Synchronicity: 1983/84

Police Hit a Grand Slam in Oakland...

"The first time we played Davis' College for about 50 people," Sting shouted gleefully to the crowd of almost 60,000 people at Saturday's Day on the Green, "and now we're HERE."

Although the packed house at the Oakland Coliseum Stadium raised dust dancing on the infield all day, it clearly I was the Police the multitudes came to see.

Baseball-park concerts had been the exclusive realm of rock megastars of the '60s and '70s. Saturday, rock of the '80s finally came into its own at such an event, as the Police headlined the near-sold-out show at the Oakland Coliseum Stadium.

The trio has spearheaded new music's drive into the mainstream since the release of 'Roxanne'. That hit record caught even the band's record label by surprise when it became the first new wave track to break the AM radio barrier.

The entire line-up Saturday was devoted to exponents of the so-called new music: also appearing were the Thompson Twins, Oingo Boingo, Madness and the Fixx. These new sounds have been growing in popularity so rapidly that such a bill could not have been successfully mounted last year.

In fact, it was only four years ago that the Police first appeared in the Bay Area at UC-Berkeley's relatively small Zellerbach Auditorium. And Police bassist-vocalist Sting couldn't resist recalling his initial visit to Northern California, at "Davis College," as he surveyed the huge throng.

The trio's latest album, 'Synchronicity', already has sold umpteen million copies and definitively established the Police as the most popular rock group of the day. It is a brilliant work that ingeniously altered the band's style.

Just when other rock bands had begun successfully to assimilate the patented Police reggae-infused rhythms, the originators turned out a spare, moody set of dark, brooding songs that streaked straight to the top of the charts, mixing tuneful, accessible pieces like 'Every Step You Take' with denser, deeper numbers such as the title track, with its implicit reference to Jungian psychology.

It turned out to be the songs from the new album that served as the cornerstone of the band's Oakland concert, from Sting's vicious treatise on marriage, 'Wrapped Around Your Finger', to the apocalyptic 'King of Pain', transformed into an anthem in concert, to the sublime, insinuating rhythms of 'Every Breath You Take'.

Drummer Stewart Copeland added grace and great subtlety to his role as percussionist, while guitarist Andy Summers provided a virtual rainbow of tones and colours, filling out the sound with extraordinary skill and sensitivity.

After years of watching heavy metal heroes bang it out at ballparks, it was quite a change to see truly inventive, tasteful musicians perform at the massive stadium in front of a sprawling sea of fans.

Sting proved himself a remarkably charismatic entertainer, capable of getting the entire crowd to sing along lustily with but the slightest nudge. His bass billowed out on the bottom end of the sound, giving the trio both its anchor and its swing, while his marvellous voice dug into the material, alternating between an intense bite and an open-throated soar.

The group was almost secretly augmented by at least one additional musician and some female background vocalists none spotlighted or even introduced to the crowd, presumably to enhance the delicious impression that this gorgeous sound was being produced by only the three band members.

The set began with a series of jarring, aggressive pieces, fuelled by angular rhythms and a pounding drive, but the concert turned a corner with 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da', as the Police began to concentrate on those languid, slithering grooves that have become their specialty.

In the unusually warm evening weather, a peaceful, hypnotic spell spread across the crowd as the band glided into a supple overdrive.

Cameras beaming images to the giant TV screens flanking the stage followed the band backstage before the first encore, as the crowd watched the group fool around during a mock tea break, with Sting cleanly jerking a tablecloth from underneath a pile of cups and dishes, before returning to the stage.

The Police symbolically ushered in a new era at the Day on the Green concert Saturday. No longer can these new wave bands be considered a minority taste, the ugly stepchild of mainstream rock.

With more people turning out to catch this show than a previous Day on the Green in July headlined by regulation superstars Journey, it becomes abundantly clear that these new bands are no longer the wave of the future, but the present tense of today's rock.

