Fanzine:Milwaukee 7/25/08 & Detroit 7/26/08
I made it back home after an insanely ambitious & long Midwest road trip. I logged a grand total of 1,109 miles. The mileage itself wasn't bad, it was the construction detours & road closures that were a nightmare that added anywhere from 30-45% more time to the trip per day. I don't usually drink much caffeine but Mt. Dew & I became friends this past weekend. I had a great time at the concerts & the Milwaukee meetup.
Milwaukee:
I want to thank tamalynx & tamalynx jr. for hanging out at the restaurant until I was able to arrive. The food was good & I had a great time catching up with you both & also with Lynne & her friend. The concert venue was located right next to Germanfest so the entire area was packed full of people.
The venue was about 75% full for Elvis. He was enjoying all of the crowd participation. There is always a collective gasp from the crowd when Sting walks out on stage for "Alison".
I was trying to get a picture of Stewart's drumkit after it was assembled on stage but there was no light on stage yet so it was difficult. That was when the guy next to me asked me if I was the official Police tour photographer. It took me a moment to realize that he really thought I was but I told him that I wasn't and was just trying to get photos of the drumkit. Lynne & her friend were 1 row & about 12 seats over in front of me so we were fairly close to each other. I explained the Flag to the guy next to me & he was impressed. The amphitheater was completely full. Time for Gong.
As soon as Andy started the opening to "Message In A Bottle" and the stage lights went on, I was almost blown down by a wave of heat coming from the stage lights. I was in the 5th row directly in front of Sting's mic & the wave of heat stayed that way for the entire concert. It was brutal. I'm not sure why the lights were so hot. It wasn't the temp because the air temp was only around 80 degrees with a slight breeze.
Later in the show, Sting mentioned it was really hot & we all should get a beer. The thing is, I bet at least half of the folks at the concert had already been drinking beer at Germanfest. I have a feeling that influenced the crowd participation. It was the.best.crowd.ever! The first time Sting asked everyone to sing, he was just about blown away from his mic by a roar of sound from the crowd. He stepped back & smiled when he heard it. Because the lights were so hot, I'm surprised Sting, Stewart & Andy didn't fall over from heat exhaustion. I give props to them for giving it their all under adverse conditions.
Sting's voice sounded the best I've heard during the tour. I never heard it crack & he was holding notes for a long time. He sounded great. I think Andy was having a minor tuning issue during "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" but he fought through it & his playing was awesome. He was doing a fantastic job. Jeff was out at Stewart's drumkit twice. Stewart was giving at least 200% & was doing a wonderful job. The guys seemed to be having a lot of fun feeding off of the energy from the crowd. I was glad to hear 2 rounds of "Reggatta de Blanc". "Driven To Tears" sounded really strong.
I saw Stewart smiling a few times at Lynne & the Flag when he was too busy drumming to point. Stewart first spotted them during "Message In A Bottle". I tried taking point pics but it can be tough to tell when he is going to point. I have 1 point pic that is a little blurry but it was the best I could get & I have 1 pre-point pic from when Stewart was twirling sticks & then pointed. I thought he was going to point but instead he twirled before he pointed.
I wanted to try to get video of the bow but there were too many arms in the way. Stewart pointed to Lynne & then he was waving to the crowd. He had turned around & was starting to walk to Sting's side. He walked directly in front of me, turned around to face me, smiled & pointed at me. Nice one. It was a great concert! The sound was phenomenal.
Detroit:
There was a big traffic backup so I didn't arrive at the amphitheater until 'Alison'. There were a lot of people there already. The crowd enjoyed Elvis. I was finally able to get a pic of Stewart's drumkit before they took the stage.
I ended up in the 3rd row instead of the original 5th row that I assumed I would be in. The first row started with CCC instead of AAA so I was closer than originally thought, yayyy!
The vibe was different that evening. It was more laid back. Sting & Andy were joking a lot with each other & laughing. I saw Stewart crack a few smiles during his drumming. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves. The crowd wasn't as loud as Milwaukee but Sting still had some participation.
During the opening gong, Stewart threw the mallet over his shoulder but he didn't throw it high enough because when it fell, it struck the gong almost in the middle. Stewart didn't see it because he was heading to the drumkit but he heard it because I saw him wince when it hit the gong. It was actually kind of cool to have the mallet hit the gong on its own & folks may have thought it was planned. Stewart, keep that part in. Good gong, I like it. I saw Stewart jump off the drumkit once between songs & jog to the side of the stage & he jogged back to the kit after Jeff was finished.
I was glad to hear 2 pass throughs of "Reggatta de Blanc". "Hole In My Life" had lots of Sting echoes in it. I think it was just supposed to echo back once but it echoed back twice one time & Sting looked startled. Andy started "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", Sting said that he didn't remember the song so Andy stopped for a few seconds & then started playing. Sting again said that he didn't remember the song so Andy stopped playing. After a few seconds Andy started again & then Sting said that he thought he might be remembering it. I think Sting forgot where he was lyrically later during the eyos part of the song. He opened his mouth to sing something & then looked down like he forgot where he was in the song. The crowd just kept singing & then he jumped back in. He & Andy were laughing about it. Andy messed up the ending to one of the songs near the end of the concert but I don't remember exactly which song. It was about 10 seconds from the end. They all stopped for about 2 seconds & then they jumped back in to finish it & they laughed the entire time they played the rest of the song. I think the crowd enjoyed it.
I wasn't going to take any pics during the concert but about half way through I reached for my camera anyway. I had a real issue trying to take photos though because just about everyone in front of me was at least 6 feet tall which meant I was dodging heads, arms & hands to try to snap a pic. Andy was challenging to shoot because I was in front of Sting & had to shoot sideways between arms. Stewart was very difficult to shoot because he had a bright spotlight over him. Actually the light was so bright on his face I'm surprised he could see anything at all.
About 2/3 of the way through the concert someone was thrown out of the concert that was in the front row. People were pushing their way into the front row that didn't have tickets there so security started automatically checking everyone's ticket that tried to get into the front row. After a few songs into The Police's set, a guy & his girlfriend pushed their way into the front row so security asked to see their tickets. Front row guy for some reason assumed that the guy in front of me, 2nd row guy, had told security on him. That wasn't the case. Front row guy & gal had tickets for their seats. Front row guy turns around & starts confronting 2nd row guy but front row guy's girlfriend calms him down. A few songs pass & then front row guy turns around & starts yelling obscenities at 2nd row guy. At this point, someone grabbed security who was nearby. Security got there just in time to hear front row guy threatening 2nd row guy. Security told front row guy & his girlfriend that they needed to leave. Front row guy wouldn't leave so 3 big security guys had to almost pull him out of the row & into the aisle. Another security person covered the 2nd row guy to deter front row guy from throwing any punches. There was a lot of security people around that night it seemed to me.
Sting sounded great. He had a good vocal range. He was playing to the crowd. Lots of hip shaking going on. Andy's guitar playing was wonderful. Stewart was fantastic. I really enjoyed "Next To You".
I ran into a girl on the way out of the amphitheater that noticed my SC.net pledge shirt & she said, Oysterhead. She is looking forward to them touring again. We had a conversation about it.
I was lucky being able to obtain Sting's setlist after the concert. Thanks, Danny.
Thank you for 2 great concerts & a peep point, Stewart!!!
