The Police,.....LIVE!

I know there are a few of you out there that know I went to see The Police on July 19th at the Citizens Bank Park in Philly. So I will give you a breakdown of how the evening went.

First, the concert was one night in a great mini vacation for my family. We got to our destination, made sure grandmother and toddler were comfortable and off we went to the show. I wanted to get there early cause I wanted to hear all the acts. See I got this thing for 3 piece rock bands. I think that is the best set. The Police, Green Day, Nirvana, Morphine, Genesis (mid 80's), to many punk bands to list, etc etc. Its just the sound I like. Hey I love me a giant 65 strings orchestra with tricked out wind and percussion that can rock a giant hall too, but there is something about a good 3 person band in a club that kicks ass too. Anyway, I digress. We get there, find parking rather easy and instead of doing the parking lot tour, we decided to get food. My wife and I end up at Harry the K's restaurant in the ball park and start to down VO and 7 before and after dinner. It was good stuff. So we got our buzz on and close to the end of the meal, Sting's son's band FictionPlane came out and played a 5 song set. FictionPlane is a 3 piece band and they were good. He sounds just like his dad. Just like him. You will freak when you hear him. Anyway I recommend you give em a listen. Then came The Fratellis and they were a rocking 3 man Irish band. Great drummer. Good set. Then their shit got ripped off stage and they started setting up Copelands drums. It was on.

So we get to our seats. I put to much time in picking the seats I wanted, but we had a great shot of the stage. We could see the entire stage and I wanted to see Copeland playing his percussion set. Plus we needed some time to relax, we had just stuffed ourselves with turkey wraps and whiskey. I love my wife. She is the best mate to travel with. We were chillin in our seats and watching the crowd roll in. It was a very diverse mix. Lots of 55 to 65 year old dudes and wives, a good amount of 4 member families, some kids but not many, but there were a bunch of guys my age and up. What can I say, this was a concert for people like me. I waited 25 years to see this. I remember saying to my wife it was surreal to finally do something that you said you would do if ever given the chance. It was a feeling that is weird to think about and harder to describe. Either way, I felt like I was at an event that more than one person waited to see. We are high enough to see over the floor crowd and see the limo pull up behind the stage. Not long now.

They don't fuck around. Stuart Copeland comes out and plants on the drum set in the dark. The sun had just set, the stadium was dark and Copeland comes out pounds the giant gong and they pounded out a rockin version of Message In A Bottle. The stage explodes in colors from a kick ass light show. The stage was made of these hundres of whilte vertical bars that could have images played on them. Through out the show images from album covers, the busted numbers from Ghost In The Machine, a giant dinosaur skelton, and live shots of the band flashed on them. Good stuff. So they roll out of Message In A Bottle to Next To You and Andy Summers absolutely gets off on his Fender Strat. Its the kind of blazing guitar solo you find on the 1st disc of the double live album on So Lonely. The song list was what you expected: Syncronicity, King of Pain, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Roxanne, and Wrapped Around Your Finger. But they did manage to sprinkle over some gems like Walking on the Moon, So Lonely, and Next to You. All in all they played like 2 hours 10 minutes. They were so on time. Stuart Copeland twice got up from his drums to pound on this custom rack of cymbals, bells, chimes and whatnot. He had a good size xylophone and a 4 or 5 piece timpani drum set. Plus the giant gong was there too. He is such a kickass percussionist. It was a great show. I love the fact they were the only 3 musicians on the stage and they rocked it hard.

So that was that. And it was awesome. I waited for 25 years to see those guys and I have to say it was well worth it. If you get the chance, see em. It's worth it. I spent the better part of my life listening to the 84 songs The Police made. They are my band. Don't get me wrong, there are other bands I cherish, I couldn't get along without Talking Heads, The Rolling Stones, Dance Hall Crashers, U2, The Smashing Pumpkins or the Beastie Boys. But if I had to pick a band I listen to all the time, its The Police. Now I can finally scratch them off the list of 5 bands I have to see before I die. There is a great ticket in Philly on Aug 4 & 5th, The Police, The Beastie Boys, and The Smashing Pumpkins are headlining that gig. What a line up. Having seen The Beasties and SP before, we passed on that. But its not to late for YOU!