Voices Inside My Head

So, a few of you responded to my request for input on what to blog about during this extremely busy time. I appreciate all of the feedback. As is my nature, I want to please everyone and write a bit about each thing that was mentioned. (That's for you, Brenda!)

I did have three requests for more on recent concert experiences, so I'll go with that for now. Seeing The Police live, TWICE, last month was absolutely a dream come true. I mentioned before that I'd wanted to see them live when I was in 6th grade. I wasn't allowed to go and by the time I was in 8th grade, they disintegrated. I remember where I was at school when a friend brought me a tiny piece of the newspaper that told of the split. I cried. I discovered I still have that scrap, glued in a memory book.

I was overjoyed to learn that the lads were reuniting and touring this year. We splurged and got tickets to both L.A. shows. Who knows if we'll ever have this opportunity again. I'll get the negative stuff out of the way and say that I really had only two complaints and those are: 1) Due to the hugeness of the band, they did arena and stadium shows and 2) They played the same set list both nights. I supposed I've become fairly spoiled living in L.A. and seeing great performers in fairly intimate venues. Also, with such a vast catalog, I'd hoped for a little more variety. But, I feel pretty lucky just to have seen them at all, so on to the good stuff.

The first show we attended was a Wednesday night at Staples Center. Since we'd already gotten really good seats for the second show, which went on sale first, we got seats that were sort of behind the stage, but off to one side. They actually turned out to be pretty good seats. There were the requisite video screens and the band played to the back quite a bit too. Also, all those years of yoga have paid off for Sting and the rear view, with him in his tight black punk pants, wasn't too shabby. But I digress.

From our seats we actually had a pretty excellent view of Stewart Copeland, who is a fun and energetic drummer to watch. There were a couple of songs where a huge array of percussion instruments rose up from underneath the stage and he stood to play them. The band was pretty tight and played a wide variety of their catalog. I've read complaints that they "changed" some of the songs. None of that bothered me and honestly, if I wanted to stay home and just listen to the cd, I would have. A few of my favorites that they did were "So Lonely," "Can't Stand Losing You," "Truth Hits Everybody," and "The Bed's Too Big Without You."

Even though I was very excited, I maintained my cool, until they launched into "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." I just started crying (Stingjaya!), but quickly got over that and back into the music. I had a blast at the show and was really looking forward to the one coming up on Saturday, where we'd have a front view of the stage.

The show on Saturday was at Dodger Stadium. In spite of being across town at the L.A. Film Fest earlier in the day, we managed to time things well and got there while there was still plenty of parking. Apparently, latecomers did not fair so well. We had missed the opener at Staples, but got to see Fiction Plane, fronted by Sting's son Joe Sumner, perform. They were pretty good. Even better though was the second opening band, Foo Fighters. I've heard good things about their live shows. They were fantastic and really got the crowd pumped.

In spite of the same set list, I thoroughly enjoyed the second show as well. I thought it sounded a bit better. E disagrees, but I'm sort of tone-deaf, so who knows. Also, the audience seemed a little more energetic. One of the things I loved about both shows was that it was just the three musicians...very minimalist. No extra players, no backup singers, just The Police. The way it should be.

I did manage to sneak my camera into Dodger stadium. While our seats were good, we were a good distance away based on the layout. I got a few decent shots, but mostly took photos off the screens. I am way behind in getting my photos up on flickr, but there will be a set of The Police.

I may, in time, get to others' requests. I also may disappear as I madly scramble to get stuff ready for Comic Con.