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snurriGreg Kot wants me to be annoyed with the fact that the Police jazzed up their hits a bit, but I'm just not. If they'd done all the songs straight it wouldn't have been any different from putting the albums on a really big soundsystem and inviting 40,000 friends over. And really, Sting is the one who became the big wank, but all of these guys have a jazz background.
Kot also complains about Sting's nonsense choruses, like "Hee-yo, hee-yeah, hee-yeah-oh" and the omnipresent "Cha!" But dude, that's what makes a show like this for the crowd. That's why these guys were internationally humongous, because you didn't have to know a word of English to crowd into your local soccer stadium and exchange energy through sound. For every person there who knew every single word (and there were quite a lot of us, from the sound of things), there were three or four who only knew the hits and quite a few who didn't entirely have a handle on "Every Breath You Take." In a stadium show, for my money, the crowd's got to be involved, or it's not worth being there. And hearing that many people sing along--even if it's just "De do do do, de da da da"--is a powerful thing. When it's something like "So Lonely," it's even better (and surprising; I didn't expect so many people to know that one).
The one moment of perfect bliss in the show was when the boys did "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." I mean, it's a perfect fucking song, so it's not surprising. I was singing, with my eyes closed, and every voice in the stadium was singing with me, and we were all moving, and it was just glorious.
Granted there were missteps--I agree with Kot that the digressive vocals on "Don't Stand So Close to Me" were excessive, and some of the lesser-known songs they decided to play were the more downbeat ones where the crowd's interest (at least, the casual fans) flagged a bit. But, come on. STEWART COPELAND HAD A BIG FUCKING GRIN ON HIS FACE FOR HALF THE SHOW. As Stewart goes, so goes my nation. I never got to see these guys play back in the day, and I don't expect ever to see them again. (Hell, I'll be surprised to go to another stadium show period.) It was worth it.
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In about three hours I get on a train headed back for St. Paul. But before I do I wanted to link y'all to Midori Snyder giving my Farrago's story major props. If you will excuse me, I must go squee now.
Kot also complains about Sting's nonsense choruses, like "Hee-yo, hee-yeah, hee-yeah-oh" and the omnipresent "Cha!" But dude, that's what makes a show like this for the crowd. That's why these guys were internationally humongous, because you didn't have to know a word of English to crowd into your local soccer stadium and exchange energy through sound. For every person there who knew every single word (and there were quite a lot of us, from the sound of things), there were three or four who only knew the hits and quite a few who didn't entirely have a handle on "Every Breath You Take." In a stadium show, for my money, the crowd's got to be involved, or it's not worth being there. And hearing that many people sing along--even if it's just "De do do do, de da da da"--is a powerful thing. When it's something like "So Lonely," it's even better (and surprising; I didn't expect so many people to know that one).
The one moment of perfect bliss in the show was when the boys did "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." I mean, it's a perfect fucking song, so it's not surprising. I was singing, with my eyes closed, and every voice in the stadium was singing with me, and we were all moving, and it was just glorious.
Granted there were missteps--I agree with Kot that the digressive vocals on "Don't Stand So Close to Me" were excessive, and some of the lesser-known songs they decided to play were the more downbeat ones where the crowd's interest (at least, the casual fans) flagged a bit. But, come on. STEWART COPELAND HAD A BIG FUCKING GRIN ON HIS FACE FOR HALF THE SHOW. As Stewart goes, so goes my nation. I never got to see these guys play back in the day, and I don't expect ever to see them again. (Hell, I'll be surprised to go to another stadium show period.) It was worth it.
-------------------------------------
In about three hours I get on a train headed back for St. Paul. But before I do I wanted to link y'all to Midori Snyder giving my Farrago's story major props. If you will excuse me, I must go squee now.
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Date: 2007-07-08 03:16 am (UTC)I've seen some bands do what Alice in Chains did. INXS, back in the day, was about the least inspired show I've ever seen.