Police Concert - Hershey, PA

Friday night Mrs. Ac. and I went to the Police concert in Hershey, PA. I had low expectations going in, as I had read some reviews of the previous shows saying that they stunk. I even heard they they themselves said they stunk. So I was set up for some stink.

If you have never been to Hershey, it is worth a trip. The amusement park is pretty good and going to one of the Meccas of American fat-assery is something everyone should do. To see a show there you sit in the football stadium. Bench seats with numbers painted on them. The atmosphere was half county fair, with a tent set up by the Smokeless Tobacco Company of America. I peeked in to see if they were giving away free dip; they were! But the form you had to fill out was too long, so I got some fries instead.

When the show started, Sting said that he hoped we were ready to sing. I didn't answer him cause I didn't know if I was ready or not. I don't think he noticed, though. They started right in with the hits. Which got me thinking that they really didn't have that many songs that weren't hits. Boy, was I wrong. I went to pee during some song I'd never heard. And I was back in time to hear Syncrhonicity 2, which is one of my favorites. I opted against singing.

As the night went on, I found myself watching the band to see if they were having any fun. I wasn't looking for acrobatics. I just was hoping for a smile. Stewart Copeland was amazing, which is no less than I expected from arguably the best drummer of his generation. Andy Summers smiled twice, and a couple times Sting wandered over there for some "jamming."

Is Sting a better bass playing singer than Gene Simmons?

Anyway, they went through the hits. They rearranged Wrapped Around Your Finger so it was pretty Middle Easterny. Copeland hit wind chimes and gongs and I think his keys hanging from a string. It was cool.

Sting cheaped out on some high notes, but overall, other than the fact that he sort of looks like Rudy from the first Survivor now, he was good. The crowd tried singing the DA DA DA'a when Sting said DO DO DO and it was ok. The line everyone got the loudest was, "things they would not teach me up in college."

They didn't miss any songs and the only disappointment was Every Breath You Take. I was expecting way more creepiness. And they did it very uncreepily. And the final encore was a song I'd never heard. I only knew the name of it because the drunk housewives next to me had a set list from an earlier show.

At the end of the whole thing, I remembered my low expectations and I decided that it was a good show. Then, when I got home, I looked up some old reviews and realized that not only did they sing the same songs, they said the same things. And did the same things. At the same places. At every show.

So, was it completely manufactured? All the things they did that made it look like they were having fun were made up? He asked everyone if they were ready to sing?

Yep - and who cares? I got to hear the songs I liked, the weather was great and our seats were good enough for us to see there were people on the stage. Three people who decided to make some money by playing their hits and giving people a good time.

Mission accomplished. I really don't know what else you want from a reunion tour.