It's Not Just Sting I Love....

Well, the day came and passed. The Police. Live in Concert. And me with the WORST SEATS in human history and having had to convince a friend to go with me since I couldn't find a date. She was a good sport with the seats - honestly, all we could see was the black scaffolding holding up the stage - and with the fact that she hates punk rock music but didn't want me to have to go alone. She was even amazing when I decided I couldn't watch black all night and went in search of a free upgrade. Good thing I'm cute and energetic - the security guard turned a very blind eye to my 2-person SRO section in direct view of the main stage. How could he refuse me?! It was obvious that not one of the 55,000 people in attendance loved The Police more - I danced wildly to every song, sang the words as loudly as possible, and cried during the montage. He would have had to be heartless to push me back to the horrid seat. Plus, he would have lost the amusement at watching me go absolutely NUTS all night. He'd never seen someone so sober be so crazy.

I never thought I'd see my favorite band live. The Police came to Idaho on the heels of the Sex Pistols, as they did everywhere else. Except we heard them in 1992...7 years after the band broke up. (I'm not joking - quite honestly, everything gets to Idaho 10 years late - it's a very strange phenomenon. Last summer, I overheard some kids at the mall gushing about how upset Coolio was over being parodied by Weird Al. Time vortex. Just plain weird.)

I fell in love with The Police on the day my sister brought home a tape of Synchronicity. I stole it. Outright. Sorry, Sis. I played that tape until my brother bought me the complete Police collection for Christmas. Those CDs have been with me on many important days - my first solo drive, my first date, my first day at college, the drive to California. I love the story of the band - 3 old musicians (at 24, ha ha) who have kept thousands of fans entranced for over 20 years. Of course, then Sting went all....rock star...and then he decided to learn Tantric sex and save the world.

The Police then:


I've attempted to see Sting perform several times merely because he was the only member of my beloved Police still performing. Each time, something got in the way - usually Sunday observances. I'm glad I was obedient and skipped the concerts. Because seeing The Police together...it was worth every minute of waiting.

The Police now:


I cried as they made their bows. The show had been incredible - musical, political, pure, and fun. The whole show was well put-together with transitions that made sense. They did 3 encores (pretty standard, I think) and I wasn't ready for it to end - my friend, stil sleepy from the wine she drank, drug me out of the stadium and then endured my gushing as she dozed. If I could, I would be there again tonight. Even if the seats were awful. And I wondered what the world could accomplish if we could ever get 55,000 people united to shout something a bit more socially relevant than "ee-ooo-eee-ooo-eeee-oh!"

I suppose the Police would say.....do do do de da da da....their innocence will pull you through....or maybe....when the world is running down, you make the best of what's still around...