't Stand So Close To Me" reduced to ruin.> "It usually takes about four or five shows in a tour before you get to the disaster gig. But we're The Police so we are a little ahead of schedule," he said.> Fortunately, no fists flew backstage as they did back in the Police's heyday. The threesome fell into each other's arms laughing hysterically, Copeland said.> "Screw it, it's only music. What are you gonna do? But maybe it's time to get out of Vancouver."> The band's next show is set for Saturday in Edmonton.> Reuters> > _______________________________________________> Police mailing list> Police(a)mailman.xmission.com> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/police _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail to go? Get your Hotmail, news, sports and much more! Check out the New MSN Mobile! http://mobile.msn.com

2 1

Photos from Vancouver
by Stingfan222＠aol.com 02 Jun '07

02 Jun '07

Hey there, I'm slowly adding photos from the weekend. I'm also going to put the ones from the Whisky on there but am trying to move those to their own subalbum. Also, I'm not sure if I have all names correct, so if you want to change them, feel free! Michelle ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

1 0

Re: [Police] What a geek I am
by Will Kelly 02 Jun '07

02 Jun '07

I had a follow up appointment with my hip specialist today and ,as you do, visited Best By on the way back home!! They had a rack there with Police stuff on it. I felt rather big and proud when my wife held up any CD there seeing if I wanted it and me responding" got it....got it....got it...in 1979"and then she held up the Andy Summers book. She had me there so I rather sheepishly went to he checkout and bought it! I am looking forward to reading it and was thinking of bringing it to the Hershey concert and seeing if Andy will sign it during the show!!!!!! I have even started coloring my crutches in Synchronicity colors in anticipataion!! Will Kelly ----- Original Message ---- From: Chris Babcock <crisp8(a)cfl.rr.com> To: Police Mailing list <police(a)mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Friday, June 1, 2007 12:39:22 PM Subject: [Police] What a geek I am Ok, so you are the only people who might get this same feeling.... Today it's 2 weeks exactly until I get to see the Police play live. I was totally shocked to realize that, I literally shivered and I feel like jumping up and down. Anyone else getting all weirded out by the fact that we are about to (or for some of you, have just) see something we've been waiting most of our lives for? AAAAHHHH I can't wait for the next 2 weeks to be over!!! Oh, and I"m reading One Train Later, and it's the first great book I've ever read where I keep putting off finishing it because I don't want it to end. Ok, I'm going to go jump up and down now. Sorry for interrupting your day with this silliness. Chris _______________________________________________ Police mailing list Police(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/police ____________________________________________________________________________________ Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. http://mobile.yahoo.com/go?refer=1GNXIC

2 1

What a geek I am
by Chris Babcock 02 Jun '07

02 Jun '07

Ok, so you are the only people who might get this same feeling.... Today it's 2 weeks exactly until I get to see the Police play live. I was totally shocked to realize that, I literally shivered and I feel like jumping up and down. Anyone else getting all weirded out by the fact that we are about to (or for some of you, have just) see something we've been waiting most of our lives for? AAAAHHHH I can't wait for the next 2 weeks to be over!!! Oh, and I"m reading One Train Later, and it's the first great book I've ever read where I keep putting off finishing it because I don't want it to end. Ok, I'm going to go jump up and down now. Sorry for interrupting your day with this silliness. Chris

4 4

Finally back in the group! Please VOTE SOON for Fiction Plane and shout to Holly re: photos
by Stingfan222＠aol.com 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

Still have to read all the posts since I was booted from the list, but can you guys please take a minute to help Fiction Plane out? There is only a half hour window. I have read conflicting times so it's either right now or in an hour. I'm listening to the channel now, but have to feed the kids and may miss the announcement.... They're doing this Cage Match on 92.3 and are up against Smashing Pumpkins tonight. More info at the bottom of this email.... -Call 1-800-923-WTTS or -e-mail cagematch(a)wttsfm.com You can only email once per account, so the more accounts you have the better! I think you can call as much as possible, but have heard the lines may be busy. Thanks! Also, Holly, can you send out the info on where to post the photos from Vancouver please? Sorry, I just got all those up on my iphoto and want to work on that tonight! xoxo michelle in tx 92.3 WTTS has put Fiction Plane into their nightly cage battles. Luckily the band has won the first night without our help but now we have to make sure we blow out the competition. Just like last time! WTTS is an AAA station, so big results could mean big things. Not to mention, the FP boys are personally watching this station. So let's get it together and come out looking for a knockout. The cage match starts at 7:45 central time (8:45 est, 5:45 Pst, 1:45 england?) You can vote once per email account and you can also vote by phone. Here is the link to the cage battle info: http://www.wttsfm.com/onair/cagematch.htm You can listen live by clicking the box in the top right corner of the page below: http://www.wttsfm.com/onair/index.htm To vote on the WTTS Cagematch: -Call 1-800-923-WTTS -e-mail cagematch(a)wttsfm.com ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

