ron hits it right on the head: if they did reform, there is NO question stewart would be stirring the drink. i was at the osyterhead show last nite (11/14). i am still awestruck at seeing stewart play live for the 1st time. awestruck... best, rich --- Dogstar112@aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 11/14/01 7:20:25 PM Eastern Daylight Time, shivu25@hotmail.com writes: << Hi Gang - Im new to the list. Big fan of the Police and especially Stewart.
Shivu Rao San Francisco, Calif. USA
Hello - anyone out there>?
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Hey Shivu, Welcome to the list. I'm a big Stewart fan too. I'm a drummer hugely influenced by him. Actually about two hours ago I got back from seeing Oysterhead for the second night in a row at Roseland here in NYC. Here's a review of last night's show:
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Got to Roseland a couple hours before the doors opened and managed to get up against the stage barrier. It was quite a show. As a drummer, I'm glad to see that Stewart still has it. Actually he was better than the last time he played in NYC in 1994. The crowd was mostly Phish-heads, then Primus fans. Only saw a couple Police shirts, but Stewart got a lot of the applause. He definitely won them over. There were a couple calls from the audience for Walking On The Moon, but they didn't play it.
The band was really incredible. This is a musicians band for sure. Oysterhead is basically three phenomenal musicians who can't write a song to save their lives. That's ok, they know it. That's not what this project is about. It's not about the songwriting. It's not about melodies and harmonies. It's about putting three animal musicians together and letting them explode all over the place.
Stewart got to ham it up during Wield The Spade. Standing behind his second drumset near the left side of the stage, under a spotlight he recited the words with the animated conviction of a godlike dictator. Looking in a handheld mirror and raising his arms up to command the audience while he shouted "Wield The Spade!!" I couldn't help thinking of Bono's "Macphisto."
Les Claypool, as always is quite a character. I was focused on Stewart for most of the show but Les managed to tear me away a number of times.
I can see that if the Police ever did get back together Stewart would still be able to drive that band. No wonder Sting doesn't want to do it. He wants to be the leader, completely in control. And with Stewart in the band you have to know your place. Too bad they're both incredible musicians. Guess their ego's just can't handle it.
The average age in the audience was about 17 years old. More weed than I've ever seen at a show. I felt like the old man without a joint.
While waiting on line before the show some interesting conversations were overheard among the young naive little tykes. One guy claimed that Sting is bigger than the Police ever were. (Anyone here think Sting could sell out Shea Stadium in a couple hours?) Another guy thought a Police reunion wouldn't be a big deal. (Guess he never heard of Miles Copeland - who would most likely book it as the second coming of Christ). I'll let them slide since they probably weren't even born when the Police were still a band. But even so, it's sad that so many people don't have a clue of the potential.
For the last few years I've thought that a reunion would be a mistake. That they were past their prime and might not be able to recapture the magic. After seeing Stewart play again I can safely say that they could do it. With the way Stewart is playing I have complete confidence that the Police would still be able to kick every other band's ass out the door.
I took some pictures at the show. I'll let you know if any came out. Later,
Ron NYC <A
HREF="http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/248/r_matthews.html">
mp3.com/driventotears</A>
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