Last night I attended the first of two concerts at Wrigley Field by The Police, currently on their reunion tour (the second show is tonight). For those of you unfamiliar with Wrigley, it is where the beloved Chicago Cubs baseball team plays, and it's somewhat of a national treasure as far as baseball stadiums go (along with The Green Monster/Fenway in Boston). One of the many things that makes Wrigley unique is that it is smack dab in the middle of a residential area where a lot of straight-outta-college yupsters live, and that area is called... Wrigleyville (creative, I know). The Police playing at Wrigley is special because it's only the second time there's been a major concert performed there - the first was in 2005 (Jimmy Buffett - which I missed, which sucks) - so last night was like a double-whammy... not only did The Police reunite, but they were playing in Chicago at a very hard-to-book venue. There are crazy-strict noise ordinances that typically prohibit such an event from being held at the stadium, but the owners of Wrigley and the Cubs, as well as the City Council, approved the event - probably figuring that The Police fans can't possibly that rowdy. I personally think they underestimated the number of people who would want to lay claim to "being arrested by the police at The Police concert," but that's just me.
Expectations were damn high at the beginning of the night - entering the stadium, we were deluged by vendors selling old school t-shirts, which was pretty cool. Why buy a t-shirt with old dudes on it when you can sport one with the guys back in their heyday? Anticipation mounted.
We sat behind first base, a few levels up. The stage was set up in the outfield, and I have to admit that it was really bizarre to see the stadium with a monstrous set looming over everything and the field set up with rows and rows of seats. I think it made it that much more exciting to be in an open-air stadium, rather than the usual enclosed, massive, no-personality theater. And I have to give MAJOR props to Miller Lite for being the only advertiser clever enough to tie in the concert with their billboard. But I still didn't drink any... sorry guys.
Because of a great meal at local Moe's Cantina, we missed the opening act, which was Fiction Plane (Sting's son's band - I wonder how they got the gig?). Less than ten minutes after we arrived, The Police came on stage, so I'm very glad we didn't stay for the ice cream skewers we had ordered and paid for at Moe's. "Message in a Bottle" was the first song, and it was very high energy, so I thought that the rest of the show was going to rock the house.
However, it didn't. Some will say this is blasphemous, but I just didn't think the concert was that great. It wasn't bad... but it wasn't astounding, either. My favorite song of theirs, "Don't Stand So Close To Me," was probably their worst performance of the night - they just didn't sound together at all, and it was played at a weird tempo (I like the slower version of the song). My husband, who as I have mentioned before, knows way more about music than I do, agreed that it sounded like crap.
The good news is that they played every major song they have - I can't think of anything that was left out. High points included "Every Breath You Take" (the ultimate stalker song), "So Lonely," and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." And when Sting mentioned that the last time they played Chicago was TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO... well, it just made you happy to be there, no matter what some of the songs sounded like.
Sting still looks pretty darn good for a 55-year-old (that's right, that IS his age). Must be all that lute playing. He was sporting a cropped haircut and his signature loose-fitting tank top (white with red sparkles on it... hmmm...). The other guys haven't aged quite as well, but I'm sure I won't be able to do what they do over twenty years from now, so I give them props. Stuart Copeland (the drummer) even busted out the Cubs jersey for the final song - that's my boy!
All in all, I'm glad I went - it was a little bit dull (I have since talked to a few other people who went and agree with me), but it was still the freaking Police at Wrigley Field!
- e
Expectations were damn high at the beginning of the night - entering the stadium, we were deluged by vendors selling old school t-shirts, which was pretty cool. Why buy a t-shirt with old dudes on it when you can sport one with the guys back in their heyday? Anticipation mounted.
We sat behind first base, a few levels up. The stage was set up in the outfield, and I have to admit that it was really bizarre to see the stadium with a monstrous set looming over everything and the field set up with rows and rows of seats. I think it made it that much more exciting to be in an open-air stadium, rather than the usual enclosed, massive, no-personality theater. And I have to give MAJOR props to Miller Lite for being the only advertiser clever enough to tie in the concert with their billboard. But I still didn't drink any... sorry guys.Because of a great meal at local Moe's Cantina, we missed the opening act, which was Fiction Plane (Sting's son's band - I wonder how they got the gig?). Less than ten minutes after we arrived, The Police came on stage, so I'm very glad we didn't stay for the ice cream skewers we had ordered and paid for at Moe's. "Message in a Bottle" was the first song, and it was very high energy, so I thought that the rest of the show was going to rock the house.
However, it didn't. Some will say this is blasphemous, but I just didn't think the concert was that great. It wasn't bad... but it wasn't astounding, either. My favorite song of theirs, "Don't Stand So Close To Me," was probably their worst performance of the night - they just didn't sound together at all, and it was played at a weird tempo (I like the slower version of the song). My husband, who as I have mentioned before, knows way more about music than I do, agreed that it sounded like crap.The good news is that they played every major song they have - I can't think of anything that was left out. High points included "Every Breath You Take" (the ultimate stalker song), "So Lonely," and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." And when Sting mentioned that the last time they played Chicago was TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO... well, it just made you happy to be there, no matter what some of the songs sounded like.
Sting still looks pretty darn good for a 55-year-old (that's right, that IS his age). Must be all that lute playing. He was sporting a cropped haircut and his signature loose-fitting tank top (white with red sparkles on it... hmmm...). The other guys haven't aged quite as well, but I'm sure I won't be able to do what they do over twenty years from now, so I give them props. Stuart Copeland (the drummer) even busted out the Cubs jersey for the final song - that's my boy!
All in all, I'm glad I went - it was a little bit dull (I have since talked to a few other people who went and agree with me), but it was still the freaking Police at Wrigley Field!
- e
1 comment:
OMG!! I didn't know you were going to this concert!!! I love, love, love Sting... I'm so bummed that I missed this show... i've been crazed trying to get tix... now thinking about going to see them in england in october (can you tell it's been a while since i've been on your blog...?). I MUST HEAR ABOUT THE SHOW!!!!
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