The Police: World Tour 2007

"Rocking" in Their Own Footsteps

In case you suck at life and don't already know this, The Police are back on tour. Andy, Stuart and Mr. Sting have reunited for a world tour spanning many many different cities in many many different countries and they are playing many many different versions of the same 15 songs every night for many many dollars a ticket.

Now, I'm not going to go with the reviews currently out there and explain to you why The Police are too old to get back in the game. I'm not going to bitch and moan about how Sting can't hit the high notes or how the boys don't have the same energy or about how the shows aren't long enough or about how the opening act is terrible.

None of those things are true, and the people who said them are idiots.

Sure, the early shows were a bit rocky; the boys were just getting back on their feet and the opening act, the band Fiction Plane as led by Joe Sumner, Sting's clone - er, I mean son, was probably in a bit of a shock at playing such large arenas. But you know what, The Police are in full swing now and they, along with their mini-me opening act, are kick ass.

I saw The Police and Fiction Plane at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Friday, July 6th. The weather was perfect and our seats were pretty good, right there in the pot smoking 40-50 year old used to be hip but now you look like you teach gym and your wife isn't attractive enough to wear that - section. I'll spare you the rant. The sound was enormous and there must have been 50 speakers on stage along with the giant screens and lighting.

Fiction Plane was already in action when we sat down and I really do wish we had gotten in earlier because they rocked. Basically they are a more modern version of The Police, right down to their arrangement. Sting Jr. plays bass and sings vocals and then there's the drummer and the guitarist, both of whose names you will always have trouble remembering unless you are a die hard fan. They played fast and furiously and Little Sting sang his heart out, knocking out screeching high notes and guttural low notes all in the same song. The ending tune was memorable, if only for it's chorus which went something like: "Fuck you and fuck your cigarettes!", and near the end of the set the drummer, who is a Cubs fan, led everyone in a great, Harry Caray-style rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". It was pretty sweet.

In fact, had I been there only to see Fiction Plane, I would have been pretty pleased with the show. But, of course, once The Police took the stage, I forgot all about their diet counterparts.

Honestly, I'm not too keen on giving out set lists and second by second descriptions. Those sorts of things are for the crazed fans who belong to clubs and record and download every show and have band names tattooed on themselves. So I'll just say this: Every critic of this tour has been and is completely wrong.

Sting hit every note and the only song that was transposed was "Don't Stand So Close To Me". I'm not really sure why they did that, since Sting's vocals were spot on the whole night, but maybe it was for transition purposes or something.

The energy was astounding. Sting paraded across the stage and Andy wailed on some amazing guitar solos. Hell, even Stuart, who must be one of the geekiest drummers of all time, rocked that silly little Britney-mic he had on. Also, there was some pretty impressive drumming on a great number of percussive instruments.

The Police set ended up being around 2 hours, and that includes a quick break in between the main set and the encore set. The break seemed unnecessary, but hey, maybe Stuart had to pee or something. Either way, the encore was well done and they managed to fit in all the classic songs, or at least all the ones that I know of.

If I have to complain about one thing, and trust me I don't want to, it would be that they did stick to the basics. No rare B-sides. No foreign language versions. I'm not even sure if they did a cover song or not. I could have dug some classic reggae (the style from which The Police get their sound, NOT punk, as some think) song or maybe something newer, from a band the guys think is pretty hot or something. Obviously they want to keep their old fans happy and want to stick to the stuff that made them popular in the first place, but I would have liked to have heard someone in the crowd near me get all excited because "They haven't played that since '82!!" But, hey, I'm reaching here.

All in all, it's a great tour and if you are lucky enough to score tickets, well, you're just damn lucky. These guys might not do another tour, but if they do, I suggest ponying up the dough and getting in on one of the hottest bands still around.

"Surprise" - Paul Simon

No one needs me (or anyone else) to tell them that Paul Simon is one of the Greatest Living Songwriters. He's proven himself there, and whether you agree or not it will remain fact, so you might as well agree. There, glad we're on the same page now. What we can argue, as we can with any artist who has been creating for over forty years, is whether he is still a great songwriter. I believe he is, and I'm going to keep writing until you agree with me, so get comfy.

Surprise is Paul's first album since 2000's You're the One and is well worth the wait. He has taken the poetry that the world has come to expect from him and run right over the creative edge with it, and the result could not be more pleasing.

The album is a departure from Simon's original folky sound and even from his more recent embrace of African rhythms. This is thanks in large part to Brian Eno, his partner (credited as creator of the "sonic landscape") for this effort. Eno has added a wall of electronic, but bizarrely natural, sound to just about every track, giving the album a larger sound than it could have had with Simon and his band alone. The effect is excellent. The electronics are very much present on every track, but they never overshadow the subtlety of Simon's rhythms and lyrics.

Simon grabs our attention with the album's single "How Can You Live in the Northeast" which gives us a good preview of the sound he uses for the rest of the album. "Another Galaxy" is a standout track if only because Eno is (somehow) able to make it sound like we're actually in space with him and Paul. Very impressive. The album's anthem, "Wartime Prayers", paints a powerful and moving portrait of the downtrodden. But really, I feel safe in saying that "Outrageous" is going to be that track by which this album is remembered. Simon uses the song both to remind us that he can still rock and that there are a vast number of things in the world that just piss him off.

A solid effort from an aging, but not waning, rock star. Give it a listen, and if you don't agree with my take on it, then you should probably seek professional help.

"Ganging Up On the Sun" - Guster

Can Guster Make Wimp Rock, Rock Hard?

Can a genre of music be defined only by its complete half-assedness? The guys of Guster will tell you that it can, and it is. “Ganging Up On The Sun” is the latest in a collection of over 20 discs released since the band’s first in 1994, but that’s counting internet only albums, singles and live shows. In truth, you probably only know of “Parachutes”, “Goldfly”, “Lost and Gone Forever”, and “Keep It Together”, the band’s main collection of songs, and possibly only of their radio hits, including Barrel of a Gun, Fa Fa, and I Hope Tomorrow Is Like Today featuring Ben Kweller.

The guys have been churning out tunes for a while and, for the most part, each album has been great. Earlier works were a bit more rock-oriented and had their drummer, known to some only as Thundergod, working a hand-kit extensively and often to the point of bleeding fingers. As the group progressed the acoustic aspect was played up, the hand-kit became a standard kit, and the vocals softened, leading us to the latest album which I can say, with complete certainty, is the wimpiest collection of songs ever written by someone who isn’t James Taylor.

“Ganging Up…" suffers from two problems: 1. the few good songs sound like they were written by other bands, and 2. the songs that sound like Guster songs never go anywhere and often end without coming to a satisfying conclusion. One Man Wrecking Machine sounds like Coldplay, and Manifest Destiny sounds like Ben Folds Five, but here’s one upside to the facsimile: Guster does the Five and Chris Martin better than the Five and Chris Martin do. Sadly, the remaining tracks don’t pan out as well. Some merely feel unfinished (Empire State, Lightning Rod), while others drag out and yet go no where (Ruby Falls). These tracks would be great if they had some more effort put in, but as it is, I get the feeling that the boys just ran out of energy. A few highlights are The Captain, The New Underground, and The Beginning of the End, but mostly because they are very similar to songs off of previous albums: Jesus on the Radio and Red Oyster Cult, respectively.

Having listened to this album in the neighborhood of 25 times, I’d say download it or have a friend burn it for you. Over time it is fun to listen to, but pound for pound, Wimp Rock is weak sauce.

The Beginning

Hello Internet-

There is some great music in the world and you are probably not listening to it. We're here at last to fix that mistake.

-The Appreciators