Synchronicity: 1983/84

The Police nab 30,000 - Sting and rock group Police show why they're number one on album and singles charts...

Take the hottest band in rock, the Police. Add 30,000 fans in a sold-out, Holleder stadium on a warm summer afternoon. Mix in a considerable amount of news-media exposure and a lot of high expectations. That sort of thing frequently leads to disappointment.

Fortunately, the Police came through with a polished show that nevertheless rocked hard enough to frequently bring the audience to its feet Yesterday afternoon. True, the band didn't take a lot of musical chances; on the other hand, they certainly didn't let anyone down.

The Police put on a smart, slick show - plenty of hits, good pacing, lots of talent. What's more, this band has whatever it is - star power, charisma, electricity, luck - that can communicate music excitement to a sweltering audience of 30,000 people, many sitting hundreds of feet from the stage. 

The Police sound, an infectious mix of Jamaican, reggae and rock, along with an occasional dash of third world rhythms, has propelled this band to the very top of rock. They currently enjoy the number one position on both the rock singles and album charts - their ballad Every Breath You Take from the album Synchronicity (the word means two or more events happening simultaneously). 

Their last three records have all gone platinum, a record industry term meaning at least a million copies have been sold. This summer's 26-city tour is, along with David Bowie's Tour, the rock event of the season. The Police are selling out huge stadiums - including Shea Stadium in New York City - all over the country. 

The band was formed in 1977 in England by American drummer Stewart Copeland who had previously worked with an English band called Curved Air.

The Police sound has always been spare and streamlined with catchy melodies and intelligent, sometimes edgy lyrics.

Somehow, it all comes together with style and originality, and the Police broke ground for other bands, such as the highly successful Australian group Men at Work, and even Eddy Grant, who until recently had been successful everywhere but the United States.

The trio - bassist Sting (real name Gordon Sumner), guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland, were augmented yesterday by three female back up singers dressed in long black Iranian-style robes and a few anonymous backup musicians helping out on playing guitars and keyboards.

Sting is clearly the star of the show. He sings lead vocals, plays bass and synthesiser and also writes most of the band's songs. On Synchronicity, he wrote every track but two.

Sting is also branching out beyond music; he has parlayed his fame and blond good looks into a movie career. He has a role in The Who's film Quadropehnia and in the film Brimstone and Treacle, and will star in the film version of Frank Herbert's Dune.

Wearing baggy red parachute pants, black boots and a blue top, Sting was clearly in control of the stage, stepping from behind the microphone occasionally to strut about the stage or pausing between songs to banter with the audience about the heat.

The band's current tour has obviously not robbed his voice of its power, and his vocals were strong and clear.

Guitarist Andy Summers is an underrated talent, his rhythm work supplies the backbone of the band's sound, and he can surface for an impressive solo, as he did on Invisible Sun.

The Holleder arena stage was framed by white cloth with the thick stripes - yellow, blue and red - that dominate the cover of Synchronicity, and the band played six of the album's 10 songs during the concert.

The rest of the show consisted of most of the group's hit singles, including Roxanne, Don't Stand So Close To Me, the infectious De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da, Message in a Bottle, Spirits in The Material World.

The Police sound was generally fuller in concert that on record. The dub techniques they frequently use on record - in which musical tracks are electronically stripped away in the studio, creating an eerie, ghost-like sound - are difficult to accomplish on stage.

The Police portion of the concert (there were two other groups) lasted about 80 minutes, with The Police coming on stage about 4pm. It would have been nice to hear a little more music, particularly from albums like Zenyatta Mondatta (1980) and Ghost In The Machine (1981). On the other hand, leaving an audience wanting more is one sign that someone's doing something right.

The band opened with 'Synchronicity I', and shortly moved into 'Walking In Your Footsteps', Sting's ode to the dinosaurs as we follow them to extinction. The song opened using a very effective, soft African sound, with percussion effects from drummer Copeland.

From 'Walking in Your Footsteps' the band leapt directly into the reggae influenced 'Message in a Bottle', and continued rocking with the 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da', which combines nonsense lyrics with an absolutely irresistible melodic hook.

The Police then mixed material from 'Synchronicity' with older material 'Wrapped Around Your Finger' from the new album, then back to 'Spirits in the Material World'. The band also knows how to vary the music within songs, letting the music quiet down in a verse only to roar back on the choruses. 

They even managed to get the audience singing along no mean feat in Holleder Stadium. 'On One World Is Enough For All Of Us', Sting set up a reggae chant that had a large part of the audience singing along; as the song caught fire he danced across the stage and Summers started doing modified jumping-jacks to the music.

'King of Pain' from 'Synchronicity' also turned into a rousing rocker, a rather curious turn of events when one considers the song's masochistic lyrics: "It's my destiny to be the king of pain."

