Ghost In The Machine: 1981/82

The Police shines in performance...

The Police took the Pan Am Center stage last night with two very obvious intentions to overwhelm its audience (about 7,500 people), and to have fun doing it.

Not that these objectives vary greatly from those of any other band, but Monday night's show was the last of The Police's month-long American tour and the group had special cause to celebrate. Bassist-vocalist Sting promised "anything goes."

And it did.

The Police pulled out all the stops in their aggressive, infectious 90-minute set, one that saw not only a variety of the band's supreme and perhaps best known material, but a performance that was so simply overpowering as to leave one still drained the next morning. A glossary of superlative adjectives could not do justice to Monday night's Labor Day performance.

The night opened promptly with an impressive set of traditional rock 'n' roll by Dave Edmunds, the former Rockpile guitarist whose rock 'n' roll purism contrasted well with the more adventurous, contemporary strains of the headliners.

The Police followed with a show full of surprises. And it was a show so full of instrumental, physical and, indeed, spiritual mastery that one couldn't help but leave the concert knowing why The Police are successful on an international basis.

The band's presence alone is staggering.

Sting is the personification of The Police spirit, a platinum blond phantom whose constant bobbing and weaving undulations embody the throbbing, reggae-inflected physicality that makes The Police's music so enthralling.

He is a showman of the first magnitude, able not only to sing a song with definitive authority, but simultaneously capable of coaxing boisterous audience singalongs, especially during a contagious rendition of 'One World (Not Three)'.

His distinctive voice was in fine form Monday night, diversifying and modifying itself in characteristic fashion, from the plaintive 'Roxanne', the band's first American hit, to the sombre and restrained vocal of 'Invisible Sun'.

Sting's ability to work a crowd, through constant chatter and ceaseless antics, gave the show the edge that drove it over the top. His affinity for the word "yo" and its various melodic uses gave the audience a common sound with which it, and Sting, could explore their relationship together on numerous occasions. It was not surprising, then, that the audience was chanting that word repeatedly instead of yelling "encore" at the end of the band's show.

Sting's chunky, percussive bass chording proved he's no instrumental slouch either. His bass play, combined with the stolid presence of drummer Stewart Copeland, proved especially vital to the numerous extended instrumental passages the group interjected impressively into songs like the funk-inflected 'When the World is Running Down, You Get the Best of What's Still Around' and a more emotive 'The Bed's Too Big Without You'.

Guitarist Andy Summers, his hair cropped short, casts a gaunt, almost impassive figure on stage. But his sinewy, often billowing guitar work gave the music its flexible character, steeping it in layers of enveloping motion that bounced around Copeland's pulsating beat.

Summers' lead guitar work ranged from fierce and biting to willowy and liquid, and was especially integral to songs like 'Spirits in the Material World', 'The Bed's Too Big Without You', 'Bring on the Night', 'Shadows in the Rain' and particularly 'Demolition Man'.

He is without doubt the musician with the most diversity in the band.

Copeland is an overwhelming workhorse of a drummer, pounding out the definitive, often characteristic reggae-tinged rhythms of the music with a force that was torrential in nature. From the start, when the band opened with 'Message in a Bottle', it was not hard to see who was the jefe on stage. Copeland often drummed in overdrive, spurring the music along its mesmerically rhythmic core, anchoring the sound so his cohorts could be more adventurous.

Combined, this trio, augmented by a very punctual three-man brass section, put on one of the best performances I've ever witnessed in my 10- plus years of concert going. It had all the right elements, mixing refreshingly modified versions of the band's huge hits - especially 'Roxanne', 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da' and 'Walking on the Moon' with some of its lesser known, but perhaps more lyrically significant material, most notably a pensive 'Shadows in the Rain' and throbbing 'Walking on the Moon'.

An effectively subtle, virtually gimmick-free light show served to further engross the viewer. And the group's efficient road crew kept the show running smoothly with few gaffes.

The show turned into something of a party at the end, with Sting bringing the road crew up on stage (now that's class) before the band dove wholeheartedly into a rather haphazard version of 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' that was highlighted by a festive downpour of balloons and confetti.

The boisterous audience, which was extremely voracious in its enthusiasm for the show, played a key role in the performance's success. That proved true at the end, after the first encore, when the band couldn't help but return for an unplanned second encore. With opener Edmunds on guitar, the group ventured into a humorous (and appropriate) version of 'Home on the Range', then slammed into a sloppy but enjoyable rendition of Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode'.

