Photo by: Wes Orshoski

Slap on my roller skates and stick a sweatband around my head because I love the 80s. This, well, combined with the fact that one of the greatest ‘70s and ‘80s bands of all time was preparing for a reunion tour led me to purchase a ticket for the Police’s performance at the Quicken Loans arena in Cleveland. 

When the tour was first announced, I considered myself one of the lucky ones who would witness history in the making. However, once it kicked off, I read mostly mediocre reviews but could not understand why this was so. 

Unfortunately, synchronicity was only sporadically achieved, resulting from the combination of Sting’s ethereal voice, Stewart Copland’s virtuosic drumming and Andy Summers’ extraordinary jamming. Though often during this particular evening, every little thing The Police did was not magic.

For instance, the jam during “Walking on the Moon” felt a bit too much like the band was lost in space, rather than happily trotting on the moon’s surface. “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” had a spookier, more sinister sound than on the recording, as did “Wrapped Around Your Finger.” However, Copeland’s cymbal and chime intro into the latter certainly drew the audience into a trance-like state as Sting and Summers prepared for the crowd favorite. I was actually awe-stuck here at not only the number of different percussion instruments included in Copeland’s kit, but at his ability to incorporate them at so many appropriate times. 

Disappointingly, the band’s more traditionally reggaefied tunes, such as opener “Message in a Bottle,” and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” were stripped of their Jamaican heritage in favor of more mainstream versions. They did however play a beautiful version of “King of Pain” and delivered “Every Breath You Take” so well that I almost forgot Sting actually sang its bastardized version with Puff Daddy and friends during the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. Indeed, the technical wizardry of the band reminded me that with the exception of Mick Jagger, you’re never too old to rock.

I spent a decent portion of the concert simply staring at the men onstage, satisfied to see that they were able to reconcile their differences, at least temporarily. The band seemed content to perform for a crowd of people who were likely recalling a time when their 8-track collections boasted much of what was on the evening’s set list. Ok, so I was still in diapers when The Police were in their heyday, but I know good music when I hear it. If only I had heard a little more of it that night.

Set list: “Message in a Bottle,” “Synchronicity II,” “Walking on the Moon,” “Voices Inside My Head,” “When the World Is Running Down,” “Don’t Stand So Close to Me,” “Driven to Tears,” “Truth Hits Everybody,” “Bed’s Too Big Without You,” “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” “De Do Do Do De Da Da Da,’ “Invisible Sun,” “Walking In Your Footsteps,” “Can’t Stand Losing You,” “Roxanne,” Encore 1: “King of Pain,” “So Lonely” Encore 2: “Every Breath You Take,” “Next to You”