High-powered Police put accent on reggae...
It would take a prophet to say what impact The Police will have on American rock music. If this tour, plus 'Kenyatta Mondatta', their third album, rivals their success in Britain, the three musicians are potential giants.
Whatever the recognition they receive here, there's no doubt their music is as innovative as anything in the last decade.
With reggae accentuation a major but not exclusive - influence, they are one of a very few rock bands to break away from the old patterns of 12 bars and 4/4 time signature.
Reggae may be a leading factor, but there are other original and imaginative ingredients that aren't so easily traced.
Their music is built on a dynamic, syncopated beat, Stewart Copeland's fiery drumming and Gordon "Sting" Sumner's foreboding bass lines, punctuated with slashing guitar chords from Andy Summers.
Rhythm is the fulcrum, and even when Summers fills in with a guitar solo, the sequences he plays take unique courses. In fact, in total and as individual players, the three sound like few other rock musicians.
At the Coliseum, Sting's role was far more prominent than is apparent on records.
He was a charismatic figure, and his lead singing was as aggressive and unusual as his bass lines.
With a husky upper register not unlike some black reggae singers, he sang with a rising inflection at the end of lines, complementing the beat.
No doubt, there was a touch of a Geordie accent, from northeast England where he grew up, along with Jamaican influences.
Sting alternated between an orthodox bass guitar and an upright string bass minus soundbox (obviously superseded by electronics). The instrument looked like a giant dulcimer, but it was capable of earth-shaking vibrations.
The band performed several numbers from 'Kenyatta Mondatta', an album that is already selling well. They began the show in the dark with a segment of 'Voices Inside My Head', and then progressed quickly to 'Don't Stand So Close to Me', which as a single entered the English charts at No. 1.
XTC, which opened the show, had a more orthodox rock style. The English band played a boisterous set that didn't suffer unduly from the occasional off-key singing. It may even have added vitality. Guitarist and singer Andy Partridge gestured and grimaced like a latter-day Steve Marriott while the band coasted through material from its new album, 'Black Sea'.
(c) The Arizona Republic by Andrew Means
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