I'll start by saying to Pete, the guy that started and managed this list...
after all of these years it was an absolute pleasure to meet you and your
words here simply reinforce what Joanne has already written about you!

As for my thoughts on the evening. I have to say that I've been very
excited since the Grammy's but had my enthusiasm under control until I
stepped off the plane in Vancouver yesterday. I felt like I was 16 again...
as I was about to go and see my favourite band in the world. Of equal
enjoyment was the chance to meet people I've had discourse with over the
years on this list... I'm sorry that I didn't get the chance to meet
everyone as there were many pre-show get-togethers at various locations.
For those of you at the Shark Club, Mario, Joanne, Pete, Mrs. G, Heather,
Kim, etc, it was a pleasure. To Ross and Bruce and Dietmar and Giovani and
so many others, I hope we get the chance to shake hands and share a laugh at
another show (Toronto or Montreal per chance) or to continue with our
thoughts on this list.

Okay, enough niceties...let's get to the real deal. As I mentioned after
the show last night to the table of people who had experienced what I had...
The show was AWESOME. I find it difficult to say much more. I mean really,
we just saw the Police live on stage in an somewhat intimate or exclusive
setting with warts and all. (Pictures and video to be shared soon somehow)

However, with that being said, I can certainly cast a critical eye on the
show and discuss my opinions, but I'll leave the bulk of that discussion for
a while until more and more of us have had a chance to see them play and
they themselves have had a chance to fiddle with the show after feedback
from more audiences.

I'll make just a few comments:

- Sting's bass playing was very impressive, I saw some things last night I
haven't seen from him before, in particular some speedy fingers to go with
his usual thumb work. His usual solid tone.

- The sound system was incredibly clear and not ear-drum bleeding loud...
Could actually have been a titch louder... But it was very impressive to
hear the everything clearly and actually hear the vocals over top of a
brilliant guitarist and known drum monster.

- Speaking of drum monsters, Stewart continues to be one of the hardest
hitters I have seen but he's by far and away got the fastest hands I can
think of. He's got a couple of moves that may be new as I don't remember
them (He loves to raise his snare hand above his head and hang there for a
second before coming down and hitting the snare - kind of like some weird
marching band move) but when he's doing his customary wrist snapping
thang... man he's got the tightest, loudest snare drum anywhere. As others
have said, he was like a kid in a candy store, just loved being on stage
with his mates and his drums! And I loved seeing him tear into songs like
Bed's Too Big and Next To You!

- Andy will work himself into show shape - I mean physically that is, I
think all the guitar hero poses and power chords and walking to the front of
the stage to rip out amazing solos and textures really takes it out of him.
But God bless him, he's my fathers age! He's still a brilliant guitarist.
Bar none! He laid out some terrific solos and the usual sonic blanket that
he is famous for, but he did it all on the Strat. And as someone else said,
he only pulled out the Tele once. I'd be curious to know why. And, being
the bad person that I am, I kept yelling "Hey Andy, wrong guitar". But just
to show you that he's got a keen sense of humour - and those that have met
him and read his books will know that he's a very interesting and genuinely
nice fellow - he was wearing guitar straps that had "Oh My God, He Killed
Kenny" on them (with the obligatory South Park pictures too).

Did I love the show, YES. Will I see more shows, YES. Would I make some
changes YES. Is it the best show I've ever seen... well, it was the police
so I'll say yes... but not really. They slowed it down too early, they
stingified some songs that I would have preferred in a more tradition way,
and I would have loved to have heard Deathwish and Bring on the Night. But
they also rocked really hard, played very fast, and el Sting's voice was in
great shape! Unlike some other aging singers, he plays to his vocal
strengths and changes keys and octaves in order to bring out his best... And
you can't fault him for that, I'd really hate it if his voice cracked all
over the place

With all of this having been said, I'll wait to hear the opinions of others
as the tour progress, and see what our dynamic blonde trio pull out of the
hat as they take the world by storm (to quote Miles from many years ago).

With much love, respect and all things Police

David

PS - Oh yes, about the merchandise, yes it's expensive ($25 - $50 for most,
$150 - $450 for jackets - all in CDN dollars), and in my opinion there is
very little that is newly designed. Most of it looks like left-overs from
the 1982 and 1984 piles in the warehouse with some newly created retro stuff
to go with it. Why are they selling Ghost in the Machine digital images and
Synchronicity stripe stuff? I'd say there has been very little creativity
going on, but there are like 200 different items you could purchase. My
favourite was the Synchronicity Onesie for my 11 month old daughter... Gotta
start the love afair early!

