“Putting Out The Red Light For Perth” – by Gavin Miller
February, 2008
The most commonly asked questions around the 96FM building at the moment are as follows: “Did you go to the Police?” “Which night did you go?” and “How good was it?” For the record my answers are as follows: Yes, both nights, and absolutely awe inspiring.
Of all the people I have spoken to both on and off air I have only heard one even remotely negative comment about the Police’s two night stand at Members Equity Stadium, and that was from someone who was there to see Fergie, so I chose to ignore that persons opinion.
I went to the venue the day before the first show to have a sneak peak at the stage being set up and I couldn’t help but feel grateful that Perth seems to be coming out of the concert wilderness at long last. Let’s face it, five years ago this tour would probably have bypassed Perth, and I think we West Australian music fans all know that it’s Adelaide that should be bypassed, correct? The difference is the venue, and the stadium formally known as Perth Oval has well and truly stepped up to become a world class outdoor concert venue. (We’re still waiting for a world class indoor concert venue, which is something the Burswood Dome will never be, due mainly to it’s god-awful design and lack of infrastructure for the big events. I have had a lot of bad concert experiences at that cave of a place, and while the Burswood Entertainment Complex is a great place full of lovely people, the fact remains that the Dome should be detonated at once, preferably with Celine Dion in it at the time.)
The afternoon of the first show, while I was peddling the wireless in East Perth, one lucky 6 O’clock Rock Report listener claimed the prize she won on 96FM a few months ago and attended the Police’s soundcheck. Beforehand we were told by the Police’s people that nobody would be allowed on stage with the band, and that there would be no meet and greet. All that changed when Sting walked on stage for soundcheck and spotted Blainie from North Perth sitting on a plastic seat out in the blazing sunshine and invited her to come up onto the stage, and into some shade. On a February day in Perth, these are the kind of gestures that save lives, but that was just the beginning for Blainie.
Apparently Sting likes to get other people to have a sing at soundcheck, and he asked the assembled throng if there were any singers amongst them. Blainie asked Sting if she could play his bass instead and without hesitating he took his bass off and gave it to her. Blainie played bass on So Lonely! On stage with the Police! Through that enormous sound system! I chatted her on air about an hour later, and she could barely function from all the excitement, and that was before she has even seen the show.
8.35pm. Bob Marley’s Get Up Stand Up is played at full volume, and then the house lights go down and Stuart Copeland appears with a look on his face that tells you his drum kit is about to get severely pounded. Andy Summers, who appears to be three feet tall, strolls on stage casually playing the riff to one of the all time rock classics, Message In A Bottle. The eternally youthful looking Sting walks on from the rear of the stage, and I am already in heaven. Seeing these three incredible musicians on stage together is something we have been lead to believe for a very long time was never going to happen. And here it is, and it’s very happening!
Synchronicity II is the second song, and the huge screens on either side of the stage suddenly come to life. The visual impact of this moment cannot be properly explained to anyone that wasn’t there. As for the sound, not only was it uncompromisingly loud without being in the least bit distorted, it was quite simply out of this world to think that all of this beautiful noise was being made by three people!
They rolled out all the hits, from Walking On The Moon to Roxanne to Every Breath You Take to an excellent version of Don’t Stand So Close To Me, with a little help from Fergie. (Her inclusion in this tour almost made sense to me after seeing her play the role of the school girl in that song. Almost. Not quite.) They also played enough of their slightly more obscure songs to keep their more musically informed fans happy, from Walking In Your Footsteps to Driven To Tears to When The World Is Running Down (You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around).
The two highlights for me were Can’t Stand Losing You, which rocked me to the core of my being on both nights, and the show closer, the opening track from their debut album Outlandos d’Amour, Next To You. In many ways this track encapsulates the original spirit of this band: Three guys barreling through an angry bit of punk-pop as if they’re in a massive hurry to get to nowhere in particular. Many punters might have thought it was an odd song to finish the show with, but not this punter. I was 100% into it.
The Police now have a place in my list of my top three concerts of all time, up there with Prince in 1992 and U2 in 2006. Led Zeppelin can feel free to come to Perth and help me rearrange that list any time they’re ready. Thank God we’ve got a venue that can handle the worlds biggest rock shows so if they, or any other band, decide to tour the world Perth shouldn’t miss out from now on.