6 out of 10 for last night’s Police gig at the NIA.

Fiction Plane supported the Police. A slightly nepotistic choice as the lead singer was a certain Joe Sumner (Sting’s son). Quite bland and obviously an inexpensive choice for The Police, to kick off the show.

The Police came on to a crescendo of noise and Sting’s voice was superb from the off, as was Copeland’s fine array of drumming. Biggest let-down of the night was Andy Summers. He was too often out of key and out of step with the other two band members. His numerous guitar solos had the crowd bewildered and he often ruined a perfectly good track with too much strumming.

The Police played all the greatest hits, with the exception of King of Pain and Beds too big without you.

The 15,000 or so crowd had all payed over the odds for a concert that never really lived up to its billing. Everyone cheered when a familar ‘greatest hit’ was started up, but when a random track was played from one of their 5 albums, the crowd went very flat.

Every Breath You Take was a predicted encore, and to be honest I think they should have finished there. But for some reason they decided to do another encore and play the fairly unknown (to most), Next To You.

The NIA is an awful venue, perhaps a tad better that the NEC, but it is still soulless and void of atmosphere. The crowd rarely got excited during the night and a lot of people around me were sat arms folded looking like they would rather be at home eating casserole and watching Inspector Morse repeats!

At least its one of the bands you can tick off and say yep, I saw them live. I don’t want to come across as a completely negative punter. I did enjoy last night, Its just a shame Andy Summers, who isn’t the most accomplished guitar player in the world, was very self indulgent. They could have also left the majority of the tracks as they were without trying to infuse reggae, soul, pop, rock and ska into every one.

I’m sure they’ll make a few million from this tour and then they can re-split and go back to there everyday lives.

I don’t think the thousands who were there last night would rush back for a repeat tour.

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Each reviewer to their own! The gig was amazing, Fictionplane did have a couple of great tunes though they do seem to disappear into a haze of noisy repetition (they’ll fit in with the current crowd – Klaxons anyone?)

As for The Police – amazing. Great to see them live, and though Andy did draw on some of the songs leaving everyone in a bit of a daze, I think that speaks more of the fans (too old?) than the much loved rockers.

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Every true Police fan knows ‘Next to You’ and the tune is one of their greats. The real fans would enjoy an encore to any track and with the added live touch that makes the difference between 30years ago & the way that the band want to play it today.

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I’ve been waiting nearly 30 years to see this gig and it was well worth the wait.
No gimmicks just great songs and a fantastic show.

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i went to both nights and i enjoyed the 2nd night better but that was only because i was up the front for the 2nd night! i’d give both nights 8/10 but 0/10 to the over-zealous bouncers stopping people from dancing – really spoiled that for me.

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What can I say? What a poor reviewer. Let’s try:

1. King of Pain was one of the best songs of the night. Not quite sure how you could miss it….
2. Andy Summers was fantastic. His solos were incredible, a real highlight for me. Yes, we were all nervous he’d break his hips when he was jumping off the drum stage, but he was on fire. Even the Independent’s review (4 out of 5) picked Andy out as being a big positive, saying he does the work of two guitarists.
3. Anyone who complains in a review about guitar solos and the odd track being played that wasn’t to be expected clearly has no clue about live music. Next time mate, go and watch S Club 7. You’ll probably find they stick very closely to the original tracks, and only play their teeny-bopping biggest hits.
4. Ask any decent guitarist in the world about Andy Summers and they’ll probably say he’s one of the most accomplished guitar players in the world. Oh wait, that’s the opposite of what Nathan Lloyd thinks, surprise surprise.
5. I agree that the crowd weren’t the best. They were singing and standing, but that’s about it. However, it was an all-seater gig, and (no offence to anyone) the average age was a little higher than normal.
6. Next To You was a great finish. Every Breath is obviously their biggest track, but it was good to finish off the set with the same pace and power as they began it with (Message in a Bottle).

Overall, I was extremely impressed with the gig. One of the best sets I’ve ever seen. 9 out of 10 from me as well.

Nathan – you should be able to get hold of some Spice Girls tickets on ebay.

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Great gig,
I was on the side un Upper 01. I thought for £97.50 inc booking fee, this was a rip off for the view we had which was only side on. Music was excellent and I can now tick ‘The Police’ off my list. I wouldnt go again at that price!

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We thoroughly enjoyed the 04.09.07 gig. Sting was in awesome form- a real sense of relief because he did not come across very well during the Live Earth gig. Enjoyed Stewart’s intricate drum and percussion work and for the most part, enjoyed Andy’s guitar work and whilst I understand he is heavily influenced by jazz, it was not the time nor the place to ‘go off on one’- becuase it detracted from the magic, momentum and dare I say it ‘nostalgia trip’ we all paid handsomely to go on. At times, Andy was way down in the mix and it was hard to hear what he was doing. All said and done, still rate the night 9/10. Well, down lads, please do it again soon.

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