Ghost In The Machine: 1981/82

Rock 'n' roll patrol: Police descend on Arena...

The first time the Police came to Pittsburgh, in March of 1979, they played to a couple of hundred fans in the cramped Decade in Oakland.

More than three years and four gold albums later, they returned to a nearly-sold out Civic Arena. If last night's concert was typical, their success is well-deserved.
From the opening of 'Voices Inside My Head', 'Message in a Bottle' and 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic', to the set-ender 'Roxanne' and encores of 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' and 'I Can't Stand Losing', the blond trio treated the crowd to an exceptional show.

Drummer Stewart Copeland, guitarist Andy Summers and bassist Sting were augmented by a three-man horn section, a nice touch that filled out the sound without detracting. Sting, lead singer and main song- writer for the British band, worked the crowd skilfully, encouraging singalongs, dancing, wisecracking ("After we take the Falklands back, we'll take America back."). All the while he anchored the music on bass and soared above it with his clear, steady singing.

Despite a gruelling tour schedule they've been on the road since last fall the show seemed fresh. Though most songs were given straightforward renditions, they stretched out often enough to keep things interesting.

Summers stood out on the rocking 'Demolition Man' and Copeland's drumming was fine and ferocious throughout. 'Shadows in the Rain' and 'Secret Journey' helped bring the concert to its climax.

The opening act was Bow Wow Wow, another British group notable for the driving Burundi drumming of Dave Barbarossa and for its singer, a 16-year-old Burmese ball of energy named Annabelle Lu Win. She is a terrific dancer and stage-wise showman, but only a fair singer.

The crowd, obviously unfamiliar with their music, responded politely if unenthusiastically., Bow Wow Wow is best suited for a small club with a dance floor, not a huge arena where everyone sits.

(c) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Bill Stieg

The Police Do Justice To Rock 'N' Roll Music...

About a half-dozen years ago, reggae began to be touted as the sound that would supplant rock.

But as they said on "Buck Rogers," "No way, Jose." No way white America, which, after all, is the overwhelming bulk of the population, was going to embrace songs urging blacks to rise up and overthrow the white devils, sung in barely understandable pidgin English with musical accompaniment that sounded like a Grade B travelogue.

Yet there's no denying the reggae rhythm can get under your skin and make your toes tap, hips sway and fingers snap. It can be happy, joyous and most certainly infectious.

And nobody blends it and rock better than the Police. If everything they did at the Civic Arena last night wasn't magic, enough was to make it a superb concert.

A "Third World Yes" best describes them for the uninitiated. Guitarist Andy Summers makes up for the lack of a permanent keyboardist with pedal tricks, drummer Stewart Copeland is subdued when necessary, frenetic when necessary, and bassist-singer Sting (real name: Gordon Sumner) is a stronger, less piping Jon Anderson.

The easy reggae-rock of 'Message in a Bottle' set the tenor of the Police's 18-song set before they swung right into two biggies: 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' (which, unfortunately, lacked the "calliope" effects on the record) and Spirits in the Material World'.

Other highlights in that general vein were 'The Bed's Too Big Without You', 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da', 'One World', 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' and the harder, more deliberate 'Roxanne'.

Don't think, however, that the Police can't flat-out rock'n'roll. 'Bring on the Night' was more rock than reggae, 'Can't Stand Losing You' was even better rock and the zippy 'Demolition Man', with "railroad" drumming by Copeland, was the best of all, a real barnburner.

Such numbers were a boon to Summers, who usually took a rhythm role or added only twangy or chattering seasoning. His work on the choruses of "Invisible Sun" and especially 'Demolition Man' was well worth hearing.

Music alone does not a memorable concert make, and the Police had several other assets.

First was an excellent sound system which brought the messages of 'One World' and 'Invisible Sun' and the poignancy of 'Roxanne' (the guy loves a hooker) and 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' (girl has crush on teacher, can Mr. Chips resist?) through clearly at the back of the hall.

Second were some stunning lighting effects: more than a dozen strobes flashing on 'The Bed's Too Big Without You', rotating dots on the roof (from a mirror ball behind Copeland) and coloured light rays on the band on 'Shadows in the Rain'.

Third was Sting as a pleasant frontman (when he wasn't using you-know-what word). "Andy and I are at war with Argentina (both are British)," he said drolly. "We want our islands back. Then we'll take America back; you've had it long enough." As the crowd booed he added almost offhandedly, "I think I'm in trouble."

No, he wasn't. But the opening act, something called Bowwowwow, certainly was.

Sixteen-year-old Annabella Lwin, a Burmese refugee, can't sing worth a hoot, so she talk-yelled most of the words.

Drummer Dave Barbarossa seems to know one beat, a tribal drone. Guitarist Matthew Ashman and bassist Leroy Gorman grunted into their mikes. The whole thing was racket'n'roll at its worst.

In nine years of reviewing concerts for The Press, Bowwowwow is the worst band I've ever heard. It's criminal to charge people money to hear them.

(c) The Pittsburgh Press by Pete Bishop