Still on a Cloud

Last night was the much anticipated Police concert and it was in one word – spectacular. Not seeing The Police when I was in high school has haunted me for 20 years. Most everyone reading this blog knows that I have been a die hard Police/Sting fan. I remember my father asking me when I was going to ‘grow out of this?’ and I guess that never happened.

In high school I was completely consumed by this band, however I was alone in this infatuation. I didn’t share this love with any friends. I was in my own little world. I even learned how to play the bass and had my father write out every note of the Synchronicity concert so that I could come home from school and practice over and over. I got to the point where I could play every note of the whole show. Those were the days. I used to sneak out my Dad’s good bass (the one I wasn’t supposed to touch) and crank the amp up so the whole street could hear. But then have everything put neatly away before Dad got home from work. Let’s hope he’s not reading this! None of my friends ever cared for The Police and that was their loss.

So when the band came in concert, I had nobody to go with and stayed home completely TORTURED that I was missing seeing them live. Then when the announcement came not long after that they were breaking up, I was sure that I would roll over and die.

Last night was my big chance at removing one of the few and major regrets in my life. I FINALLY GOT TO SEE THE POLICE. And it was worth every penny of the insane ticket price. I was in my glory. The show was fantastic. I simply could NOT have asked for a better night. I ditched Karlo (at his recommendation) and sold his ticket to my friend Sue. We went out for a superb dinner at Evergreen Walk; had an amazingly easy commute into the parking lot; walked into the stadium and found the restroom – where there was nobody in there and walked right in and out. Then the opening act (more on that later) started just as we got in. The weather was excellent. I wasn’t cold, there was a full moon. And get this . . . even getting out of the parking lot was relatively easy! I’m still in shock about the whole event.


So the show was . . . hmmmm, I’m starting to feel like I’m describing Croatia. I just can’t come up with the right words. You can just imagine what it was like for me. HEAVEN. They sounded awesome and they still look pretty good for ‘old guys.’ Speaking of looking good, Sting’s son, Joe Sumner, was the opening act with his band, Fiction Plane. It is eerie how much he looks like, moves like and sounds like his dad. I enjoyed watching him – despite that I couldn’t understand much of what he sang. He is not quite the literary that his dad is, but those amazing eyes suck you right in.

This is Joe.

The Police sang just about every song that I would have expected or hoped for. Well, except Shadows in the Rain. I was hoping for a funky version of that one. And can anyone please explain to me why I often have trouble remembering what I had for dinner the night before, but yet I can still remember every lyric to every Police song ever recorded?

It’s going to take a day for my voice to return. My legs are sore and my feet are killing me. I even took a sick day today to recover . . . or maybe to surf YouTube and convert every single Police CD to mp3s. I’ll have a busy day ahead of me for sure. At this point in my life, I feel that I have done it all! What’s next?