(c) San Francisco Chronicle by Joel Selvin

The Police arrest Coliseum crowd...

It's a mighty long way down rock and roll," stated pop star Ian Hunter close to 10 years ago. Hunter's comment on the music scene could well be applied to Bill Graham's Day on the Green shows, now in their 10th year of production. From the first show with Leon Russell in August of 1973, to Saturday's show featuring the Police, the Fixx, Madness, Oingo Boingo and the Thompson Twins at the Oakland Coliseum, we've seen a decade of changes in pop music and in ourselves. It's been a mighty long way, indeed.

Saturday's show, dubbed "Day on the Green 3," was the third in this year's DOG series and the 41st DOG in total. The show represented some of the brightest names in new music.

The first act, the Thompson Twins, started the day with a spry and lively set. The familiar hits, 'Lies' and 'Love On Your Side' received the most applause. The Thompson Twins are well on the way to becoming top 40 favourites.

Oingo Boingo took to the stage at a few minutes past 3 p.m. The band delivered a fast-paced, aggressive set of danceable rock 'n' roll. One high point of Oingo Boingo's musical approach is the use of horns and non-traditional percussion instruments. The sound was well-mixed, rich and full. Oingo Boingo is a stark comparison to other new music groups who sport a stripped-down, minimalist sound.

Madness, the third act on '"Our House' and 'It Must Be Love.' Madness' music is a clever combination of ska music and whimsical English pop. The band is one of the last surviving groups to come from the English ska movement. Despite a mediocre sound mix, the crowd was a-rockin to Madness.

English rockers, the Fixx, also suffered from a poor mix and a cruelly inattentive stadium of fans. Toward the end of the set, the Fixx had to compete with a paper-cup melee that distracted everyone in the Coliseum from the music. The band should have stopped the set at this point, but they continued until the end of the song, then exited the stage. The band then returned for a repeat performance of its latest hit, 'One Thing Leads to Another.'

The Fixx are a fine band and its songs show depth and perception. Playing daylight arena concerts would be a mistake for this and most of Saturday's bands - if it wasn't for the mass exposure involved. The Fixx could have benefitted from such luxuries as a light show and accompanying video which was only afforded to the headliners, the Police.

After an hours' wait, the Police hit the stage with a sensitive, inspiring 90-minute set. The late afternoon dusk had turned to evening as the Police proceeded to arrest and captivate the sold-out crowd.

The Police are a three-piece band whose sound relies a great deal on reggae and Third World musical influences. Since its inception in 1977, band members Stuart Copeland, Andy Summers and figurehead leader, Sting, have enjoyed a steady stream of gold and platinum record sales. The latest album, 'Synchronicity', topped the charts this summer, bolstered by the number one single, 'Every Breath You Take'.

The Police are known to be a bit inconsistent in concert, as might be expected of a three-piece band. The set at Saturday's DOG suffered a bit from the pacing (order) of the songs and the band's energy. This tour has brought with it the pressures of massive fame and fortune. On this date, lead singer Sting was swinging in fine, cynical form.

"This song is about the cynical manipulation of large amounts of people," proclaimed Sting as the band broke into 'Murder by Numbers'. The Police delivered a set which went beyond the digestible norm, giving the scores of teen-aged boys and girls something to think about. As the crowd sang along with 'One World (is Enough for All of Us)', the concert transcended from the usual into the "event" category. While the best song of the set was 'Wrapped Around Your Finger' from the 'Synchronicity' album, the Police's entire performance was enthusiastically received.

A concurrent three-screen video presentation which skilfully showed the band's on and off stage antics was produced and directed by MTV, the music video network that co-sponsored the 'Synchronicity' tour. The video view of the band in action is a true Godsend for large stadium concerts. From the upper deck of the Coliseum, Sting and company's heavyweight performance could be viewed casually and with detail. The video screens are also a blessing for the handicapped and for persons of shorter stature who would normally have trouble seeing the band above the rest of the crowd. 