Monday's area debut by The Police was a rare treat, an exception from the mediocrity that rules at El Paso area concerts. The band went into its farewell show with the hopes of having fun and saying goodbye in the same breath. It did that and a great deal more Monday night.

(c) El Paso Herald-Post by Doug Pullen

Police dazzle audience in great Cruces concert...

Breathtaking.

No other word adequately sums the imprints left by the Police Monday night at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces.

The trio's riveting 90-minute barrage of reggae-injected rock stunned 7,622 fans, most of whom undoubtedly rarely see such classy demonstrations of talent and charisma. A sad majority of today's rock 'n' roll shows simply numb listeners with a monotonous blast of decibels.

The Police proved that a live performance needn't rely solely on volume, hardware and the tone-deaf loyalty of pre-pubescent throngs. The band's uplifting display brimmed with maturity, dedication and exuberance, elements that make its worldwide prominence richly deserved.

The Police opened its set at 9:15pm with a fluid version of 'Message in a Bottle'. A three-piece horn section joined the band for 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic', a bubbly, contagious love song, and the rhythmic 'Spirits in the Material World'.

Though lead singer and bassist Sting grabbed the limelight with his unbridled leaps and luscious voice, it was soon apparent that the substance cementing the band's sound is provided by drummer Stewart Copeland. His awesome gymnastics on the hi-hats, cocktail toms and sizzle cymbals formed a sturdy backbone for Andy Summers' guitar filigree and Sting's plucks on the Steinberger stick bass.

Sting's voice often bears a fragile, even strained tone on vinyl. But Monday night he sang tirelessly while maintaining the nuances that lend his lyrics poignancy, wit and intelligence. His bleats soared in 'Driven to Tears' and the lively, sensuous 'Hungry for You (j'aurais toujours faim de toi)'. 'Bring on the Night' was saved from monotony only by the songbird's golden vocal cords, which can transform lowly jingles into shimmering arias.

Wearing baggy white pants and a canary-yellow jacket over a striped T-shirt, Sting vaulted and bobbed across stage in a constant effort to spur audience frenzy. A hoop earring glittered between strands of bleached-blond hair. He demanded attention and the audience delivered. Almost everyone stood throughout the show, clapping, waving their arms and shouting Sting's trademark "ay-yo." New Wavers danced in the aisles. And, for a change, drug consumption seemed of secondary concern to concertgoers.

The Police waltzed through a dance card of expected hits, as well as a few obscure tunes: 'The Bed's Too Big Without You', 'Walking on the Moon' and the snappy 'Demolition Man', showcasing Summers' incredible guitar work. The Police demonstrated their mastery in attaining the difficult balance between spontaneity and precision in 'When the World is Running Down, Make the Best of What's Still Around' and the positively jittery 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da'. Sting, showing off his musical versatility, played a stand-up bass for 'Shadows in the Rain' and played an organ in the eerie 'Invisible Sun'. His vocals were particularly spellbinding in 'One World (Not Three)', a song of startling power despite Sting's persistent efforts to sustain an audience singalong.

During 'Roxanne', harsh white lights blinded the audience while the band was bathed in red, an excellent flourish for the reggae-tinged story of a lover and a prostitute. The lighting throughout the show was stupendous, relying more on variety than wattage.

During the band's first encore of 'Don't Stand So Close to Me', hundreds of balloons and heaps of confetti cascaded from above, instantly littering the stage and floor with a flood of festive colour. As the Police played "Can't Stand Losing You," confetti drifted through the air like snow in a glass bubble paperweight. The crowd was ecstatic.

The Las Cruces date was the last in the band's American tour and followed an appearance at the nationally acclaimed US Festival in San Bernardino. "That means that anything goes," Sting predicted early in the evening. At 10:45, he fulfilled the prophesy with the second encore.

"We've never done this song in public," Sting said, as Dave Edmunds, who opened the show, sauntered onstage to join the Police in 'Home on the Range'. Edmunds and the trio then belted out a few rocking stanzas of 'Johnny B. Goode' and closed the show with a short blues instrumental.

The Police concert lacked some of the band's characteristic crispness, and in a few instances the saxophones and trumpet intruded rather than enhanced. But those nearly imperceptible flaws can't dent the success of Monday night's show. The Police reign as the most exciting and gifted trio since Cream.

(c) The El Paso Times by Edna Gundersen