Grant About Town - July 5, 2007
The Police at Wrigley Field

Ever since The Police went their separate ways in the mid 80's after less than 10 years together, I truly wondered if this extremely volatile bunch - vocalist/bassist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland - would ever grace a stage for a major concert tour again. Sting knocked out one solo album after another, though I really stopped paying attention to them after "Mercury Falling" in 1996, and released his autobiography "Broken Music" in 2003. Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland did film/TV scores, solo work, wrote books and made films. The trio played a few songs at Sting's wedding in 1992 and again at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, but that was about it. Until now.

The reunion tour that I thought might never happen came rolling into the city of Chicago last week for two sold out shows at Wrigley Field. My buddy Rob got a block of tickets and when he offered me one a couple of months ago at a party I said "yes" before the question even got out of his mouth. We cranked Police tunes for the rest of the afternoon, I played air drums and we basked in the glory of it all. When the big day finally (and I mean finally) arrived I met my buddy Greg and his friend Adam in front of the park, and we all walked over to Wrigley Field institution Murphy's Bleachers to meet up with the rest of the group -Rob, Brian and Chris - for a couple of beers. Around 7:30p or so it was time to go in.

Just a bit past 8:20p the band took the stage and opened with "Message in a Bottle," as I had predicted to the guy sitting in front of me. This was followed by "Synchronicity II" and "Walking On the Moon." In between songs, Sting got a big old "boo" from the crowd when he told them this was the band's first show in the city since a 1983 performance at Comiskey Park, home of the hated crosstown rival White Sox.

The first 3 songs lasted about 25 minutes and honestly I don't think the crowd as a whole was really into much of a groove early on. Our group, however, was on our feet from the start and never sat down. The 40,000 or so in attendance skewed a bit older and people were still getting settled in, so I guess that is to be expected to a point. The band seemed to be a bit sluggish at the start, too, and the longer song arrangements early on took some of the oomph out of them. The one exception: Stewart Copeland, who was wailing on his huge drum kit from the start and really provided much of the energy for the group throughout the show.

To the band's credit, there were no backing tracks, background vocalists or other musicians on the stage. Just Sting, Summers and Copeland on a rather spartan stage by arena show standards. And while Sting can't hit all the high notes anymore, he can still fill an arena with that distinctive voice. Summers is still one hell of a guitarist and Copeland plays his percussion with an energy and precision that belies his almost 55 years. Copeland really is a force of nature and, as I said above, did not lag one bit throughout the show

The band definitely tinkered with the arrangements on some of the songs, slowing it down for tunes such as "Walking On the Moon," "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and speeding it up with a jazzy style for "When the World is Running Down." To be honest, sometimes the arragements worked for me and sometimes they didn't. Don't get me wrong, I was on my feet singing along, dancing and air drumming the whole time. But I always feel like a band needs to start a show like a house on fire to get both themselves and the audience fired up. In the case of The Police, basically just play the songs in the lean, no frills way that they were intended.

Later, things really got rolling with "Truth Hits Everybody" from Outlandos d'Amour when the band took my advice from the previous paragraph and tore through this song in true punk fashion. Sting added some nice vocal work on "Invisible Sun." During "So Lonely," when he got to the line "All made up and nowhere to go. Welcome to this one man show" he substituted "Welcome to this Andy Summers show" and then did the same for Copeland the next time around.

Copeland, whose brillance has already been mentioned earlier in the review, added nice percussion flourishes with chimes to give a middle eastern feel to a fine rendition of "Wrapped Around Your Finger." He even donned a Cubs jersey with "Copeland 07" on the back for the encores. As someone who played the drums through high school and still hits the skins now and again, it was really cool to see someone who I have always idolized perform live.

So, there it is. I have seen The Police perform in my lifetime. And you know what? I am going to do it again later this month in East Hartford, CT with my childhood buddy and fellow Police fanatic Mike. I waited a long time for this. Just a few more weeks, Mike, and then your wait will be over, too.

The Police Set List - July 5, 2007 at Wrigley Field

Message In A Bottle

Synchronicity II

Walking On The Moon

Voices Inside My Head / When The World Is Running Down

Don't Stand So Close To Me

Driven To Tears

The Bed's Too Big Without You

Truth Hits Everybody

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

Wrapped Around Your Finger

De Do Do Do De Da Da Da

Invisible Sun

Walking In Your Footsteps

Can't Stand Losing You/Regatta de Blanc

Roxanne

First Encore:

King of Pain

So Lonely

Every Breath You Take

Second Encore:

Next To You