OK – good news and bad news. The bad news is that The Police have announced a brand new world tour, so Sting's big smug face will be even more ubiquitous than usual this year – but the good news is he'll be too busy to play his effing lute any more.
At their special concert at the Whisky-A-Go-Go in Los Angeles yesterday – which really turned out to be four songs and a bit of a natter with Sting and the other two – The Police revealed that they're going to embark upon a world tour starting in America from May this year. But why did Sting decide to reform The Police now? Was it nostalgia? Fun? A chance to show how critically relevant The Police still are? Or might it have something to do with the hundreds of millions of dollars that a world tour will earn them? Maybe we'll never know.
The Police are merrily going around rubbing other bands' noses in it at the moment. Even though it basically consisted of a 56-year-old man, a 55-year-old man and a 65-year-old man playing a song about a prostitute, The Police's big comeback performance was the highlight of The Grammys, and that's not something you could say about other newly-reformed bands like James or Crowded House.
So far The Police reunion has consisted of an initial announcement, a burst of Roxanne at The Grammys and a half-show half-writing contest in LA, but that's not enough to help Sting buy another seven houses and so yesterday the inevitable happened – The Police announced a world tour, as Variety reports:
Thirteen dates of the tour — including stops at Madison Square Garden on Aug. 1 and 3 and Boston's Fenway Park on July 28 — were announced along a planned route: North America in the summer; England and Europe in September and October; and a return to North America in late October, followed by Mexico, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan… Tickets will be priced at $225, $90 and $50, with an average price of $100. Opening North American portion of the tour should easily gross $50 million, based on the announcement of the 27 cities included in the first leg.
$50 million isn't bad work for three blokes playing 30-year-old songs a handful of times, and it's vastly preferable to what members of The Police were doing before – soundtracking Star Wars spin-off cartoon series Droids and judging bad celebrity singing contests (Stewart Copeland), soundtracking Weekend At Bernie's and professionally being quite old (Andy Summers) and wanking about on a lute that most people wanted to wrap around his big smug neck and possibly having banjo-heavy marriage problems (Sting). But even though reforming The Police was Sting's chance to be a bit less smug for once, he couldn't help it – telling the Whisky crowd:
"There's no reason we should not be 25 years better — and we were good before."
Luckily Stewart Copeland managed to be less smug during his enthusiastic explanation of the reformation:
"When we were young, we were out to conquer the world. Now we are happy fathers of many. I just like playing my drums and following Sting's lead. We don't have an agenda now."
The agenda-free Please Sting Please Don't Make Me Judge Another Series Of Just The Two Of Us I'll Even Pretend To Like You If You Don't Make Me Judge Another Series Of Just The Two Of Us Police world tour kicks off in Vancouver on May 28.
Read more:
nosebag says
you know what always confused me? On American kids shows like Saved By The Bell, everyone’d get really excited about Sting. And Friends, come to think of it.
Thing is, though, Sting is fucking rubbish
Eric says
Sting is an excellent singler musician. I love his music and the music of the police. Try to consider that when reporting the news – you’re personal opinion might be better served as a side dish than the main course.
frank says
who cares…..
SLAMR says
Hecklerspray.com is about personal opinions. And Sting does have a smug, pretentious, sexier-than-thou sort of a face, don’t he?
Having said that, The Police were definitely one 80s group that had small hair, no makeup, and didn’t suck. Should be interesting to see if they’ve still got their chops.
MIke says
Sting =-Pretentious
When you think of people that are full of themselves, Sting is right up there.
He finnaly beat down the spirit his band mates, to where they’ll just be his back up band.
As usual everything is about Sting.
What an ego maniac.
That being said, they sure were good.
And yes they will get tight with practice.
rick says
The Police rock! Did you watch the Grammy’s? How about the red carpet show? EVERY major artist from Rock to Country to Rap all said they wanted to see The Police.
When the show started, there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. Usually people show up late to these events. Everyone was standing up.
I saw Sting at a charity event last year in Las Vegas where he played mostly Police songs. The crowd went nuts.
Eric Layne says
What’s next, Hall & Oates?
Derek says
I was a huge fan of the Police when they called it quits in 1984. “Synchronicity” was a huge smash and they exited on top amid rumors of creative differences and infighting. I was eager to see them at the Grammy Awards, but if someone is really interested in The Police, I’d suggest a trip to the local library to check out their early work. True, they are the same three men that made up the trio during their early successes, but the music is not. Rock n’ Roll is a music of youth and rebellion. The music that the police play now is the music of commercialism and profit. Even with that said, one cannot diminish the creativity and impact that their body of work encompasses. I wish them success.
PPM says
Yeah, so Sting seems rather full of himself. If I could write music like he does, I’d be in the same danger. It’s been my experience that the people who produce really great art/inventions/scientific breakthroughs, etc. are too driven by their muses (or egos or demons) to care if we mere mortals find them likable as people, as long as we shell out the money. They don’t want to be our friends. I don’t want to be theirs. I just want to listen to the damn music. So shut up and sing!!
Jim says
Geez, I’m by nature pretty cynical . . . but felt dirty after reading this diatribe . . . Ok, so not everyone’s excited to re-live the good ol’ days . . . but might this writer need a vacation?!?
I’m glad they’re back . . . and so what if they’re a bit smug . . . they can back it up. Pop music has largely been a wasteland since they left . . . as displayed later in the Grammy show with that guy hoppin’ all over the stage holding his pee-pee.
Trevor says
The Police put together one of the sounds that helped to define the 80’s, and later, Sting put out some pretty good music as a solo artist…like “Desert Rose” and “Fields of Gold.” Break-ups are natural in any creative business, and they all need their own space and time to grow and chill. In recent years, Sting has been collaborating with other artists (Cheb Mami in Desert Rose), indicating that he was seeking creative feedback and synergy, much like Elton John and even Tony Bennett. The reunion was inevitable, as much for money as for creative regeneration. This will be probably be a great tour, and maybe some new material will come out of it, and if that happens, we hear the rewards. They just need to add Honolulu to their tour.
Max Taffey says
So nosebag – you’re a huge fan of “Saved by the Bell” and “Friends”. Who’s rubbish again?
Michele says
Everybody fucks off.