Oakland Review

14 Jun 2007

      Hello All,
     It is about 12 hours since the Police left the
stage last night in Oakland.  This is my first chance
to sit down and write about last night.  I will
probably ramble, so stick with me if you can.
     I hadn't paid much attention to the starting time
of the show.  I thought it was 7:30pm.  As I headed
out the door to take my son to the baby sitter, I
noticed the start time of 6:30pm.  Now I am rushed and
in a panic.  It was not quite what I had in mind for
my first Police concert since 1983.
     After dropping my son off, riding BART, picking
up my Best Buy VIP Zone pass (which I never used),
getting molested by security (I hoped they enjoyed it
too), and using the restroom, I reached my seat just
as Fiction Plane hit the stage.  I have never listened
to them.  Not bad for an opening act, especially at a
"lunch hour" time slot.  A stadium is just too big a
place to enjoy a band like Fiction Plane.
     I walked around (shuffled around slowly is more
likely) after Fiction Plane left the stage.  So, I
missed most of the second act (who were they?).  They
had quite a bit of energy, but all their songs began
the same way with the guitar and drum intro.  It got a
bit predictable.
     It seemed like forever before the Police began
their set.  Here is the setlist:

Message In A Bottle 
Synchronicity II 
Don't Stand So Close to Me 
Voices Inside My Head 
When The World Is Running Down 
Spirits In The Material World 
Driven To Tears 
Walking On The Moon 
Truth Hits Everybody 
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic 
Wrapped Around Your Finger 
The Bed's Too Big Without You 
De Do Do Do De Da Da Da 
Invisible Sun 
Walking in Your Footsteps 
Can't Stand Losing You 
Roxanne

Encore 1
King Of Pain 
So Lonely 

Emcore 2
Every Breath You Take 

Emcore 3
Next To You

     Hearing Message In A Bottle live for the first
time in 24 years brought tears to my eyes, as I know
it has done for others.  There were some real gems in
the set.  Voices>When the World... & Driven To Tears
highlighted Andy's guitar work.  He never seemed to
really have those opportunities for solos in the past
with the Police.  Something else I noticed was that
Andy never put down his red strat.  The sound is much
different than the tele.  But, its sound is so much of
Andy's sound in his post Police material, from his
Private Music recordings to his Munk recordings.  I
rather enjoyed it.  Another gem was Invisible Sun.  It
has always been one of my favorites from Ghost In the
Machine.  And it didn't disappoint last night.  The
video on the screens was very much like the original
video, just with images of Iraq instead of Northern
Ireland.
     The rest of the songs didn't really stand out one
way or another, except for Wrapped Around Your Finger.
 I couldn't tell if there was a huge pile-up on I-880,
or if it was the set coming to a screeching halt.  In
my opinion, this song was the set killer.  Don't Stand
and Every Little Thing (Stewart's drumming in the
chorus reminded me of a conga line) weren't bad.  I
was expecting worse based on previous posts.
     Sting's bass playing is better than ever. 
Stewart's drumming continues to amaze, and Andy sound
was more evident than ever before.  To me, it just
seemed to be more of a Sting solo performance than a
Police performance.  Maybe that is because I have seen
Sting numerous times over the last twenty years. 
Maybe it was the large venue.  Maybe it was only the
second week of the tour.  It is going to take some
time to erase 23 years of them playing solo.  I
imagine over time they will continue to gel and
recapture their original identity.  I hope I am able
to see them later on in the tour to see and hear this
progression.
     I don't mean for this to be negative, as I stated
before I would ramble.  I still have three more shows
to attend next week.  I hope to see them more later on
in the tour.  I am so grateful to have this
opportunity to see the Police.  I have held out hope
for 24 years for something I tought would NEVER
happen, and I have been greatly rewarded.  I hope to
see some of you in Los Angeles next week.

Thanks For Reading,

Matt Giller

PS.  Is anyone recording the shows on the tour?  If
so, please contact me.  I believe we can help each
other out, if you know what I mean.

Matthew Giller

Jon & Susan

Pete Ashdown

johnny beane

Michelle Manoni

Guerren Solbach

tags

participants (6)