Police Reunion: 2007/08

The Police revisit their hits in a high-voltage concert...

The legendary British trio closes the fourth day of the macro-festival in what was the last opportunity to see them together in Spain.

The Police closed the penultimate day of the Rock in Río Madrid festival with an intense concert in which they revisited their repertoire and revived their greatest hits, in an unforgettable night for their Spanish fans.

The most anticipated moment for the 78,000 people gathered today at the City of Rock in the Madrid town of Arganda del Rey came just after midnight, when The Police kicked off their performance with "Message In A Bottle," the song that earned them their first number one hit, way back in 1979.

Artists such as Alejandro Sanz and Estopa had previously graced the festival's main stage, but the audience knew it was their last chance to see Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers together on stage in Spain, as the tour that reunited them in 2007, after a separation of almost twenty-five years, will conclude next month.

The presence of the British trio—who had performed in Valencia and Bilbao before Madrid—brought up the average age of the festival's audience today, and they were not disappointed by the concert.

"Good evening, I'm Sting," said Gordon Matthew Sumner after the first number, dressed in a tight dark T-shirt and clutching a worn bass guitar. He continued speaking in Spanish to introduce the "fantastic" guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland, whom he called "incredible."

It's clear that they no longer possess the raging energy of their early days—the youngest is Copeland, at 55, one year younger than Sting, and Summers is 65—but they have plenty of technique and skill to present songs on stage that have grown with them and that have changed on this tour to adapt to changing times.

Fans of The Police heard longer versions of the songs, in which guitars replace the keyboards from the albums the band released in the 1980s.

After the introduction, the trio continued with another song from their album 'Reggatta de Blanc,' 'Walking On The Moon,' and Sting continued addressing the audience to ask for their participation.

They then joined in with 'Voices Inside My Head' and 'When The World Is Running Down,' two songs from their third album, 'Zenyatta Mondatta' (1980), which was followed by one of the band's classics, 'Don't Stand So Close To Me,' and 'Driven To Tears.'

After a revamped version of 'Wrapped Around Your Finger,' one of the three songs played from their last album, 'Synchronicity' (1983), the audience got into a frenzy with 'De Do Do Do De Da Da Da,' which Sting sings in a much lower tone now than in the original version.

The finale began with the indestructible "Roxanne," from their first album, to which the trio returned shortly after to revive "So Lonely," before performing "Every Breath You Take," their worldwide smash hit, which is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary these days.

The Police signed off with "Next To You?", the opening track of their first album, recorded thirty years ago, when they were just another of the many bands struggling to make a living in the era following the punk explosion.

The trio didn't yet have a record label and had to pay out of their own pocket the £2,000 it cost to record their debut album. Given the results, it was a great investment.

On August 7, The Police will play their final concert at Madison Square Garden in New York.

It's been proven that in rock, any comeback is possible, but just in case, the Police fans gathered at Rock in Rio lived this night as if it were unrepeatable.

(c) La Vanguardia