Ghost In The Machine: 1981/82

The Police, Jett draw strange mix of fans...

Take the coarse, grinding rock 'n' roll of Joan Jett and the polished New Wave/reggae style of The Police, throw them together on the same Charlotte concert stage and there's no telling what kind of music fans you'll fill the coliseum with.

Saturday's Police/Joan Jett concert attracted a strange mix of people indeed.

Preppy, jock types in alligator shirts bumped elbows with girls in spiked, dog-collar necklaces, black leather and eye liner as thick as a raccoon.

Not to mention, a blinding assortment of DayGlo spray-painted hairdos, fuchsia leopard skin tights, white dinner jackets, and 1960s go-go girl chic. One concert-goer seated nearby nonchalantly sipped on a cola with a plastic tarantula glued onto his left temple.

If the two-hour wait from the time the coliseum doors opened at 6:15 p.m. to the time the concert began at 8:15 p.m. seemed long, there was certainly enough bizarre crowd watching available to pass the time. Saturday's pre-concert mood at the coliseum was fun and high-spirited.

The Police, the evening's main attraction, never let those high spirits down. Led by the crisp, haunting melodies of lead singer/bassist Sting (Gordon Sumner), The Police offered their sold-out Charlotte audience a powerful mix of reggae, rock, jazz, funk and blues.

What could have ended up as a muddy mix of styles for less-able musicians, The Police managed to weave into a rich tapestry of sound.

The infectious, Caribbean- inspired rhythms of drummer Stewart Copeland kept the crowd on its feet and clapping through much of the show - especially on such evening favourites as 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic', 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da' and 'Bring on the Night'.

Lead guitarist Andy Summers' spare, punchy style particularly on another concert favourite, 'Roxanne' - is the third reason for this trio's international success. Even with the addition of a three-man brass section on this tour, The Police sound remains intricate, crisp and uncluttered.

Onstage, Sting is a warm, playful character with none of the macho swagger that the evening's other lead singer, Joan Jett, seems so strangely fond of.

The opening band, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, gave the crowd what it apparently had come to hear -hoarse, bad-girl- in-black-leather rock 'n' roll. While many in the crowd seemed to enjoy Ms. Jetts' "tough mama" strutting onstage, I found it contrived and unconvincing.

(c) The Charlotte News by Elaine Westarp

The Police Rocked A Sellout Crowd Saturday Night At The Charlotte Coliseum...

Not many rock bands can sustain their audience's attention after playing their two most recent hits in the first 10 minutes of a concert.

But Saturday night at the Charlotte Coliseum, the Police captured the sell-out crowd of 12,900 with sparkling renditions of 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' and 'Spirits In the Material World', hits from the band's current best-selling album, as their second and third numbers. For the next hour, the group maintained that high level of intensity. The audience's attention never waned, not even on less familiar songs.

With an arresting combination of instrumental precision and onstage flamboyance, the Police showed why Rolling Stone's critics chose it as the best rock band of 1981.

Sting - singer, bassist, songwriter and front man wrapped his piercing, high-pitched voice around the songs' unusual melodies. His singing at times sounded clearer and more forceful than on the group's four albums.

Especially on 'Roxanne', the Police's first hit, and 'Secret Journey', Sting's shrill voice overpowered the busy instrumental backdrop of drummer Stewart Copeland, guitarist Andy Summers and a three-man horn section added for the tour.

Playing an electric stand-up bass or a small, fret- less electric bass, Sting also acted as bandleader and cheerleader. He moved and danced across the stage with athletic grace and boyish charm, displaying the charisma that has landed him several acting roles. Drummer Copeland propelled the music with a strong, reggae-inflected back beat and added a constant stream of inventive fills on cymbals and several different drums.

Summers's unique chordal guitar style stood out on a stellar 'Bring On the Night' and 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da'. His shimmering, bell-like tones on those songs far outdistanced his flashy, screeching solos.

Only problems with the sound mix marred the performance. Summers's guitar first was lost in the echoes of the Coliseum. Later it was mixed at an ear-shattering volume.

From my seat near the rafters, I had trouble hearing the horn section - two saxophones and a trumpet for most of the show. The band occasionally sounded muffled, especially unfortunate for a group so instrumentally talented. Perhaps the Police could have avoided these minor flaws by taking an afternoon sound check, which they neglected to do.

The rock 'n' roll raunch of the opening act, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, contrasted markedly with the Police's rhythmically sophisticated music. With reckless energy, Jett and her band blazed through several punk-influenced rockers, notable for their raw urgency and blatant sexuality.

The audience responded wildly to her current, hit, 'I Love Rock'n'Roll', an ode to teenage lust and rock'n'roll. While Jett wailed and pranced to the song's crunching beat, the audience danced and sang along. The teenagers in the crowd seemed to know every word.

(c) The Charlotte Observer by Charles Johnson

The Police At Coliseum...

The Police, a three-man British musical group, played April 3 at the Charlotte Coliseum and managed to keep the sold-out crowd of 12,900 on its feet and dancing most of the time.

The group played several hits from its new album, 'Ghost in the Machine', and some hits from its first two albums.

The biggest current hit, 'Spirits in the Material World' was the third song played, but the crowd's excitement didn't stop with it.

Police music is a combination of reggae-style rhythms and solid instrumental work on the bass guitar and electric lead guitar.

The bass player, whose real name is Gordon Sumner, just calls himself Sting. He seems to be the star of the show. He sometimes played an electric stand-up bass, but played a regular bass guitar the rest of the time. 

His vocal work on 'Roxanne', their original big hit, was outstanding.

Guitarist Andy Summers was fantastic, hitting chords that sounded like strings, bells or trumpets. He had a wealth of electronic gadgets at his feet which helped him synthesize the sound of his guitar.

The drummer has a big job in any reggae-type band, and Stewart Copeland did a fine job of holding down the tricky rhythms of the music.

The three blonde men played to an excited crowd, with Sting playing up a rivalry between North Carolina and South Carolina to get the crowd warmed up.

While spotlights played across the full seats and wall-to-wall people on the floor of the Coliseum, the Police had them clapping, singing and chanting the words to some of the songs.

(c) The Charlotte Observer by Josiah Cantwell