Police @ Rockpalast
It's the cops! It's the fuzz! No...it's THE POLICE!!!
Like a bullet shot from a .45, the power trio takes command of the scene from the first second they set foot on stage. As a goofy looking German MC(Alan Bangs) hesitates before the bands introduction, Stewart Copeland urges him to "Make your peace!" and get the fuck off the stage. With that, the bands tears in to what Sting announces as "All I Wanna Be Is Next To You". Not sure if this was the original title, but we know it as simply "Next To You".
Every song in the set list is played at break neck speed. Even the mid-tempo ones! There must have been some chemical enhancement backstage to help push them along during this roller coaster ride. They stretch each song out of its original boundaries in exploration of the hidden sound and with every opportunity succeed. This is a band that is still hungry and yearning to please its audience. Sting is in excellent voice and he stretches to reach the heights of Everest in earnest.
As Sting has a grin stretched across his mug, we find Andy and Stewart stone faced and all business. However, Andy does join his 4-stringed partner in a manic back and forth swaying that is almost hypnotizing to watch. He doesn't join Sting in hairstyle, though. While Andy sports a mod "shag" style, Sting proudly displays his mullet to the adoring crowd of Krauts. Sting jumps about mugging to the audience and generally having a great time.
Summers studiously hammers away on a well aged sunburst Tele and Mullet-boy does the finger ballet on what appears to be a fretless Washburn(?). And while these two perform their duties to perfection, top to bottom this is the Stewart Copeland show. His drumming is nothing short of phenomenal. At times it sounds as if two, maybe three drummers are at the helm. The energy that shoots from his Tama kit electrifies the band and propels the crowd to blistering heights. He is acutely aware of everything going on onstage. He switches rhythms and tempos effortlessly and all the while manages to support the front line on vocals. He sounds like an eight-armed wonder!
As the band comes back on for the encore, Copeland hurdles Andy Summers' guitar amp and immediately leaps behind his kit and prepares to anchor the band for its final assault. In a moment of dissention, he starts up the beat for "Message In A Bottle" and taunts the band and audience with the question, "Three guesses what this is." What a brat! It's also worth noting that Stewart has tape on his drums heads that spell out a number of insults aimed toward "Gordon". One camera angle reveals the words "fuck" & "cunt" displayed across his tom and snare. You gotta love this guy. Long before Sting revealed himself as the titanic Tantric asshole we've come to know, Stewart had seen him for what he truely was.
The DVD's video quality is good, but I don't believe it to be A+ as I've seen listed on several online reviews. Since it's been broadcast numerous times across Europe there may very well be an A+ quality version that circulates, but mine isn't one of them. This is a fantastic performance with excellent audio, though.
Police - Hamburg, Germany
11/1/80 or 1/11/80<----there's some confusion as to the exact date, although I believe it to be from November 1980.
72 min. DVD(TV broadcast) A
Setlist:
01 Next To You (2'30'')
02 So Lonely (5'45'')
03 Walking On The Moon (5'05'')
04 Hole In My Life (3'50'')
05 Death Wish (5'00'')
06 Fall Out (2'25'')
07 Bring On The Night (5'20'')
08 Visions Of The Night (3'10'')
09 The Bed's Too Big Without You (7'50'')
10 Peanuts (4'30'')
11 Roxanne (4'00'')
12 Can't Stand Loosing You (7'35'')
13 Message In A Bottle (4'55'')
14 Born In The 50's (3'25'')
iPod Song of the Day: "Walk Away" a Traveling Wilburys outtake with Jeff Lynne on lead vocals
Like a bullet shot from a .45, the power trio takes command of the scene from the first second they set foot on stage. As a goofy looking German MC(Alan Bangs) hesitates before the bands introduction, Stewart Copeland urges him to "Make your peace!" and get the fuck off the stage. With that, the bands tears in to what Sting announces as "All I Wanna Be Is Next To You". Not sure if this was the original title, but we know it as simply "Next To You".
Every song in the set list is played at break neck speed. Even the mid-tempo ones! There must have been some chemical enhancement backstage to help push them along during this roller coaster ride. They stretch each song out of its original boundaries in exploration of the hidden sound and with every opportunity succeed. This is a band that is still hungry and yearning to please its audience. Sting is in excellent voice and he stretches to reach the heights of Everest in earnest.
As Sting has a grin stretched across his mug, we find Andy and Stewart stone faced and all business. However, Andy does join his 4-stringed partner in a manic back and forth swaying that is almost hypnotizing to watch. He doesn't join Sting in hairstyle, though. While Andy sports a mod "shag" style, Sting proudly displays his mullet to the adoring crowd of Krauts. Sting jumps about mugging to the audience and generally having a great time.
Summers studiously hammers away on a well aged sunburst Tele and Mullet-boy does the finger ballet on what appears to be a fretless Washburn(?). And while these two perform their duties to perfection, top to bottom this is the Stewart Copeland show. His drumming is nothing short of phenomenal. At times it sounds as if two, maybe three drummers are at the helm. The energy that shoots from his Tama kit electrifies the band and propels the crowd to blistering heights. He is acutely aware of everything going on onstage. He switches rhythms and tempos effortlessly and all the while manages to support the front line on vocals. He sounds like an eight-armed wonder!
As the band comes back on for the encore, Copeland hurdles Andy Summers' guitar amp and immediately leaps behind his kit and prepares to anchor the band for its final assault. In a moment of dissention, he starts up the beat for "Message In A Bottle" and taunts the band and audience with the question, "Three guesses what this is." What a brat! It's also worth noting that Stewart has tape on his drums heads that spell out a number of insults aimed toward "Gordon". One camera angle reveals the words "fuck" & "cunt" displayed across his tom and snare. You gotta love this guy. Long before Sting revealed himself as the titanic Tantric asshole we've come to know, Stewart had seen him for what he truely was.
The DVD's video quality is good, but I don't believe it to be A+ as I've seen listed on several online reviews. Since it's been broadcast numerous times across Europe there may very well be an A+ quality version that circulates, but mine isn't one of them. This is a fantastic performance with excellent audio, though.
Police - Hamburg, Germany
11/1/80 or 1/11/80<----there's some confusion as to the exact date, although I believe it to be from November 1980.
72 min. DVD(TV broadcast) A
Setlist:
01 Next To You (2'30'')
02 So Lonely (5'45'')
03 Walking On The Moon (5'05'')
04 Hole In My Life (3'50'')
05 Death Wish (5'00'')
06 Fall Out (2'25'')
07 Bring On The Night (5'20'')
08 Visions Of The Night (3'10'')
09 The Bed's Too Big Without You (7'50'')
10 Peanuts (4'30'')
11 Roxanne (4'00'')
12 Can't Stand Loosing You (7'35'')
13 Message In A Bottle (4'55'')
14 Born In The 50's (3'25'')
iPod Song of the Day: "Walk Away" a Traveling Wilburys outtake with Jeff Lynne on lead vocals
posted by Starfucker at 3:55 PM
1 Comments:
Hi. Where can I get hold of a copy of this DVD. Please e-mail tommoriarty@ireland.com
TI have it on video from the original night but it is getting a bit worn after all these years
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