Synchronicity: 1983/84

Police - intelligent, intelligible, powerful...

The Police proved last night that it was worth fighting to bring them to Fresno.

The concert that almost didn't happen was a powerful show that seemed much shorter than its two hours.

Much of the material was from the band's summer hit album, 'Synchronicity', with a healthy measure of favourites from the earlier four albums.

The Police showed what is making them a sensation intelligent, intelligible lyrics backed by danceable and listenable music that combines new wave and reggae to create something different.

Andy Summers' fluid guitar licks and Stewart Copeland's off-the-usual-beat drumming deserve more attention than they usually get, but they are overpowered by the charisma of lead singer and bassist Sting, the only band member who speaks.

Sting told the crowd that it was expected to work as hard as the band.

"You'll go home completely exhausted tonight," he said. "Forget school; forget work."

Sting offers more than his soaring vocals and good looks, a magnetism that mesmerizes a crowd.

The band keeps theatrics to a minimum - a bit of smoke giving a dream-like effect to the stage and Sting's light-footed prancing. They rely instead on the music.

From the wildly popular hit single, 'Every Breath You Take', to lesser-known cuts off earlier albums, the band displayed depth and range.

It's wonderful to hear thousands of people sing along with lyrics like, "One world is enough for all of us," from 'One World (Not Three)'.

The lyrics are socially conscious singing about possible extinction, like the dinosaurs, in the lilting, 'Walking in your Footsteps' - and the screaming fans have memorized every word.

Of course, they seemed to mindlessly sing along with every song from every band that preceded The Police, too.

It was interesting, then, when Sting said, "Here's a song about the cynical manipulation of large numbers of people," and the crowd sang along with 'Murder by Numbers', the B side of 'Every Breath You Take'.

In addition to social consciousness, Sting's lyrics bring us more poetry than we've heard in popular music in a long time, with wonderful metaphor, as in 'King of Pain' - "There's a little black spot on the sun today; that's my soul up there..."

The tour featured two screens with larger-than-life video that competes for attention with the live band.

But the high tech didn't take away from the electricity of a live concert, and a behind stage shot of Sting taking off his shirt during a short break sent the crowd into a frenzy. I haven't heard that much screaming since the Beatles 1964 tour.

The concert ended with a long, rousing version of "Roxanne" that seemed untoppable until the band produced an encore of 'Can't Stand Losing You' spliced with, believe it or not, 'Home on the Range'. These guys can make anything rock.

Before the main attraction, the crowd heard the Thompson Twins, an upbeat new-wave band with interesting percussion, and Oingo Boingo, who deserve to headline.

The crowd seemed more enthusiastic about The Fixx, your basic rock band with a little too much screaming guitar for my taste.

But The Police clearly have no worry about being usurped by any of these up-and-comers.

Few bands give as powerful a performance. Fresno was lucky to have them.

(c) The Fresno Bee by Julie Charlip