The Police
9 out of 10 - Simply Amazing. Can't wait to see 'em again.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Dodger Stadium, CA
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I couldn’t believe after twenty plus years I’d be seeing one of the greatest
rock acts perform under the stars at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on June
23, 2007. Anticipation can be a hard thing and I felt none, all was left at home, and, all I wanted was a little musical mastery from the three piece masters themselves, The Police. Being a part of the 55,000 that night, the spirits of the material world were in full force, singing and swaying on every note they spate.
Grown leery of the poor reviews and numerous youtube clips that suggest the band was phoning it in, especially Sting who seemed to be rolling his eyes from time to time like this was under him I approached with caution. But as the opening notes of Message in a Bottle were cascading through the speaker stacks, the magic was evident. Although the band had just played Bonnarroo last weekend, this was the first outdoor stadium event on the reunion. The reviews for earlier shows at Staples and Honda Center were dismal at best but maybe bringing the gig outdoors was the right prescription for the threesome. To fill 20,000 seaters weekly might seem like a lot for most but for these guys it took the grandeur of that times 2.75 to make an impact. Although there were far too many jams early on in the set and then a slow down of tempo for the early punk reggae tracks, the group delivered towards the end of the set with amazing renditions of Can’t Stand Losing You, Roxanne (which we have all heard millions of times, but to hear live was amazing, everyone singing, magic!) and the amazing so lonely took us all back to 1981.
Although all was not perfect, the band delivered a set so replete with hits is was hard to feel unsatisfied knowing you had just witnessed one of the greatest musical groups of the modern age. For three guys to have that many people in the palm of their hand is rather difficult and they did it on musicianship and songs that have lasted decades. There was no fireworks, catwalks, multi-level staging or backup musicians to fall back on. It was just the three men of The Police playing off of each other that made it so wonderful proving again in the age of spend-consume-more-supersize that less is always more.
Setlist:
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
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
Roxanne
King of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
Next To You
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