The Police and Elvis Costello tour came through Milwaukee last night. When acts of such quality and tenure come through the state, it’s impossible to ignore the longevity and greatness of their work. Lucky for our readers MoB contributor/photographer Daniel Brielmaier was in the photo pit at the Marcus Amphitheater providing all of us with the beautiful shots below.
Here’s Dan’s take:
Elvis Costello opened the evening with pretty much the hits you’d expect. He brought Sting out for “Allison”, which was the highlight of his 1/2-hour set.
The Police took the stage of The Marcus Amphitheater shortly before 9pm Friday in front of an adoring, and graying, Milwaukee crowd. The weather was just perfect for the show, 75° and a little sticky. Sting’s voice was in top shape, belting out the hits like it was 1983, though I struggled to find his bass anywhere in the mix. He LOOKED like he was playing, but there was little evidence sonically. Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland really held the show together musically. For me, so much of The Police is Sting’s bass, that when it’s not up front, you really miss it.
They rolled through a great selection of classics: Message in a Bottle / Walking on the Moon / Demolition Man / Voices in My Head / When the World Is Running Down / Don’t Stand So Close to Me / Driven to Tears / Hole in My Life / Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic / Wrapped Around Your Finger / De Do Do Do / Invisible Sun / Can’t Stand Losing You // Roxanne / King of Pain / So Lonely / Every Breath You Take / Next to You.
In my opinion, The Police were at their best when they played the tracks off of their first album-“Outlandos d’Amour”, 5 in total. They kept the arrangements varied and interesting throughout the evening, and with the exception of Sting’s lack of bass, it was an excellent show.
Discuss: What did you think of the show? Highlights? Was this your first time seeing The Police and/or Elvis Costello? When was the first time you saw either group?
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Myspace: Elvis Costello
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Sting’s really rockin’ the Jesus Christ Pose, isn’t he?
The sound mix was absoliutely terrible when we got there to the point where Elvis Costello’s set was excruciating to listen to. It seemed to get smoother by the time the Police took the stage but was still not what you expect from a top price ticket at a dedicated venue. Now that I’m done bitching….. the Police put on such a good show that even though I’m only a casual fan of the band [my wife is the super fan] I was totally amped and there was a feeling you were seeing something really special that may not ever be seen again. Some of the songs were rearanged in a way that made them seem fresh and more musically complex than the orriginal stripped down gritty sound the band started with. Annoyances with the sound aside the performance was great.
I thought The Police were really, really lousy. They started off well enough with Message In a Bottle, but it went downhill from there. They re-arranged a lot of the songs now that Sting can’t hit the notes. The tempos were way too slow, Sting sang everything a few octaves lower, Summers was way to noodle-y on the guitar, etc. It was disappointing as hell. “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” was nearly unrecognizable.
I though Elvis was great. Too bad he went on early and had such a short set.
Sounds to me like you guys payed too much for some crappy seats! I usually like to buy my seats somewhere behind the sound man. That is where you will get the best mix. I was sitting in the 4th row in the section behind the mixer without the roof and the mix that I was hearing was really well balanced! I saw these guys in Detroit in ‘83 and Chicago last summer and this show was by far the best of the three. The band was playing with a ton of confidence and Sting’s voice was strong. Granted, he did dodge some notes, but you trying singing some of the songs that he recorded 25 years ago!
You are never going to get a great sound outside, but I really enjoyed this show and the song selection! I’m going to miss these guys, they are just not the same as solo acts!
Elvis’ song selection was great, and I think he played about 45-50 minutes. But as previously mentioned, whoever was running his sound wasn’t doing the performance justice. The keyboards in the mix were particularly hot and cold, which is too bad because they play such an important part of a lot of Elvis’ songs. Sting coming out to sing “Allison” was a great moment, and those that were there for the early set were enthusiastic, despite the sound.
I thought the sound was miles better for the Police. I was very surprised that they finished their main set after about an hour and 10 minutes….they stretched out 5 songs over two encores to make it a somewhat respectable hour and 45 minute performance…which some might argue may still not have been worth the ticket price.
Didn’t care for how they severely changed key for “Wrapped Around Your Finger” (and how Stewart was hamming up all the percussion stuff, when it was pretty obvious they were feeding in some of the sounds). And there was definitely something missing from “Don’t Stand So Close To Me”. “Message in a Bottle” was a great opener and they nailed it, and I was impressed with how well “Every Little Thing….” turned out without a piano. Sting is still a great live performer, although he’d look 10 years younger if he lost the beard.
Still, I’m glad I was able to catch some rock history, and I’m thankful that they decided to grace Milwaukee with their presence. I expected a little more spectacle than it was, but eh, I hope to be able to rock like these guys did when I’m in my 60’s.