Police concert
Well I'll probably never see a better show than this. For those of you who don't know already, The Police are touring again after 25 years (though if you're only finding out from this, its either too late to buy tickets, or will be forced to pay more than I did xD) with Sting's sons band Fiction Plane as the opening act. I bought about $100 worth of merchandise which I am quite happy with, if not a little bogged with buyers remorse.
I think I gave the wrong impression of them to Franz and some other peeps I talked to during intermission. I just wanted them to gtf off the stage and bring on the Police. They weren't bad, Joe Sumner (stings son) sounds like Bono, and looks exactly like dad. Not a bad combination. They sound kind of like just about every other modern rock band out there, only with a really good drummer and singer/bass player. The guitar player looked like he just learned how to play. Their set was pretty energetic and all, and come to think of it, its a shame the place was only half full at that point (beer line-ups were expectedly long). There was also a drum solo.
Holy fuck what a show. Everything sounded perfect: Stings voice, the drums, guitar, bass, keys, sampled background vocals (lol). The woman and the dude sitting next to me told me of a bet they were having about the opening song. I bet 5 bucks on Synchronicity II, she had Message in a bottle, the dude had Roxanne. I subsequently lost 5 bucks which I feel is complete bullshit because I still think Message in a bottle is a horrible way to: A. Open a show B. Burn a hole in my pocket. Synchronicity II was the second song they played ..-_-
I can't quite remember the entire set list, but I'll try. Message in a bottle, Synchronicity II, Voices inside my head//When the world is running down (this fucking rocked, even though the crowd wasn't too keen on it because it wasn't a single), Roxanne, Can't stand losing you, Wrapped around your finger, Every little thing she does is magic, Bed's too big without you, Invisible sun (my favourite), So lonely, Next to you, Spirits in the material world, Don't stand so close to me, Every Breath you take, Truth hits everybody, King of Pain, Walking in your foot steps, Murder by numbers, Driven to tears, Walking on the moon (/w the stand-up bass!!111 I still can't get over that), De do do do, de da da da, and Bring on the night. Understandably this was a huge set list, and they rightly so filled up the 2 hour set. There were actually 3 encores, though I can't remember which songs were played when. They played just about everything I could have asked for (except for maybe omegaman or secret journey, but I'll just keep on dreaming :3) and personally feel that you can't put a price on a show that damn good. Well okay, unless the ticket is $438.
One cool thing was how Sting made the crowd sing along to lot of the obvious tunes (walking on the moon, etc...), though I'm guessing this was partially because he at certain points didn't want to sing. Still, you can imagine how intense it is listening to a hockey arena full of people singing in syncopated rhythm to Roxanne.
The light show was pretty trippy too. I can't really describe it so I recommend just waiting a couple days until someone uploads the show on youtube.
Special mention has to go out to Stewart Copeland for kicking more ass than I though two drum sticks could. Oysterhead really paid off, he's still in tip top shape, and still plays with the ferocity he did in the 80's. Man, I'm no drummer, but I can recognize a Copeland fill when I hear one. He was certainly gave the most energy into every song, save maybe for Sting having to sing it. It sounded like cannon fire during songs like Invisible Sun and Walking on the moon where he hits the snare especially hard. Good shit.
Of course any show has its quirks and funny moments. Sting swore a couple of times, replaced some lyrics with Andy Summers name making it a pretty funny line. "...welcome to the Andy Summers show. Just take a seat its always free..." and so on. Also, lmao, to those who aren't aware, Andy is actually 10 years senior to the other two, which puts him in his mid sixties. Around 10 o'clock, halfway through the show, he looked like he was ready to pass out. His solo's weren't as embelleshed as before the 10 o'clock mark, and when the huge screen zoomed in on him, he had the hilarious expression of "oh god, 30 more dates of THIS?" Luckily the first show was tonight :D. All in all it was a great show, totally not washed up at all, still sound amazing, still on of my favourite bands. Anyone else fortunate enough to see them will know exactly what I mean. Unless you're the last date of the tour in which case Andy will probably have taken the appropriate measures to have a Lazy-boy recliner on stage for an occasional snooze mid show.
