Ghost In The Machine: 1981/82

Police Sound Appeals To Concert Crowd...

With their unique style of rock music rapidly gaining widespread acceptance, The Police kicked off Phase Two of their 1982 World Tour last weekend with three sold out Florida concerts, including Saturday's show before more than 12,000 in the Jacksonville Coliseum.

Bounding on stage to the taped accompaniment of 'Voices Inside My Head', the three rock virtuosos - Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland - gave the fans 80 nonstop minutes of their songs and themselves.

The band opened the show with 'Message In A Bottle', and then launched into 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' and 'Spirits In a Material World', the latter two cuts from their current top Ten album 'Ghost In The Machine'. 

From the opening musical chord, the band seemed relaxed and in control. The Police sound is one that combines reggae influences with rock'n'roll. The group has become successful not by shooting for commercial success but by striving to please each other. In concert, The Police are as masterful as on vinyl.

All the dynamics and details of each instrument can be heard and enjoyed. The same musical intensity pervades every song, whether it's the hauntingly beautiful cut "Invisible Sun" or the or rocking "Demolition Man." With the addition of a three man horn section, the band seems more self assured. All three seem engrossed in the individual functions they must perform to achieve the desired results. Sting dances and sings, Andy picks intricate guitars and leaps into the air and Stewart is a perpetual motion machine of technical precision. You can't help noticing the talents of each musician. You realize you're seeing and hearing three serious music makers, not just another rock 'n' roll band. Although Saturday night's show was in a cavernous arena, a small room atmosphere prevailed. Whether directly in front of the stage or back in the far reaches, the feeling was that the band was playing for you, not just to a crowd.

While sipping Perrier and munching on fresh pineapple for refreshment, The Police didn't seem concerned with duplicating the album cuts. Instead, they offered minisolos here, a displaced guitar chord there to enhance those songs, not to drag them out for the pure sake of playing a 10 minute cut. The 18 song set included some of the newer tunes, 'One World', 'Shadows In The Rain', and welcomed older material, 'Walking On The Moon' and 'Without You'. But they saved some of the best for last, ending the show with "Roxanne," their first commercial hit. Three minutes of deafening roar brought them back for 'Don't Stand So Close To Me', probably their most popular tune, and 'I Can't Stand Losing You'.

The show was opened by the hard edged sounds of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. With a current Top Ten album to their credit, they were of somewhat better quality than typical warmup bands. They cruised through a 40 minute, 12 song set which included the smash 'I Love Rock 'N' Roll', a blasting cover version of 'Crimson and Clover' and several other growling rockers. Other favourites they cranked out include two tunes from the new album, which should get some radio play 'Victim of Circumstance', and 'Nag'.

(c) Daytona Beach Morning Journal by Randy Miranda

Police's Sting arrests hearts - The heartfelt voice of Sting is one reason why the talented Police band gains loyal fans....

Last night's sold-out Police show at the Coliseum was full of arresting developments.

Opener Joan Jett was well- received by the audience, but her mauling of Tommy James' 'Crimson and Clover' was unforgivable in some eyes.

Ms. Jett, a former Runaway with the somewhat catchy anthem 'I Love Rock n' Roll' to her credit, is a performer who has nothing new to add to rock's history. Her three-chord retreads are hardly memorable, but supplied enough passing excitement to keep the crowd screaming.

Ms. Jett seemed to give the crowd what it wanted.

What it wanted was to listen to her squeal through 'Do You Want To Touch Me There' like a scalded cat, once again proving there's no accounting for taste.

The Police came on stage and launched into 'Message in a Bottle', one of the group's earlier hits.

Watching the group play was like seeing the finishing touches put on a diamond. The sound was hard and clean. The horns on 'Every Little Thing She Does' sparkled.

The most frightening possibility that the evening offered was that the band's spare studio attack would degenerate to power-trio madness. Happily, this was not so. Old favourites like 'The Bed's Too Big Without You', 'The De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da' were, in some ways, fuller and more lively than the recorded versions.

Two years ago when the Police were playing clubs the size of last night's staging, you would never have thought 12,000 people would ever sing "Yeo-ho-ho" all at once. If you bought 'Ghosts in the Machine', and were familiar with the band's early work, you might have thought that songs like 'Demolition Man' and 'Spirits in the Material World' could never be savaged.

You had another think coming. The newer material sounds more lively in person.

The crowd seemed to prefer the old favourites such as 'Message in a Bottle', but few people stayed in their seats all night. Outbreaks of dancing were reported.

The Police certainly aren't a band whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There are few rock drummers more tasteful than Stewart Copeland. Guitarist Andy Summers can also spin out a cheap, but appropriate, thrill or two.

Sting, on bass, defies physical or musical comparison with any living soul. At times, it seems there is no one more beautiful, no voice more heartfelt than his.

Still, Sting isn't the only reason that the Police are gaining fans even as you read this. They're a talented, witty and bright band. All of these qualities made last night's show a memorable occasion.

(c) The Florida Times Union by Claudia Perry