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Extract
Better Than: Trekking through the sprinkler systems after the show on the way to your car.
Every fan knows that The Police have spent much of the past two decades in quarrel. The trio’s got wrinkles for time that’s passed since they’ve last played together. So was there any surprise when drummer Steward Copeland admitted at the start of their world tour last year - a first since 1986 - that his band gave a “lame” performance? Was rusty as hell? Add a couple months for the trio to get in sync, then a few more for them to come to town and imagine how long the local fanbase has waited. But The Police have patient fans.
A sold-out crowd with close to 22,000 mid-lifers ponied up to $200 to see the band Monday night at the Shoreline Ampitheatre. Ticket prices were probably a drop in the bucket for a good portion of those in attendance, who held more bottles of overpriced Sterling and Acacia wine in their hands than Coronas or Cokes.
Nostalgia was rampant and oh was it ever capitalized upon - shirts with the band's 80s image were up for grabs ($35), as were vintage lawn towels ($15), Sting's autobiography and a compilation of the Police's greatest hits.
One passing fan recalled, “I’ve had this [Police] shirt since the 1980s.”
But the stage held a new story, where Elvis Costello and the Imposters brought rock n’ roll to a crescendo before The Police had their chance. Costello ground a Gold-Top Gibson and other electric guitars to songs from his new album “Momofuku.” It's somewhat surprising how the man who opened for Bob Dylan in Syracuse, NY ten months ago with only acoustic sets could spit out “American Gangster Time” with renewed energy. Empowered, Costello raised both hands and waved his fingers as if a pastor in prayer, and the crowd responded like television evangelicals.
Costello was two more hours of wait for the fashionably late crowd. Sting gave those who did show early a tease, strolling on stage with a salute for the second verse of Costello’s “Alison” to perform a duet. The crowd rose as Sting took the mic, Costello the guitar. But all too soon, the Police man returned backstage.
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