Now that I have your attention, there will be no more talk of Sting’s physique. H got me ridiculously expensive tickets to see The Police for my birthday this year and he accompanied me to the show Monday night. I was so excited to see that St. Louis had gotten a date so early in the tour. I was afraid that it would be planned for the second leg of the tour and the band would have stopped speaking to each other by the time those dates rolled around and the dates would be cancelled.
Probably because of the price of the tickets I was a little annoyed when I heard that the opening band was going to be Sting’s son’s band, Fiction Plane. Heard of them? Didn’t think so. One of the things that I have always enjoyed about going to an arena show like U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, or The Rolling Stones is that they always pick an up and comer to open the show. Well, this was just a little too up and coming for me. I was telling H on Saturday about this so as we ran errands he came up with witty one liners to describe how screwed we were going to be having to sit through this opening set. While they seemed like capable musicians, the music just didn't do anything for me. After their set, H's only response was, "Yeah we just got stung".
If any of The Police still have kids going to college, I can assure you that all of the tuition was probably paid with the amount of merch being purchased in St. Louis alone. It was insane. I guess when the crowd for a show is older with more disposable income, that’s what happens.
The stage was elegant as well as simple. They opened with one of my favorites, Message in a Bottle. I had read an interview with Stewart Copeland in the newspaper on Sunday and he talked about re-working some of their old hits for this tour and he mentioned that Don’t Stand So Close To Me was not working out well and they might have to kick it off the setlist. We definitely agreed with that. It was H's least favorite in the set. My least favorite was probably Roxanne because I love that song and this version had a jam session in the middle that just didn't work. It is always a surprise when a song that you never really liked gets re-worked for a live show and you walk away with a different impression. That’s what happened with Wrapped Around Your Finger. My two favorites were also on the setlist; King of Pain and Can’t Stand Losing You and so those were the highlights for me.
While the tiny club is always exciting because you can get up close and personal with the band, I forget how moving an arena rock show can be. Do we ever come together with other human beings like that in the digital age? At the end of the night our ears were ringing, not because of the volume of the music, but because of the volume of the screaming all around us. It was moving seeing a packed arena bathed in red lights during Roxanne as clichéd as that might sound. The energy in the arena was powerful. Watching the people around me I could tell that some of them were thinking, "Oh my God, I never thought I would get to see them live". I was thinking that too. --J
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