The Police Review for their Fenway Park Concert

Boston's Fenway Park came alive last night as The Police performed one classic hit after another in center field. This is the hottest tour of the 2007 summer and it did not disappoint.

I'm old enough to remember The Police in their heyday so I knew I couldn't miss this reunion tour. The trio sounded fantastic live, creating their signature reggae and punk-influenced music on stage under a mostly clear sky and humid night. The concert began with Message in a Bottle, Synchronicity II and then Walking on the Moon. You couldn't have picked three better tunes to start the show.

I was looking for any hints of the three playing separately since they've been broken up for so long and have had their differences in the past. I recently read a review of one of their earlier shows on this reunion tour where the writer thought it was like hearing three different solo artists happening to play on one stage together. I found no such thing at the Fenway Park concert.

They were one and played as a band. You could just tell how comfortable they were with each other. And as the night progressed, they became even tighter. When Stewart Copeland played everything conceivable except the downbeat, yet the three managed to stay glued to the underlying groove, I was sure I was witnessing a band in the truest sense of the word.

Not only did they play as one cohesive band, but most traces of Sting's solo career were pleasingly missing. I am also a fan of Sting's solo music and have been to a few of his shows, but I wanted to hear The Police last night and I did. They didn't play any Sting tunes, a good decision. And Sting was humble and even inserted both Any Summers' and Stewart Copeland's names into a song.

Sting rocked on the bass and he surprised me with his talent. As a bass player myself, I can appreciate just how good he is and I suspect he has improved quite a bit since the eighties. From slap bass to thumb-picking, and from solo riffs in the high register to heart-pounding low-note grooves, Sting was the master of his bass last night. And what amazed me even more was his awesome ability to play syncopated bass while singing harmonious tunes.

Sting's voice was great too. He hit all the high notes, and there were a lot of them, and nailed every vocal their songs required of him. For a while during the show I thought there was some background vocals just off the stage or maybe a soundtrack playing in the background, but it turned out to be the audience! Everyone seemed to know every word of every song. Sting would purposefully back off the microphone and the crowd would sing the rest of the lyric in unison. In numerous songs, he would sing the first part of the chorus and the crowd would sing the rest. It was a blast since I too knew all the words.

Stewart Copeland was unbelievably good. He drumming was like a genius rhythm machine on steroids. From the wicked snap of his snare to the booming bass drum, Copeland proved to me that his is still one of the best drummers around. His hands were lightening fast, often simply a blur. The beats and polyrhythms emanating from his drum kit were both mesmerizing and beautiful. Copeland also created some unique sounds on his large inventory of percussion instruments. We watched him standing up jamming on one of these unusual instruments and then bouncing over to his seat at his drum kit and slamming down on his snare in perfect rhythm.

Andy Summers also put on quite a show with his famous wide and multi-layered chords. Summers had a few solos and ramped it up in each one. As the night progressed the band sounded more and more like one cohesive unit with Summers filling in the sound. In fact it was amazing just how much sound three guys can produce. They knew exactly how to make it sound like there was an orchestra backing them up.

They ended with Every Breath You Take and Next To You and those choices rounded out a fantastic and memorable set list.

Last night I was at times perfectly transported back to my youth while I took in the whole experience. There were many tunes that reminded me so clearly of earlier times in my life, and that nostalgia felt good. But then I would snap back to the present, summer of 2007, and quickly remember that I was also witnessing a live band that is still relevant today that is made up of musicians at the top of their game.