Synchronicity: 1983/84

The Police take over Rupp for sold-out performance...

It's not often teen-agers flock to see the police. But with The Police, it's a different story.

More than 23,400 music lovers jammed into Rupp Arena last night for a sold- out concert by the rock group.

The event marked the first sold-out concert in Rupp Arena since January and only the fifth in Rupp Arena history, arena manager Bill Humphrey said.

''I think they're great. I love 'em,'' 16-year-old Brian Welker of Louisville said of The Police as he made his way through the crowd to the concert. Welker said it was his first Police concert and vowed ''to enjoy it to the fullest.''

Two Louisville girls clutched a bouquet of white flowers. ''We're going to give them to Sting,'' one of the girls said, giggling. She declined to give her name.

Sting is The Police's lead singer.

Teen-agers and people in their 20s made up the bulk of what one fan called a ''really fired up'' crowd. A few, like 11-year-old Jason Kron of Louisville, brought a parent along.

Actually Tom Kron was chaperoning his son and two of his friends.

''This is the first rock concert I've been to,'' confided the elder Kron, who scanned the crowd a few minutes then said, ''There are not as many wild people here as you would think.''

The Police are riding the tide of their latest No. 1 single, 'Every Breath You Take'.

Stephen O'Brien of Louisville said he liked the messages found in The Police's music.

''This rock group, despite their image, has some spiritual overtones in their music, and that's refreshing,'' said O'Brien, 30.

Despite the sellout, there apparently was no scarcity of concert tickets. Outside Rupp Arena, several people were trying to get rid of extra tickets. There appeared to be ample takers.

Police T-shirts were selling about as well as the concert tickets. Hundreds of people waited in line to buy the shirts, which sold for up to .

A January concert by Alabama was the last sellout at Rupp Arena, Humphrey said. The other sold-out shows were two Rolling Stones performances and one by The Who.

(c) The Lexington Herald-Leader by Thomas Tolliver

Sell-out crowd approves of Police's songs...

The Police performed to a sold out audience of over 23,000 on Nov 6, in Lexington's Rupp Arena.

They took the stage a few minutes after 9pm, following a 45 minute set by the Fixx, an up-and-coming British group who played such crowd pleasers as 'Stand and Fall', 'Saved by Zero' and the top hit 'One Thing Leads to Another'.

Under a stage of dry ice and flood lights, The Police immediately apprehended fans with back-to-back versions of 'Synchronicity' and 'Synchronicity II'. The band continued to play selections from the 'Synchronicity' album for a solid 20 minutes.

For the remaining hour and 20 minutes, The Police performed selections from its four previous releases, with other 'Synchronicity' tunes dispersed here and there.

Although the crowd received every song appraisingly, the new tracks commanded the strongest approval, while the 'Ghost in the Machine' numbers seemed the least appreciated. There are varied reasons for this!

Obviously, the recent releases would receive the greatest approval due to their immediate popularity from current air play. The 'Ghost in the Machine' album presented changes for the band that many listeners found difficult to accept.

As in their previous releases, 'Ghost in the Machine' continued its share of songs concerning everyday life situations. Unlike 'Zenyatta Mondatta', whose selections consisted entirely of these songs, 'Ghost in the Machine' ventured into areas concerning the dilemmas that face man as a whole. In doing so, Sting (songwriter, bass player and vocalist) and the gang found it necessary to branch away from the conventional rhythms so characteristic of 'Zenyatta Mondatta' and pursue intricate bass and rhythm patterns, combined with increased interest in synthesizers.

Though 'Synchronicity' contains even broader scopes of thought (including the curiosities of natural harmony, the puzzlement of God, anguish at man's self-destruction and exploration of the art of murder), it still produces plenty of bubble gum music for the general public. Therefore, the philosopher and sun bather may both be satisfied.

Though having their roots in one area of music, the members of The Police have branched out to numerous venues of music both collectively (The Police toured Indonesia and Pakistan in 1980) and individually (guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stuart Copeland sharpen their skills when The Police aren't recording or touring by playing in Reggae bands in Central America).

By doing this, and retaining its enormous success in album sales and concert tours, The Police has accomplished a first in becoming the first rock band to achieve supergroup status that has its musical roots in New Wave.

Not since the heavy metal days of the early 70s has a group achieved success in quite the way The Police has, rising from complete obscurity and playing a style of music that is as equally obscure.

Now The Police has a challenge awaiting them that encounters all successful groups. Will they have the ability to weather the individual changes in musical interest that confront all bands, and if so, will they simply survive such changes, or will they grow and prosper?

(c) The State Journal by Charles Baesler