Webloggin » Bookworm Really Liked Sting Before He Went And Got All Pompous

Bookworm Really Liked Sting Before He Went And Got All Pompous

I have to agree with Bookworm; it can get a little much when great talent goes to people’s heads. But I personally have a rule that has been good to me so far. I rarely let the politics of musicians get in the way of my enjoyment of their music. If I did there would be little for me to listen to. There are some exceptions and that has to do with the particularly preachy usual suspects.

I saw Sting open up for the Grateful Dead at Soldier Field in Chicago and it was as if there wasn’t a person on stage. The deadheads could have cared less about the opening act and Sting was visibly put off. I personally enjoyed the act although I believe he cut it short due to lack of interest by the crowd. He was good though and went on to have an excellent solo career.

Prior to that show The Police played in concert at my college campus to a crowd of a couple thousand and blew the place out. They proved that they deserved the praise as one of the best bands of the 80’s and 90’s.

For all the pomposity that seems to emanate from Sting the one person in the band who seems to be a bit more grounded is drummer and film maker Stewart Copeland. Here is an interview with Copeland before the announcement of the reunion where he discusses the film he put together out of super8 footage from the bands past called “Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out“.

IFilm had a great interview with Copeland in January. Short 4 minutes.

As a drummer myself with a lifetime fascination of percussion I always watched Copeland with awe. I followed him through other ventures such as the short lived Oysterhead (rocked!).

As a sound engineer I appreciated the dynamics of the bigger than life 3 piece sounds of The Police who I believe was a bit underrated in their early days. Unfortunately Synchronicity was so overplayed that it overshadowed some of their better stuff from the past. Ticketmaster has a good bio of the band here.

Hopefully the band will not completely snub the upper midwest on their reunion tour that was announced in February. I highly recommend that you go see The Police if you get a chance. It will be well worth your time and money.