On Friday night, I was having dinner with a friend who excitedly told me that she had managed to get a ticket for the premier of "Everyone Stares" at Sundance. She told me it was a film about the police, but it took my addled mind a few minutes before I realized that was a proper noun, "The Police". I hadn't thought about the band for many years believing that anything new from them would come in the form of rereleases and DVD versions of videos I already had. Finding myself in Park City on a business matter, a friend and I decided to go hit the "wait list" for the same premier today at 3:00. I've had good luck with this in the past at Sundance, only being turned away once for a midnight showing of "Orgasmo". We got there two hours early and ended up with numbers 81 and 82 for the show. Pretty good as related by the staff there. We had a good chance of getting in. We did get in. Balcony seats, which actually turned out to be a good thing, as I will explain later. Stewart Copeland bought an 8mm audio/film camera on the first Police tour of the states as they pulled through Arizona. He found it an amusing diversion from being on the road, but had no intention of making it into a documentary later. As he related it, the films sat in shoe boxes until he realized that his computer equipment would make it easy to edit the random footage into something worth showing. The film stretches from that first US tour though tours throughout the world climaxing with the US Festival show after the release of Ghost in the Machine. If "Police Around The World" is the definitive capsule of what happened on stage, "Everyone Stares" is a view from behind the stage. It shows the trio carrying their own kits to motels in the beginning to flying on private planes and helicopters in the end. It shows onslaught of fans and carries Stewart's musings as to the nature of fame and fortune. It is a fantastic time capsule that is rare amongst bands that we should be grateful to Stewart for taking the time not only the beginning but in putting for the effort now to share it with us. It was amazing to see such incredible moments as composing "De Do Do De Da Da" and shooting videos and cover shots. I think everyone was interested in the motivations behind the conflict in the trio, and although it was lightly touched up on in narration of the "Ghost in the Machine" Montserrat sessions, it was apparent that Stewart wanted to end the film on a high note. This is perhaps why "Synchronicity" was not delved into, although I wanted to ask him why the film ended in 1982, I was not fortunate to be called upon for a question. I would have also liked to see some interviews with the other Copelands and Sting and Andy. My friend summed it up best as a "film postcard". Something that is fun to watch, aside from the nausea inducing shaky-cam (my friend nearly barfed, if we were on the main floor, I'm sure he would have), but nothing deeply revealing. There were also tantalizing bits of remixed Police songs that will require permission to release. Particularly, a version of "Tea in the Sahara". Stewart said he had done these in his spare time, but needed two other people's permission to let them out. Andy was in the audience and gave the thumbs up, that leaves only Sting. I was also surprised to hear Stewart say that he originally thought "The Police" were on a sabbatical and he seemed amicable to a reunion tour, which someone asked about in the audience. He did make it clear that this too hinges on group approval, which is not likely to happen. The film is dedicated to the memory of Kim Turner, who I hadn't realized had passed in 2003. Kim was the only person from the organization who ever emailed me thanking for the effort of starting this mailing list. I can understand how the trio have felt like they were under the public microscope many times, I'm thankful to Stewart for giving us yet another lens.