Stop, Police!

Saw the reformed Police on Wednesday night (Halloween). Should have been a real thrill. These are songs I've been hearing forever and even remember when many of them debuted on the charts back in the late 70s and early 80s.

Oddly enough - or perhaps not so odd; these guys did break up after a relatively short tenure, after all - the band came off cold. They barely acknowledged each other, Sting didn't seem entirely thrilled to be there and the hit-heavy set list didn't strike me as terrifically inspired.

My complaints aside, their musicianship and interplay are beyond reproach, particularly on songs like "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," "Invisible Sun" and "Walking In Your Footsteps." I can't imagine how they get up the excitement to play "Message In A Bottle," "Roxanne" or "Every Breath You Take" for the skatey-eighth time. When it came to earlier material like "Can't Stand Losing You" I thought they did an admirable job opening the songs up and trying different structures.

The jewel of the trio has to be Stewart Copeland, who always used intriguing drum and percussion patterns to make the songs. This guy just makes the band - no matter how quickly their songs hurtled from tight punky structures to ambitious works of melancholy, it was always Copeland who kept things at a decent and intriguing pace. He was never about banging it out, which is why a song like "Roxanne" - simple at the first blush - has more depth over subsequent listens.

Anyhoo, the Who should never have continued or reunited after Keith Moon passed, and Led Zep wisely hung it up after John Bonham kicked off. I'd venture to say that I'd still be interested in hearing Copeland and Andy Summers fronted by somebody else - even Don Henley. The Police without Sting could be a draw, but not the Police without Copeland.