In 10 years time from Watergate to the recent Russian downing of a Korean airliner it's been a mighty long way for all of us. "Day on the Green 3" showed many of us, just how far we've come. The question still remains. however, as to how far we can go.

(c) The Santa Cruz Sentinel by Peter Fields

Police: A Band Of Contradictions...

During Saturday night's Police concert at the Oakland Coliseum, vocalist-songwriter-bassist Sting launched into one of the group's big hits, an anthem to claustrophobia titled 'Don't Stand So Close to Me'. As he sang, thousands from the crowd of 57,500 surged forward to stand as close to the rock star as possible.

This summer, in mob concerts all over the nation, the Police have been rivalling the Stones and the Who as the world's most popular rock band. Inevitably, such mass fame brings contradictions. Thus, Sting's sinuous, melancholy and deeply personal songs from the Police's current, best-selling album, 'Synchronicity', were presented in a typical rock-stars-in-a-stadium show - artificial fog billowing over the stage, flashbulbs popping, teenagers screaming and revolving coloured lights sweeping over the band.

As headliners of Bill Graham's Day on the Green No. 3, the trio took the stage promptly at 8pm, capping an afternoon of largely synthesizer pop from the Thompson Twins, Oingo Boingo, Madness and the Fixx. (Of the four, only Madness, with an eclectic blend of rockabilly, ska and rock, truly electrified the crowd.)

The Police, begun in 1977 by drummer Stewart Copeland and named after Copeland's father, an employee of the CIA, opened with 'Synchronicity I' (based on a theory by Carl Jung, whose name appears on the album cover).

Wearing a white tunic and baggy red pants, did a swivel-hipped dance on 'Walking in Your Footsteps', a cheery children's tune about human extinction. (The footsteps alluded to belong to dinosaurs; one tuneful line queries, "Mister Brontosaurus, do you have a lesson for us?")

The audience sang the chorus of 'Da Do Do Do, De Da Da Da', and responded with cheers whenever the band returned to its earlier reggae sound on such songs as 'Spirits in the Material World', and 'Walking on the Moon'. The power chord rock of their earliest hits was represented as well with the group's first hit, 'Roxanne', and 'There's a Hole in My Life'.

Sting played the vamping rock star idol role to the hilt (he is, after all, an accomplished actor), manipulating the crowd to fever pitch with whirling-dervish dance steps and Mick Jagger-styled taunts. "Well, what do ya think so far?" he teased with mock modesty midway through the concert, as thousands cheered wildly. Guitarist Andy Summers (doing frequent mid-air splits), the backup female singers and drummer Copeland occasionally appeared on the giant video screens flanking the stage; the primary focus, however, on screen and on stage, was clearly Sting.

The band's flashy act was most clearly at odds with Sting's music on such songs as 'Wrapped Around Your Finger', a sardonic commentary on marriage, the self-indulgent depression of 'King of Pain', and 'O My God', as well as on their current enormous hit, 'Every Breath You Take', on which a lover's arrogance is exposed as anguish.

Such contradictions reached a peak when the band left the stage for a "tea break" and the video cameras of MTV followed them. To a collective gasp from the spellbound audience, screens showed Sting stripping off his guitar and then slowly peeling off his stage costume in a slinky striptease, retaining only a pair of red bikinis. The crowd was thrilled. They may have loved Sting's music, but they were absolutely crazy for his body.

The band returned following this bit of playfulness; Sting performed bare-chested, wearing only trousers.

Before offering 'Don't Stand So Close to Me', Sting triumphantly proclaimed, “The first time we played in the Bay area there were about 50 people; now we're here."

The promise proffered earlier to play "for ages" was forgotten as the group encored at 9.45pm with a medley version of their 'Can't Stand Losing You' meshed with the Harry Belafonte hit from the '50s 'Jamaica Farewell' (with "San Francisco town" predictably substituted for "Kingston town").

