Lots of Synchronicity!

The Police
Opening Act: Fiction Plane
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO
Monday, July 2, 2007
Event Level, Section C, Row 16, Seat 12
$0.00

and

Plaza Level, Section 105, Row H, Seat 1
$92.50

I have a lot of gaps in my musical knowledge. Even in my favorite mainstream genre, classic rock, I have some depth and a lot of breadth. But I didn't live through the time period of these songs, and for a lot of bands the only songs I know from them are the ones that still get played on the radio. I've learned there is some regional variation in classic rock radio stations, but there is a lot of music that doesn't get played anymore. My knowledge of some bands' catalogs is the "two songs" that still get airplay. That said, I know an awful lot of Police songs even though I never bought any of their albums.

I've always liked them and sung along with their songs when I hear them on the radio. But the only Police related album I owned was one that Andy Summers did with Robert Fripp from King Crimson. Last spring, Roy borrowed Andy Summers' memoir from the library and suggested I read it too. There were mentions of Fripp in there and general discussion of the music scene in London. It was a good read and it put me in the mood to hear more Police. Roy has all their albums, so I pulled out Synchronicity.

Later that week the morning DJ announced that the Police were getting back together and were booking a show in St. Louis. Synchronicity indeed!

Roy and I moved into a new condo in 2005. We decided to buy some new appliances, a washer, dryer, and refrigerator. We bought them from Best Buy and signed up for their Reward Zone membership program. For maybe this one time only, I am happy with corporate sponsorship - Best Buy sponsored this tour and were very good to us. There was a presale only open to two groups of people - people who paid $100 to join Police's fanclub and people who belonged to the Reward Zone prior to the announced presales. Like us.

We were in. We'd definitely be able to get tickets. But what seats to get? The best seats were $200 per ticket. I've paid that much to a scalper to sit in the front row for Yes, but that's my favorite band and the best seats. I didn't want to spend that much to sit on the floor with 20 rows of taller people in front of me. Roy said his dream was to sit as close to the stage as possible. Mine was to sit somewhere with a full view of the stage. I talked him into it. We got decent $90 tickets on the first tier.

And then Reward Zone helped us out again. We won free tickets to the Police. $200 tickets. They were on the floor, 16 rows back, on the right section. Roy was thrilled, but I didn't want 15 rows of taller people in front of me. Roy hit on a compromise - we'd hold on to both sets of tickets. If the floor seats were good and I felt comfortable, we'd stay on the floor. If not, we'd move to the first tier location. It meant we wouldn't sell our extra tickets. I avoided telling people we won tickets and had extra seats so they wouldn't ask to come along. This is the second time this year (and second time ever) we've won free concert tickets. The Reward Zone win also came with an invitation for a Moroccan-themed preshow party.

The day of the concert came. We took Metrolink downtown and had dinner at Union Station. It's our arena show tradition. It was so nice outside, so we ate dinner outdoors overlooking the lake. We didn't know what the preshow would entail, but we finished dinner early enough to check it out. The woman at the Reward Zone table gave us laminated passes and we got an escort to the party. The opening act Fiction Plane featuring Sting's son was there, just finishing up signing autographs. They had free food and tea and a cash bar. Yay! I could get bottled water at the bar for free. Saved me $4. I didn't have much to eat since we had just come from dinner, but Roy saved some room and tried out a few things. He enjoyed it much more than I did - it was warm in the room and no places left to sit. We could leave at any point, but they were offering backstage tours to the floor - just a walk backstage where we saw trucks and equipment, no interesting people. The tour didn't start til the opening act was already gone on, so we missed a bit of their set.

The biggest surprise was our seats. A few years ago, we had floor seats for Simon and Garfunkle. Yes, they were back a ways on the floor, but they were the front row of our section. The aisle in front of us was enough space to let me see over people's heads and offer a good view of the concert. I checked my stub and it was 21 rows back. No such luck this time.

But I was wrong! Roy noticed this before me as we walked to our seats. The front section had only 15 rows, so our row 16 was the front of our section. Plus, our seats were in the right section, but on the aisle between right and center. My view towards the stage was looking over the aisle in front of us and then the right-center aisle before I got to any tall people in front of me. I could see great! I was so surprised, I had to find an usher to confirm that this really was my seat.

The opening act was alright. Sting's son was the singer and looked and sounded like him. They did not appear ready to be playing a venue this big. They might grow into something interesting. I liked the anti-smoking song Cigarette.

Finally, the Police came on stage. They opened with Message in a Bottle and then Synchronicity II. The whole floor and first tier stood up for the entire show - every seat was a dancing seat. I was surprised at how many songs I knew, even songs I had forgotten about. My favorite songs of the night were Synchronicity II, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and Wrapped Around Your Finger. Ironically (coincidentally?), the review in the Post Dispatch called out these three as "among the songs close enough to their original versions to keep those resistant to change happy".

Ah, the new arrangements. I do like the fact that the Police didn't just relearn their songs note for note. They worked to create some new arrangements. It's just, and this is going to sound funny coming from a progressive rock fan, but I like songs I can dance to. I certainly don't need 4/4 time to dance, but I need something. There were quite a few songs that lost their danceability with the new arrangements.

This is the setlist from the Post Dispatch:

"Message in a Bottle"
"Synchronicity II"
"Walking on the Moon"
"Voices Inside My Head"/"When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around"
"Don’t Stand So Close to Me"
"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"

Encores:
"Roxanne"
"King of Pain"
"So Lonely"
"Every Breath You Take"
"Next to You"

The musicianship was excellent. I am so glad they didn't bring an extended lineup of musicians like some other reunited bands do. Sting was in great voice, still able to hit the notes in Roxanne. I've never been much a fan of his solo work, and I'd never seen him in concert before, but he really impressed me. As did Summers and Copeland. What a great show!