Once Upon a Daydream (Part II)

So, after a 24 year absence, The Police returned to the Twin Cities last night. What can be said about their performance?

Fucking incredible!

Sorry, but that's the best way to describe it. There has been a lot of criticism about the early part of the tour (including some from Stewart himself.) The main problems seemed to be Andy getting lost and an overall lack of energy. Not so in St Paul. These guys were right on. Not only were they able to get to together and play their songs again, but they did it better than last time! They have obviously matured since 1984, but they've also become much better musicians. Stewart has always been on the top of his game and still is, what is really obvious is how much better of a bass player Sting has become. He adss more fills and there are a lot more nuances and punctuation to the musical phrases. And Andy shredded on his guitar far beyond what I would expect from a 64 year-old mostly-jazz player. There was certainly no lack of energy - these guys burned from the first note. This was not a Fragile/Fields-of-Gold-esque Sting, this was the Rock Star Sting. I can't wait for the DVD of this tour, this one's going to get played real loud!

The new arrangement of Truth Hits Everybody rocked much more than people have claimed. Don't Stand So Close to Me has been the most problematic song. Many people don't like the new arrangement, and Stewart has hinted at dropping it- apparently they can't get the new version to work well, and for some unknown reason they can't do they original arrangement. Nevertheless, it seemed to me this version worked just fine. It may have been the most low-key song out of the 19 song set, it was still well worth performing. The only noticeable mistakes were from Sting, who missed a line or two from King of Pain, and failed to project a few vocal notes. Otherwise, beside a few strange guitar harmonics, the show was flawless.

Personally I was disappointed that they have already dropped Spirits in the Material World, as this is one of the few songs I have not yet heard live. Why does Sting always do this? On both the 88 and 91 tours he started including Spirits but dropped it within a few shows. Technologically speaking I was not on for this show. I forgot the memory card for my camera, and if I hadn't I would have tried to video most of the show to document the stage lighting and image projections. As for my attempt at an audio recording, I am really out of practice (I quit after my failed attempt at Sting's 07.2000 show). Once again I screwed up -twice! Stupid pause button! So, I only ended up with half of the show, on what would have been my best recording ever. I really hope someone else out there distributes one.

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 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 / Roxanne / King Of Pain / So Lonely / Every Breath You take / Next To You