Equally predictable and part and parcel of the stadium-rock experience was the nightmarish crush of exiting crowds. For those not willing to risk claustrophobia, the Police's set was taped by MTV.

(c) The Sacramento Bee by Marina Hirsch

Police: an arresting concert...

Reviewing The Police concert at the Oakland Coliseum Stadium on Saturday night requires a breakdown: There was the music, the production, the audience and, finally, the overall ambiance.

In placing the Police at the top of the world of contemporary pop-rock as they have the American popular music community, both the business and the buying public, have demonstrated one of their few indications of good taste in many years.

Police's discs are superbly produced recordings of a trio of rather young Englishmen who have their own ideas about music, and the music profession, and go about putting together renditions that are most memorable.

The music at the Coliseum Stadium was an intelligently selected cross section of the Police's material, not emphasizing any one of their various eras (i.e. LPs) but giving us 'Message in a Bottle', 'Don't Stand So Close to Me', 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da', 'Shadows in the Rain', as well as the more recent 'Every Breath You Take'. 'King of Pain' and as the evening wound down, the exquisite 'Roxanne'. They were on stage (including a brief intermission interlude) an hour and 45 minutes.

There were four backup singers, an obscured keyboardist (apparently also handling a synthesizer) and Sting on bass and lead vocal, Andy Summers on guitar (and some vocals) and Stewart Copeland on, mostly, a huge drum set and, sometimes, a vast array of Afro-Cuban percussion.

Sting began his career as Gordon Sumner in Newcastle, joining American-born Copeland in 1976-77 (with a now-departed guitarist) in the original Police. Summers joined up in '77 at Birmingham, England. In 1979 their recordings began to make waves.

Saturday night's production was sensational and effective. Three huge "live video" screens picked up most of the stage action, projecting their images throughout the stadium, and lights of all manner played the stage and, toward the end, over the audience.

The TV coverage of such an event, of late, is almost as significant as the happening itself. Saturday's, though most of the time visually crisp, was of poor hue and often meaningless selection. With 55,000 fans on the stadium playing field and in the stands, most "saw" the show via the TV screens.

The sound system was superb although some of the four opening acts (two of which we heard) didn't fare as well, with bass rumble the principal problem.

Sting is most impressive all the way a strange, but attractive, high-pitched voice, and remarkably dedicated manner; he's also a selector, and composer, of wonderful material - new wave to hi-life to the blues, ballads, and reggae; and African veldt folk music.

The audience was up and dancing most of the time; they got into high gear when Madness was playing (what a great set!) and roared on through the night. The mood was truly wonderful - a good-time feeling, few problems, and notable fondness for the Police.

Good taste shows on the part of the Police, their fans, and their show producers.

(c) San Francisco Examiner by Philip Elwood

Police at Oakland Coliseum...

I grew up in the San Francisco bay area and I remember from a young age being interested in music in general. Being so close to the city and to Berkeley it was easy to see live shows. As fate would have it my punker days were few and fleeting. Berkeley had some great shows for a wanna-be punk like myself. It wasn't until I started hearing ska, reggae and new wave or alternative music that I felt like I had found my place.

Now on to the concert to remember all concerts. It was August 1983 and it was the day on the green concert series at the Oakland Colliseum. Thompson Twins opened up, Madness, the Fixx, Oingo Boingo and finally the Police as the headliners.

I seem to mark my life by concerts and music in general. It is not a concious effort I can just hear a song and it will bring me back to that time and what I was doing. At the day on the green concert I was 17 years old and as most boys this age I felt 10 foot tall and bullet proof. It really one of those times when you feel like you have the world by the short hairs with anything is possible. I was there with my best friends, my high school sweetheart and my favorite band and we were partying like rock stars.

The music as great, the weather was great and anything was possible that summer. Thanks for the a great soundtrack to my youth guys. I am so glad to see another tour coming around. I will be joining in for a many as my work and wife will tolerate.

(c) ''huntermills''