Early on Monday morning, February 12, 2007 and I had just finished my second Bloody Mary at the Whiskey A-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.  I was waiting with a club full of complete strangers for Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers – once known to the world and beyond as The Police -- to shuffle on to the tiny stage, announce their 30^th Anniversary Reunion Tour, and rock. 

Leading up to their reunion performance at the Grammy Awards, the Hollywood rumor mill (aka public relations) was grinding out wild tales of a possible Police reunion tour, peaking with the announcement of a 30^th anniversary “rehearsal” and press conference at the Whiskey the day after the award show to which twenty lucky long time committed fans would win a coveted ticket.  I was not one of those people, nor did I have any professional reason to be there.  I was there because I rule.

As I was debating my drink options (option #1: return to bar; option #2: drink airplane bottle of Grey Goose that’s in my pocket) murmurs rippled through the press corps that was squeezed into the main room of the Whiskey.  I was upstairs with the rest of the elect and, not unlike Zeus, looked down to see the press and techies jostling for the best position.  Cheers and applause filled the club as Sting, Stewart, and Andy took the stage.  Without a word, the Police launched into an energetic “Message in a Bottle” (Regatta de Blanc/1979) which was particularly emotional and relevant to my own life as I had just finished my Grey Goose.

The last time I was this close to Sting was in Las Vegas in 1993.  He opened for the Grateful Dead at Sam Boyd Silverbowl at UNLV.  We fought our way to the front of the stage through a formidable barrier of twirling- drum-beating-granola-chicks in dangerous jester hats, and we remained there for his entire set. 

 The last time I saw Sting sing “Message in a Bottle” was at Six Flags outside of Atlanta on his Nothing Like the Sun (1987) tour.  He and his all-star jazz band played an extended version with crowd participation as an encore.  But this wasn’t Sting.  This was the Police.  This was different.  It was better.

 They followed with “When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What Is Still Around” (Zenyatta Mondatta/1980) and, in contrast to a geriatric Mick Jagger creaking around on stage crooning between oxygen treatments about the armadillo in his pants, the literary character of the lyrics Sting wrote as a young man have aged as well as the band members, and seemed oddly suitable for men of Sting, Stewart, and Andy’s… stature.

They brought “When the World Is Running Down…” to a thrashing conclusion and the crowd forgot it was working and went mad.  Sting stood at his microphone, waited for the room to simmer into silence, and made the unsurprising official announcement, “We’re going on tour.”  Press packets circulated through the bar as a series of various CEOs and sponsors made quick comments, giddy with excitement over the bricks of freshly printed money they are certain to make off the talent of these three musicians and the fusion of reggae and rock they created in the late 1970s and early1980s.

The band fielded questions and were easy-going and very funny.  They seemed relaxed to be together on stage and excited to be hitting the road again all these years later.  Sting made up some story about having a dream in which they played together which prompted him to call Stewart and Andy and suggest a reunion.  I don’t believe that for a second.  I believe all those CEOs and sponsors gave Sting a check on which there was many many many zeros. 

 The news of the day was that the material would not be a mish mash of Police tunes and solo material from the three band members.  Concerts will be exclusively Police songs.  Here is “The Police Reunion Tour” by the numbers:

Venues:                 Arenas, some stadiums

First show: May 28, 2007 Vancouver, Canada

Special dates: Bonnaroo Festival (June 16), Fenway Park (July 28), Madison Square Garden (August 1 & 3)

Confirmed: Seattle, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, New Orleans, St. Louis, Toronto and Montreal.

Cities for which dates have yet to be announced but will have shows: Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Edmonton, Hartford, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Tampa, San Francisco, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Washington D.C.

Opening Act: Fiction Plane

Charity: A portion of the proceeds from the tour will be donated to Water Aid.

The damage:  Tickets will be scaled at $225, $90, and $50.

After ten minutes of give and take, the Police stopped talking and started playing.  They reprised their Grammy opening number, “Roxanne” (Outlandos D’Amour/1978) with the same veteran ease they did the night before (still a minor disappointment because I’ve never really liked that song).  The finale of the rehearsal was a flawless rendition of “Can’t Stand Losing You” (Outlandos D’Amour/1978) that I believed was the second surprise of the set.  I expected to hear “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” or “Every Breath You Take,” most likely both, but they went darker with “When the World Is Running Down…” and deeper with “Can’t Stand Losing You.” 

Were The Police perfect?  Was it flawless?  Did they hit every note and remember every word?  Was it the same as it was back in the day?  I can’t be sure.  As I mentioned before, I have no professional credentials that qualify me to make such a judgment.  I was just a drunk fan (who rules) surrounded by beautiful women early on a Monday morning at the Whiskey A-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles letting some great songs played by masters kick off my week in style, so from where I was standing it was pretty outstanding in every way. 

The verdict:  On the scale of good and evil, The Police Reunion Tour will be more toward good.

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