The band placed its big summer single, the ballad 'Every Breath You Take', in the middle of the show rather than, as is traditional with the 'hit' song in pop and rock concerts, at the end. Once again, Sting's words belie a conventionally pretty melody; this is a song of loss tinged with menace. Every breath you take, says the narrator, he'll be watching you - whether you like it or not.

The band closed the show with a pair of songs that aptly illustrated the reggae/rock hybrid that is associated with the Police 'Don't Stand So Close to Me', which started as a series of simple guitar chords and rapidly built, and 'Roxanne', the song that was the band's first big single in 1978.

The band came back for an encore by this time Sting had abandoned his shirt to play another early hit, 'Can't Stand Losing You'.

Two other bands played at Holleder before the Police - the Fixx and A Flock of Seagulls. Neither of the two is in the same class with the Police. Fixx is preferable to the Flock, whose music largely consists of a meandering synthesizer runs that don't seem to go anywhere.

The concert seemed to run reasonably smoothly. Police and medical personnel working at the stadium reported no major problems. "It was very calm. What we saw was mostly people who had combined a little too much beer with too much sun," said Dan Schey, director of the Rochester Drug and Alcohol Council, which in turn oversees a group called Heads on Straight that was working at the concert.

In the neighbourhood surrounding the stadium, 999 Ridgeway Ave., about 150 security guards and uniformed police officers tried to insure the safety and comfort of spectators and neighbourhood residents living near the concert, Rochester police Lt. Joe Cook said.

Officers were posted at the beginning of all the streets running off Ridgeway Avenue preventing everyone but residents and their friends from going up and down the roads. Police were also posted at all the major intersections to help keep traffic flowing.

Most of the residents inter- viewed on Hollywood Street, which backs up to Holleder Stadium, said the concert was a great excuse to throw a party.

Joe DiProspero of 25 Hollywood St. and five of his friends took a few beers and climbed up on his garage where they could just barely make out the bass player and drummer on stage almost 500 yards away.

"I hope they have four or five (more concerts), like they were talking about," DiProspero said.

He and his wife, who moved into their new house only on Wednesday, said they hadn't had any problems with crowds trampling their lawn or parking on the street that had been blocked off by police.

Just about every house along Hollywood had a group of people relaxing, drinking beer and ready to enjoy the audio portion of a free concert.

Terry Sweet, one of DiProspero's buddies, said he gave up four tickets to the concert when he found out he could feel apart of the atmosphere while partying.

"You get a free concert and you don't have to worry about anybody coming through here," said Robin Graham, of 30 Holly- wood St. She and her husband tossed a pool party and pig roast for about 16 of their friends.

Her only complaint? The music wasn't loud enough.

(c) The Democrat and Chronicle by Andy Smith

It was a Police state of mind - 30,000 crammed into Holleder Stadium yesterday for good music, the hot sun and weird games...

The guy loading the school bus at noon yesterday climbed aboard to give last minute instructions.

"Now don't take any cameras with your 'because they won't allow them in," he said and the murmur on the bus became hushed. "No bottles. Nothing to drink or eat. If you've got wineskins with water, they'll probably make you pour some out prove it's water. If it's not water - if you've got wine, they'll confiscate the wineskin." 

Jeers from the riders. "I know that sucks. 

"So have a good concert. And don't get too loaded." With a smile, he hopped off and the bus doors glided closed behind him. Another busload of concertgoers pulled away from the curb in front of the War Memorial, headed for the Police show at Holleder Stadium.

Immediately pungent smoke began wafting toward the front of the bus. Two riders in seats near the front turned to each other.

"Do you smell marijuana?" one asked. The other just giggled. Around them, keyed-up ticketholders buzzed with plans about the T-shirt to be bought, the rendezvous that had been planned and the ideal location for maximum enjoyment at Holleder.

By the time the same buses started shuttling people back downtown shortly after 5pm, the crowd was significantly quieter. Sated by four hours of loud, live music and by an afternoon of dizzying sun, they headed home almost gratefully, thankful that they'd made it through without incident.

But it was that kind of concert. The extraordinary thing was that nothing extraordinary happened. About 30,000 people managed to gather in one place for several hours to hear three of contemporary music's more popular bands in a show that went off like clockwork.

By noon, the gates already had been open for two hours. Seats in the bleachers were scarce; blanket space on the football field couldn't be found within 80 yards of the stage. And still buses unloaded streams of anxious fans into the parking lot, where they threaded their way through cars, tailgate parties and the growing groundcover of bottles and other beverage containers.

You could see how full the stadium was getting by watching a hacky sack game at the opposite end of the field from the stage. (Hacky-sack is a sport not unlike the old game of hot potato, except you use your feet and knees instead of your hands to pass the little leather-covered ball around the circle.)

