Today's column comes from Double Time Feel's first guest writer, long time friend, ex-bandmate, ex-roommate, and all around solid dude Jon Heupel. Jon had the opportunity to catch The Police playing one of two sold out shows at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. Before we get into Jon's review, I just want to make sure you check back often this week, as I'll have some more reviews up as well as a pre-Pitchfork Fest analysis of bands you should make sure to catch if you are attending.

Now, here's Jon:

With all the aging rocker reunion tours such as the Rolling Stones and the often rumored Led Zeppelin it wasn't too much of a surprise when The Police announced they were going to do another tour together. The Police were THE major label band of the early 1980's and their ability to produce hit after hit made for a very hyped ticket this
time around. With giant video screens flanking the stage and 40,000 people looking on The Police managed to put on a show that impressed even those who went in with lofty expectations of a Police stadium tour.

(Photo taken by Nicole Radja courtesy of Flickr)

The 2 Chicago shows were played at Wrigley Field on beautiful spring nights and I was lucky enough to attend the second show last night. There had been some talk in the Chicago Tribune review of the first night that Sting was no longer being able to hit the high notes that he has been known for. This turned out not to be the case at all. The only noticeable change was he did bring the chorus of "Roxanne" down an octave. However, it should be noted that in between songs Sting mentioned that it was a "good" voice night so maybe it's variable.

It was obvious Sting has been playing and touring since the breakup of the Police. Copeland and Andy Summers were a little more noticeably rusty. Summers had a few less than impressive solos that he broke into for a few minutes in two different songs. Copeland was a little sloppy at times but nothing that was worth mentioning specifically. For "Wrapped Around Your Finger" Copeland left his drum kit for a collection of other percussion and a xylophone that added a lot to the song.

The band was set up in front of the scoreboard in center field allowing for a large part of the crowd to be on the field which made for a novelty beyond just being able to see the Police. The crowd was noticeably an older demographic than one would be used to seeing at large stadium shows. It was mostly subdued even when Sting tried to get the crowd to sing along with some of his more sing along backing vocals and even breaking away from of the songs entirely for extended call and response with the crowd without a whole lot of participation. During "Roxanne" Sting would sing "Roxanne-o" and would attempt to get the crowd to sing it back to him. Had he only known how much it sounded like "Ron Santo" (Chicago Cubs beloved radio announcer) much less who Ron Santo is he would have been able to get the biggest cheer out of the Wrigley crowd of the night.

It was hard not to notice that almost every song of the 2+ hour set was a huge hit that everyone in the stadium knew the words to. With perhaps one of the best "hook" writing bands, you knew they were going to have to play the hits. What wasn't known was if they would be able to live up to the praise that had only grown since their break-up in 1986. Even with huge expectations, The Police were able to deliver a show that made it impossible to walk out not humming something they had just finished playing. They ended the show by saying "See you again soon" so this may not have been the last time to see them live in Chicago. Should they come back, I have to recommend going out to see them especially if they play somewhere as unique as Wrigley Field. If nothing else there was nothing stopping anyone from sitting out on Sheffield or Waveland avenues and listening for free, and how could you beat that.