This was the offical Cougar Convention.
I think I gave the wrong impression of them to Franz and some other peeps I talked to during intermission. I just wanted them to gtf off the stage and bring on the Police. They weren't bad, Joe Sumner (stings son) sounds like Bono, and looks exactly like dad. Not a bad combination. They sound kind of like just about every other modern rock band out there, only with a really good drummer and singer/bass player. The guitar player looked like he just learned how to play. Their set was pretty energetic and all, and come to think of it, its a shame the place was only half full at that point (beer line-ups were expectedly long). There was also a drum solo.
Holy fuck what a show. Everything sounded perfect: Stings voice, the drums, guitar, bass, keys, sampled background vocals (lol). The woman and the dude sitting next to me told me of a bet they were having about the opening song. I bet 5 bucks on Synchronicity II, she had Message in a bottle, the dude had Roxanne. I subsequently lost 5 bucks which I feel is complete bullshit because I still think Message in a bottle is a horrible way to: A. Open a show B. Burn a hole in my pocket. Synchronicity II was the second song they played ..-_-
I can't quite remember the entire set list, but I'll try. Message in a bottle, Synchronicity II, Voices inside my head//When the world is running down (this fucking rocked, even though the crowd wasn't too keen on it because it wasn't a single), Roxanne, Can't stand losing you, Wrapped around your finger, Every little thing she does is magic, Bed's too big without you, Invisible sun (my favourite), So lonely, Next to you, Spirits in the material world, Don't stand so close to me, Every Breath you take, Truth hits everybody, King of Pain, Walking in your foot steps, Murder by numbers, Driven to tears, Walking on the moon (/w the stand-up bass!!111 I still can't get over that), De do do do, de da da da, and Bring on the night. Understandably this was a huge set list, and they rightly so filled up the 2 hour set. There were actually 3 encores, though I can't remember which songs were played when. They played just about everything I could have asked for (except for maybe omegaman or secret journey, but I'll just keep on dreaming :3) and personally feel that you can't put a price on a show that damn good. Well okay, unless the ticket is $438.
One cool thing was how Sting made the crowd sing along to lot of the obvious tunes (walking on the moon, etc...), though I'm guessing this was partially because he at certain points didn't want to sing. Still, you can imagine how intense it is listening to a hockey arena full of people singing in syncopated rhythm to Roxanne.
The light show was pretty trippy too. I can't really describe it so I recommend just waiting a couple days until someone uploads the show on youtube.
Special mention has to go out to Stewart Copeland for kicking more ass than I though two drum sticks could. Oysterhead really paid off, he's still in tip top shape, and still plays with the ferocity he did in the 80's. Man, I'm no drummer, but I can recognize a Copeland fill when I hear one. He was certainly gave the most energy into every song, save maybe for Sting having to sing it. It sounded like cannon fire during songs like Invisible Sun and Walking on the moon where he hits the snare especially hard. Good shit.
Of course any show has its quirks and funny moments. Sting swore a couple of times, replaced some lyrics with Andy Summers name making it a pretty funny line. "...welcome to the Andy Summers show. Just take a seat its always free..." and so on. Also, lmao, to those who aren't aware, Andy is actually 10 years senior to the other two, which puts him in his mid sixties. Around 10 o'clock, halfway through the show, he looked like he was ready to pass out. His solo's weren't as embelleshed as before the 10 o'clock mark, and when the huge screen zoomed in on him, he had the hilarious expression of "oh god, 30 more dates of THIS?" Luckily the first show was tonight :D. All in all it was a great show, totally not washed up at all, still sound amazing, still on of my favourite bands. Anyone else fortunate enough to see them will know exactly what I mean. Unless you're the last date of the tour in which case Andy will probably have taken the appropriate measures to have a Lazy-boy recliner on stage for an occasional snooze mid show.
This was the offical Cougar Convention.