There were six or seven hacky-sack players in a circle, who kicked, bobbed and dodged, passing the ball around the group until one missed and the ball rolled away. Each time the ball was lost and retrieved, a new group of concert-goers laid down a blanket nearby, crimping the hacky-sack circle on one side. By the time the Fixx came on at 1pm, the game was down to two players, standing face to face, less than two feet apart.

The Fixx played an enticing 35-minute set that captured the crowd's attention. The band offered an energetic brand of new music, blending synthesizers with dance beats and a defiant personality. Though the group's most familiar song, 'Stand or Fall', was the weakest of its set, the Fixx showed promise, coming on like a young version of Roxy Music, with less of a pose and more of an attitude.

It was impossible to move very far very fast at any time in Holleder yesterday afternoon. At times, all one could do was stand back and watch the T-shirt procession.

Oddly enough, though the printed T-shirt originally was a badge of individuality, it was not uncommon to see whole brigades of wanderers stroll by wearing shirts touting the same radio station or the same recent concerts. Even more people apparently plopped down $12 for a sleeveless Police tour T-shirt, complete with the blotches of primary colours that are the symbols of their newest album, 'Synchronicity'.

Still, there were marks of originality in the parade. One advertised "RG&E Meter Readers"; one linked "You and Group Health." Another commemorated "Iowa Freestyle Wrestling." Others offered messages: "Slightly Burned Out (But Still Smoking)"; or "Having abandoned my search for truth, I'm now looking for a good fantasy."

You didn't get a sense of how many people there until you tried to find someone you had arrived with and had since lost. One young man from Le Roy, was standing off to the side of the field, craning his neck while chugging a beer.

"I lost my friends - you want a beer?" he said. At his feet was a tray with one full beer and two empty glasses.

"They said they'd be right here. Right here. So I went to get a Coke and I see that the beer line is open. So I bought them all beers four beers. $8. And I get back here and they're gone. Now I'm stuck with all this beer and I don't even see anyone else I know to give one to.

"I guess I'll end up drinking them all myself. I was going to surprise them and treat them all to a beer - and they just left."

By the time A Flock of Seagulls swooped onstage at 2pm, the crush in front of the stage had taken its first victim. A young woman, overcome by the waves of heat was hauled over the front barricade and taken away to recover. The front-row survivors cheered at any diversion: the removal of the girl, a sprinkle of ice water from a security guard or the arrival of the next band on stage.

The Seagulls found one groove occupied by whiny droning synthesizers and drum machines and stayed in it for their allotted hour. The group's brand of music hinged yesterday on repetitive hooks, airy platitudes about love and the appearance that the group is doing something that it is not: creating exciting and vital music. The Flock's waw listless enough that the band was not called back for an encore.

In fact, the Seagulls may be one of the least substantial bands ever to be credited with starting a musical fashion. The only surprise about their brand of new music is how stale and reworked it sounds. The fact that they can make bizarre sculptures out of their own hair does not guarantee them serious consideration.

The same cannot be said of the Police, who took the stage shortly before 4pm, to play an invigorating 90-minute set. The very fact that the Police can attract 30,000 appreciative fans to one spot and not have to compromise its musical style or quality in doing so is reason enough to take them seriously. Even more impressive is just how liberating the Police's music can be. Everywhere you looked during the show yesterday, you could see people dancing. Not just swaying or tapping their foot actually dancing. In couples, in groups or by themselves the beat was too insistent to be ignored. You couldn't walk five paces in any direction without bumping into one or more cavorting, capering figures.

The Police's set was an uplifting blend of the old ('Roxanne', 'I Can't Stand Losing You') and the new ('Synchronicity I & II', 'Every Breath You Take', 'Wrapped Around Your Finger'). Each song seemed to build upon the enthusiasm inspired by its predecessor.

The Police Sting on bass, Andy Summers on guitar, Stewart Copeland on drums - managed to sound like an entire orchestra, though their line-up was augmented only by a female trio doing background vocals. Sting and Summers both doubled on keyboards and triggered tape loops, while taking charge with their own instruments. Summers achieved symphonic effects on guitar, filling out the spare sound with lush chords; Sting and Copeland made maximum melodic use of what usually are rhythm instruments.

The songs themselves galloped along on exotic beats, whether a speed-injected reggae tempo ('De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da') or jazzy sketchiness on 'A Hole In My Life' that quickly blossomed into a soulful reworking of 'Hit the Road, Jack'. Each song had a beguiling aggressiveness that was insistent without being pushy.

The concertgoers were much subdued by the time they found their way on to buses after the show. Still, the afternoon had stirred the imagination of at least music lover.

He turned to a friend who was slumped in the bus seat next to him and said, "That was great. They ought to do that more often - like every week."

(c) The Times Union by Marshall Fine