It's been 3 months since I saw The Police play the Garden. Over twenty years is how long I had waited for the opportunity, since I missed them the first time around, before they broke up.
In retrospect, I wish I was still waiting. Some things are better on paper, or in your minds eye, than in reality.
If there was an ounce of passion on display at Madison Square Garden when I saw The Police, it was clearly not coming from the stage. Cold, calculated, apathetic and disinterested are all words that accurately describe their August performance at the greatest arena in the world.
All three of them are good musicians, at the very least. Their set was far from sloppy. In fact they seemed to have it down. Missed notes were not the problem. The set list was not an issue.
The length of the show was one issue. Clocking in about 15 minutes shy of two hours is completely unacceptable. Arena headliners who have no problem charging hundreds of dollars for the right to see them have no business playing a millisecond less than 2 hours. It may not be written in stone anywhere, but it should be.
The length of the set and the price of the ticket are minor grievances compared to the utter lack of zeal displayed by Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers & Sting. Over twenty years between tours, playing New York City and MSG for the first time in even longer and they seemed bored to tears up there. If the musicians on stage don't care, how can I care? I have seen toll booth collectors more excited about their jobs than the members of The Police are about theirs.
Maybe they do hate each other as much as it's always been rumored. That would explain the lack of interaction between them onstage. If they had at least channeled their hatred that would have been something with feeling. As it stood there were only two things The Police proved for sure, their love of money, and a total disdain for their audience.
If you're thinking about plunking down some money to see The Police, do yourself a favor, flush it down the toilet instead, at least you'll save on gas and parking.
It's three months later, and it still stings (pun intended).