The Police concert at MSG

I only really discovered The Police just as they were breaking up. The Fall of '87 Columbia University freshman facebook poll listed U2, The Police, and Madonna as our class'es favorite artists. But I attended my first Sting concert a year later, for the tour for his first solo record, "The Dream of the Blue turtles," still one of my all-time favorite albums. In the interrim, I have made up for lost time & now own every Police album, single & DVD you could imagine. I know the words to pretty much every Police song ever written by Sting and have seen him perform in a Broadway musical. So when I recently heard The Police were getting back together and were touring, I knew I had to be see them.

While spiraling up the stairs at MSG at a casual 8:10pm last night, my friends & I thought for a moment that Sting had gone on early, so we started sprinting to our seats at the top of Tower D. Then we realized we did not know the tune, and realized it had to be the opening act. It turns out, our confusion was justified as "Fiction Plane," the band opening for The Police, is fronted by Sting's son, Joe Sumner. There is a raspy, pregnant quality to Sumner's voice that really sounds like his delicious Dad.

My group felt Sumner did better on the ballads than on the heavy rock songs his band played. But his voice really is quite wonderful, and his lyrics are quite meaningful. Unfortunately, I could not understand him during the concert. It was only when I googled him today on My Space, that I got more of a feeling of what "Fiction Plane" is all about. He ended the set with his hit, Two Sisters which seemed to suit his voice very well. The apple doesn't fall very far from the tree, and Sumner is committed to social & political commentary. His tracks Hate and Death Machine remind me of the pointedly barbed Invisible Sun. Sumner doesn't quite have the presence or the personality to carry off MSG, yet... but I would love to see where this fellow's music is headed and feel that I will very much enjoy witnessing the journey.

The stadium once again grew dark and the crowd shushed before exploding in screams as bright white spotlights fired up the stage and two well known figures came up and took their places - Andy Summers at stage left and Stewart Copeland on his platform behind his drum set. The cheers and roars reached a crescendo as Sting walked onstage in a white tank top. The Police opened with Synchronicity II and the video screens popped with the primary colors that dappled the covers of the LP. They then segued into Message in a Bottle.


Most of the crowd seemed to know every word of every song by heart and was happy to oblige Sting's request to chime in. The consensus was that he played EVERYTHING. You name any popular police tune; he played it. Don't Stand So Close to Me, Walking in Your Footsteps, Driven to Tears, De Do Do Do, De Da da da, Voices Inside my head, So Lonely...

The video display editing was very well done. There were a number of screens displaying 3 separate images from the different camera feeds at any one time. I must confess, I was glued to the Sting cam, but I managed to tear myself away when the focus shifted to a close up of Andy Summers' hands during a particularly strong solo riff.

Stewart Copeland's strong performance belied his anemic look. At times, we feared he was going to explode or faint. But as usual, he provided the amazing backbone of the performance. The audience cheered when he moved to another platform to use a different drum set-up for "King of Pain" and "I'll be Wrapped Around Your Finger" that allowed him to produce those unmistakable xylophone-y sounds.

"I'll be Wrapped Around Your Finger" was probably my favorite number. If you know the video, you will remember the gorgeous effect of the spiral candle display that completely surrounded the musicians. The lighting design team should be congratulated for recreating a similar effect with circular spotlights. They swirled on the floor & just looked amazing.

The Police played Roxanne during the end of the concert and drove the audience wild. The band played 2 encores. The first encore brought us Can't Stand Losing You. The second encore delivered Every Breath You Take. They ended with the interesting choice of All I Want is to Be Next to You. It was bittersweet for me to see the video display during the last encore set. Some of the screens played footage from the Synchronicity video and showed a much younger trio.

They are obviously in great shape to have played two solid hours without a break. Sting treated us to a few of his signature jumps, and he graciously allowed Andy Summers to take the final leap off the drum platform. Then they all walked to the front of the stage and held hands as they took their last bow.

It had all the elements of a fantastic concert: performers with enormous talent, an awesome repertoire, amazing visuals, a charismatic and gorgeous front-man. Everyone in my group felt that it was one of the best concert we had ever seen in our lives. Except for Rudy. It was his absolute favorite. But, then again, it was his first concert ever!