Cheers

-----Original Message-----
From: police-bounces+david.hooper=rogers.com@mailman.xmission.com
[mailto:police-bounces+david.hooper=rogers.com@mailman.xmission.com] On
Behalf Of Pete Ashdown
Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 5:31 PM
To: police@mailman.xmission.com
Subject: [Police] Truth Hits Everyone

It was about ten years ago that I finally gave up on The Police. Like most
youth, I had a musical love affair with an artist who I felt I identified
with. Around the time "Ghost in the Machine" was released, I became aware
of the bleached trio and found their distinctive minimalism and literary
lyrics something I could not only dance to, but engage my young mind on
social questions, humanity, technology, and yes even politics. I dove into
the Salt Lake punk scene in the early 80's, but The Police retained that
special place as my one and only.

My last opportunity to see them in Salt Lake City in 1982 was quashed by
misunderstanding and mishap. "Synchronicity" was released in 1983 and I
watched in frustration as the band visited neighboring states without
landing in Utah. Although I had been granted a driver's license that year,
my inexperience and youth stopped me from actually pursuing a live show
through a road trip. 1986 brought a new single and the hope for an album,
but aside from a few songs at a benefit, The Police played no more.

"The Police Mailing List" was the last gesture I made towards the group.
Predating websites, established in 1991, it was the first way to connect to
other fans via the Internet. Part resource, part support group, its purpose
in my life evolved from essential, to albatross, to tombstone as the years
rolled on. Eventually the emails were automatically filed in a folder that
I never read. With so many other priorities in my life, the ghosts in my
music collection collected dust and fell behind more innovative, younger
talents. I married, had children, worked around the clock on a business I
was obsessed with, and ran for political office. Music was the least of my
concerns.

I do not pretend to understand the full depths of their reunion tour.
Like most, I suspect the oceans of cash promised to the trio has something
to do with it. I eagerly poured in a couple buckets of my own for the
opportunity to see them in Denver and Los Angeles. On top of astronomical
ticket prices, I bought into the "Fan Club" which promised premium seating,
but did not deliver over the codes supplied to me by friends who were
members of the "BestBuy Club". Let the corporate priority be known.

A bone was finally thrown to the long suffering fans. A "dress rehersal"
the day before the opening date in Vancouver, B.C. was promised with
"limited tickets" for those fans who had purchased their memberships earlier
in the year. Astoundingly, the tickets would be only $50. In spite of the
round-trip cost, this still seemed like a bargain to me. Priority seating
through a gouging merchant like Ticketmaster is one thing, but if you really
want the sucker on the hook, promise an exclusive. I bought in.

My seats weren't great, but through a stroke of luck, my 16-year-old
"mailing list" finally paid off. A friend who had flown all the way from
Portugal was upgraded to the front row because his wife was pregnant. He
gave his 11th row ticket to me.

The Police played for about two hours that night. They covered the spectrum
with hits and some of their under-appreciated work. The light show was
spectacular, the political messages still applied through songs like "Murder
by Numbers" and "Invisible Sun", and the men who could not be called boys
executed a capable and entertaining show.

A few months back, I watched a BBC rebroadcast of these same three people at
Hatfield Polytechnic before their first American tour was launched 30 years
ago. This was not the same show presented by three aging men in Vancouver
in 2007. Returning to a club with fellow fans to discuss what we'd just
seen, one individual asked deep probing questions like, "Do you think it was
right they reunited?" He eventually disclosed he was a psychiatrist. The
woman sitting next to me told a tale of woe where she had won concert
tickets in the 80's only to have them torn up by her father in front of her
face. The junior high-school class she now taught was excited that "the
band that Mrs. G liked" was going to be in town. I showed off the baby
onesie I purchased, the only piece of overpriced memorabilia that I found
any interest in, to another grown man who then revealed he had purchased the
same thing.

My fellow fans were no longer "some kid" and "that girl". They were people
with their own families, passions, careers, and lives that had grown over a
quarter-century. Sting, Stewart, and Andy were old, but as they sang, the
"truth hit" me, and I realized I was too.




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