Reggatta de Blanc: 1979/80

Police Proves Its Mettle Second Time Around...

The first time the Police played Memphis, the lasting impression of the group was kind of oblique. Last night, the band came back, and any sort of uncertainty was evaporated in a show of sweat, both physical and cerebral.

That first try in Memphis came last summer at the Orpheum. The show had the band obviously in a position of having to choose between the usual volume of a full-scale rock and roll show and the subtleties of its music as presented on records.

Volume won so overwhelmingly that one had to wonder if this was a band that understood really how good it could be or was one simply out for a few bucks and willing to crank it out, whatever the cost to the music.

Last night at the High Roller, the group proved that it is indeed a band that understands.

One thing that helped in differentiating between the two shows was that the band released its second album, 'Reggatta de Blanc', in that meantime. That record bolstered the feeling that the Police's first record was no calculated move into the commercial world, and last night the group settled that feeling even more.

The show, before a sell-out crowd of more than 500, was not without its excesses, particularly in the volume which ruined the Orpheum show. But in a small club setting, one could get a more accurate handle on the band, its material and what it all stands for.

After the band's first two albums, no one could doubt that Sting, the band's lead singer and songwriter, is a rock and roller of strong standing, and after the show he put on last night, there can be little second-guessing about the fact that what he writes, he feels.

The show was opened by a kinetic set by Wazmo Mariz, an act of silly but immense proportions.

On one hand, it is tragically funny as its humour falls short of satire and wit, collapsing into an adolescent attempt that simply isn't there. On the other, one can't be sure that  Wazmo Mariz doesn't have something profound to say about  rock and roll and its elevation to "culture."

Whatever Wazmo Mariz is, it is pointed. And funny. And  serious. And something to think about when there's really  nothing to think about at all. 

The two acts also performed a second show last night.

(c) The Commercial Appeal by Walter Dawson