The Police at Fenway Park, 7/29/07
Contributed by roving news correspondent, Justin McLean
Somewhere in Cincinnati, Bronson Arroyo must have been bitterly shaking his fist at the sky. The erstwhile Boston pitcher and sometime guitarist was cooling his heels with the Reds while the reunited Police, having sold out two shows at Boston’s Fenway Park, were about to take the mound. Their Reunion Tour celebrates the 30th anniversary of the single “Roxanne” breaking the Police in the United States.
Opening the show was Fiction Plane, led by Sting’s son Joe Sumner. While not nepo-tastic, Fiction Plane was not exactly nepo-terrible. They sound anonymously British- melodically indistinguishable from the myriad members of NME’s Cold Arctic Snow Leopard Monkey Patrol. Sumner has clearly been home schooled at Sting’s frontman academy: he plays bass with the same distinctive technique as his father, sings in the same high tenor, frequently leaps off of his amplifiers, and tends to end his songs with the same three note “yo-oh-oh” motif that Sting throws into every tune. However, his yowling was unmercifully loud, and his songs tended to feature refrains such as “fuck yourself and fuck your cigarettes” repeated ad nausem.
After a quick set change backed by an assortment of projected visuals ranging from The Clash’s video for “Rock the Casbah,” a group of Parkour runners, a montage of Mondrian, Haring, and Matisse, and what appeared to be a Jamaican tourist video, The Police took the stage to the sound of Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up.” The message was superfluous, as everyone in the park had already leaped to their feet and began cheering as soon as the field lights dimmed...The set opened explosively with the propulsive “Message in a Bottle,” which was followed by a slightly retooled “Synchronicity II.” Andy Summer’s ferocious facility on the guitar was displayed early in the set: during “Voices Inside my Head/When the World is Running Down . . .” he stretched out with a complex and nuanced extended solo, jumping genres and displaying considerable technique. His years away from The Police playing jazz have clearly not dulled his bite.
Stewart Copeland had several spotlight moments as well. He demonstrated his considerable skill in “Wrapped Around Your Finger” and “Walking in Your Footsteps,” stepping away from his drums to play a gong, mallets, and a wide assortment of other percussion instruments. His signature lightning-quick high hat and snare skittering was most obvious on the two-tone influenced “Can’t Stand Losing You.”Just as he did thirty years ago, Sting intricately wove his way between Copeland and Summers, displaying a subtle mastery of the bass. His vocals are as emotive and expressive as ever, although a couple of songs seemed to have been transposed to lower keys for more comfortable singing. Sting still adds a “yo-oh-oh” to the coda every song he can, and his invitations to sing along got tiring after the sixth or seventh number in a row.Their set hit all the classics fans braving the staggeringly expensive tickets could have hoped for, perhaps with the exception “Synchronicity I.” The only misstep of the night was the ponderously noodly rendition of “Roxanne.” On the whole, The Police sounded excellent. They displayed all the talent of 30 year rock veterans without seeming dated in the least.
Set list:
Message in a Bottle
Synchronicity II
Walking on the Moon
Voices Inside … / What in the World
Don’t Stand So Close to Me
Driven to Tears
Truth Hits Everybody
The Bed’s Too Big Without You
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
1st encore
Roxanne
King of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
2nd encore
Next to You