1 0

Phoenix June 18
by cprovines1＠aol.com 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

Hi Everyone, I have been lurking for the last few years...I was pretty active on this list back in the "Brand New Day" era. For reasons I won't bore you with, I am going to be in and out of the hospital this summer (perfect timing for this tour) so my husband and I bought 3 sets of tickets in 3 different cities to be certain I could make at least one show.? As it turns out, I will be recouperating and will not be able to fly to Phoenix, and therefore I have to give up my seats on June 18. Before I try and sell them, I was wondering if someone on the list might be interested in a trade - I live in Los Angeles and would love to go to the show on June 20 here in LA.? I got my tickets through BestBuy presale, so they are pretty good seats, and I would be willing to trade for lesser seats.? Otherwise, I will also try to sell them on this list as opposed to trying to make a buck on Ebay... If anyone is interested in either trade or sale, please email me privately. I'm so excited - going to Seattle next week!!! Best, -Christina Provines ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.

1 0

RE: [Police] What a geek I am
by Gina Ercolini 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

I have to say after seeing them 2 nights in Vancouver, all I can think about is when I can see them next...you'd think I'd have had my fix for a while but it's just the opposite...I keep checking StubHub and Greyhound to see what's possible (and I use that term 'possible' in the loosest sense, since I'm already 'deficit spending' at this point...I mean it is time to relive the 80s <giggle>)...I feel like a complete geek but I don't care...I'm surrounded by good company in this regard! <grin> > From: sockii(a)earthlink.net> Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 12:58:50 -0400> To: police(a)mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Police] What a geek I am> > > On Jun 1, 2007, at 12:39 PM, Chris Babcock wrote:> > > Ok, so you are the only people who might get this same feeling....> >> > Today it's 2 weeks exactly until I get to see the Police play live. I > > was totally shocked to realize that, I literally shivered and I feel > > like jumping up and down.> >> > Anyone else getting all weirded out by the fact that we are about to > > (or for some of you, have just) see something we've been waiting most > > of our lives for?> > I literally did not sleep for *4 days* when I found out I was going to > the Whisky show, so...yeah.> > I've got 25 more days to go until Dallas and I'm just DYING from the > anticipation. I wish I was flying out to one of the earlier shows, but > then I tell myself, if I save the money on airfare I can probably swing > another 1 or 2 close-to-home shows this fall...> > sockii> > > _______________________________________________> Police mailing list> Police(a)mailman.xmission.com> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/police _________________________________________________________________ Live Earth is coming. Learn more about the hottest summer event - only on MSN. http://liveearth.msn.com?source=msntaglineliveearthwlm

3 2

Stew's comments being carried by Reuters all over...with headline of "lame" concert
by David Lucky 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

Article is not as bad as headline makes it sound... Police drummer rips band's "lame" concert Fri Jun 1, 2007 7:09AM EDT By Dean Goodman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The singer in the Police jumps like a "petulant pansy," the drummer is making a "complete hash," and who knows what the guitarist is doing? Notes from a bitter critic? Actually, it's a disarmingly frank concert review from the aforementioned drummer of the newly reunited rock trio. A philosophical Stewart Copeland unleashed his vitriol in a posting on his Web site on Thursday, a day after the band played its second show in Vancouver, the Canadian city where it began its first world tour in more than 20 years on Monday. "This is unbelievably lame," Copeland wrote of Wednesday's show at the GM Place arena. "We are the mighty Police and we are totally at sea." Most of the 20,000 fans at the venue might not have noticed a series of small flubs, but Copeland, singer/bassist Sting, and guitarist were painfully aware of them. Copeland started the show off on the wrong foot, literally. He tripped as he took to the stage, and then banged his gong at the wrong time so that "the big pompous opening to the show is a damp squib." He did not hear Summers' opening riff to "Message In a Bottle," and Sting in turn misheard Copeland's drum intro -- "so we are half a bar out of sync with each other. Andy is in Idaho." They quickly recovered, but then Sting got his footwork wrong as he leapt into the air to signal the end to a shambolic version of their rat-race rant "Synchronicity II." "The mighty Sting momentarily looks like a petulant pansy instead of the god of rock," Copeland reported. "And so it goes, for song after song," he wrote, with tunes such as "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" and "Don't Stand So Close To Me" reduced to ruin. "It usually takes about four or five shows in a tour before you get to the disaster gig. But we're The Police so we are a little ahead of schedule," he said. Fortunately, no fists flew backstage as they did back in the Police's heyday. The threesome fell into each other's arms laughing hysterically, Copeland said. "Screw it, it's only music. What are you gonna do? But maybe it's time to get out of Vancouver." The band's next show is set for Saturday in Edmonton. Reuters

6 6