Ghost In The Machine: 1981/82

The Police - Every Little Thing They Do Is Magic...

Just over an hour into The Police's show at The Cow Palace, lead singer and bassist Sting moved center-stage while guitarist Andy Summers issued the choppy minimalistic guitar strokes of 'Roxanne', the reggae-tinged song that started it all for this band just a few years ago.

In the midst of the song one of three black horn players carefully following their charts strutted up to a microphone to provide backing to Sting's vocals with saxophone that was equally stinging.

Sting worked the song like the band's flagship among a reggatta of tip-top pop melodies; turning it inward for some soft crooning, getting the audience to join in the singing, then working it into a rave-up as Summers played grandslam guitar.

When they finished the lights went out and The Police strode off the stage, only to emerge later for three encores. Quite a change for a band that was touring the United States in a cheap van just three years ago after releasing 'Roxanne' themselves with borrowed money, and scoring a gold album for their debut, 'Outlandos d'Amour', produced for just $6,000!

If any band is the new wave's great success story, this outlandish trio of dyed blondes is. The Police - Sting, Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland - may well be the most calculated group to emerge from the musical doldrums of the late 70's, but there is meaning to their formula. And besides, such opportunism was more than welcome.

Music stank, to put it simply, and The Police were one of the few reviving forces.

Their reggae washed rock rhythms tempered heavyweight guitar leads and classic jazz bass runs into one of the most unique and identifiable sounds of the last decade - an infectious blend of roots rock, heavy metal, light jazz and rasta, gliding on perfectly hummable pop melodies.

The first two albums were inconsistent, alternating songwriting gems with throwaway rockers as the band attempted to please all of their listeners all of the time. Since the mammoth success of their third album, 'Zenyatta Mondatta', their first platinum record, The Police have made the transition to superstars, and no band in recent memory has managed such a transition so gracefully.

Now of course there is no need for pretence. Sting once said; "Sometimes we have to be careful that people don't discover just how good we really are, ""meaning if fans realized their favourite rock stars were actually capable musicians, they might lose interest.

Fears of marketing and careful management have given way to an enthusiastic display of talent, as evidenced by their tremendous fourth album, "Ghosts In The Machine," and acclaimed live shows like  The Cow Palace.

They made their first major league appearances in the Bay Area recently, selling out a pair of shows at the large Cow Palace, surely satisfying for a band that could not even fill clubs the last two times through the area.

The Police first took the stage as strains of 'Voices Inside My Head', their traditional chanting opener, shook the audience to attention. The lights remained dim.

Instantly the stage was filled with floodlamps as the band exploded into a perfect reading of 'Message In A Bottle'. They followed with a mesmerizing 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic', from the new album, full of vigorous horn parts, abrupt changes and dynamite vocals.

"Tonight's our last night in San Francisco," Sting explained, "So we are going to make this really good." Switching from a bizarre stand-up bass to a box electric, the sexy frontman swung the band into 'Spirits In The Material World', another number from the new album. Where the previous song sounded uplifting and lively, this was dirge-like and hard to follow.

A jazzy number whose contrasting chorus and verse seemed ill fitted, the song exemplified some of The Police's problems early on. While up-tempo and familiar pieces excited the crowd, some of the newer songs, based on horn parts and complicated cross- rhythms, seemed confusing to their fans.

Yet Sting made it all seem familiar, accenting every song with his trademark quips, his sensual gestures and his stirring bass lines.

Devastatingly handsome, with a blossoming career in the British flicks and telly, Sting moves crowds as completely as any musician I have witnessed. He sings with a whiskey voice, somewhat like Rod Stewart, but where Stewart is hoarse, Sting commands great range and texture. He gives the band their magic.

Throughout the night Sting would bring the crowd to a feverish pitch only to casually stroke the audience into a false sense of calm with sing-a-longs or gentle crooning, before pounding to the real crescendo. He works every number to an apocalyptic conclusion.

While Andy Summers is a mini-orchestra on guitar, providing a full cascade of instrumental colour behind Sting's stylized vocals, Stewart Copeland may well be the hidden key to the band.

Hardly noticed in the background, Copeland is a dynamic drummer, given to bursts of cymbal and erratic, yet controlled drum rolls. He is also a drummer of considerable restraint, always present and important, rarely overpowering.

His skills were most demanded on the newer numbers, featuring more intense movement and changes. On these Copeland was a sharpshooter on the skins, providing just the right flash of percussion.

Summers was no novice either, though he never truly turned loose the brilliant lead guitar that sur faced all too occasionally throughout the night. Instead he dispatched waves of rhythm guitar, strong and sure, balancing Sting's rumbling leads on bass.

Summers did much to shape the sound with his understated, yet ample guitar fills. He also provided extra polish at times by joining Sting in front of the Cow Palace stage for frenzied jigs to the better dance tunes.

But ultimately, it was Sting's show, whether handling a mini-opera like 'Bring On The Night', a spine-chilling number dedicated to Gary Gilmore or racing through 'Demolition Man'.

The most rewarding moments came not in the familiar renditions of pleasers like 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da', 'Walking On The Moon', or 'The Bed's Too Big Without You', but in the unusual twists of the popular tunes.

Like the reggae riffs in 'Shadows In The Rain', the horns and sing-a-long in the middle of 'One World (Not Three)'"the synthesized ballad, 'Invisible Sun' or the hot French love song, 'Hungry For You'.

This last was a playful and romantic romp full of rumbling bass, sharp percussion and light guitar. Sting worked it like a maniac bedside Romeo with a hunger for more than just crackers and late-night television.

Rowdy cheers punctuated their departure, and The Police returned for a full three encores; 'Don't Stand So Close To Me', 'Can't Stand Losing You' and a overwhelming, long version of 'So Lonely'.

The latter was a tour de force, slowed and speeded with yodelling passages in the middle the resembled the crowd teasing Ray Davies of The Kinks does during their own 'Lola',

Before the band left the stage for good, sweaty and grinning, Sting made some allusions to the San Francisco 49'rs, bringing extra applause. Ironic because the Cow Palace verdict was in The Police were champs as well.

(c) Ukiah Daily Journal by Ron Gluckman