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the police may be the first band that bonnaroo has ever ruined. lots of people here were not satisfied by their bonnaroo perfromance. their attemtps at jamming definitely failed. sting, playing the songs longer and just repeating the words doesn't make it a jam. i'm surprised stewart hasn't spoke out. it was his idea to get them to jam. they had a few decent ones, but then they got lost. at live earth they did the same thing. that painful version of roxanne. anyone know if they have been doing this at their own shows?
Chicago Tribune gave them a pretty bad review of their first Chicago show - don't think its because they're old just think they don't really care (except Copeland) as long as they can sell tickets at $300 plus a pop
I seem to be one of the few people on these boards who wasn't 100% disappointed with The Police. I enjoyed them.
The larger question of their true motive(s) in coming back? yeah that's up for debate, but money is probably a big part of it.
As for musicians past their prime - this swings both ways. There are people who are definitely past it, and any fan with musical sense (and not just rampant nostalgia) should be able to make their own decisions whether to drop a lot of money on that or not. But to discourage people like JPJ (or, if you ask my mom, Paul McCartney) who still have it - that's a shame.
either way, bonnaroo did not ruin the police, nor did the police ruin bonnaroo. at least for me. ;D
"I seem to be one of the few people on these boards who wasn't 100% disappointed with The Police."
I'm right there with you. I liked it, and I actually enjoyed them trying to jam out. But as cool as it was to see the Police, they are not who I went to Bonnaroo to see. There were at least 20 bands I cared more about this year, and at least 20 bands that I enjoyed more. I also disliked the effect they had on the expansion of VIP.
I'd be more than happy with newer acts not worthy of a headlining gig (ie My Morning Jacket) up there for a headliner than a reunion act who thinks that the entire crowd is from Tennessee. But that's just me.
Post by dogfighter28 on Jul 9, 2007 17:52:43 GMT -5
The Police didn't jam out exclusively for Bonnaroo. They have always done that with their songs. Go fool around on YouTube and you'll see this. Also, their debut reunion performance at the Grammys was a terrible jam rendition of "Roxanne".
^^^He's right. The Police have been criticized roundly on most their tour stops for their mostly failed attempts at jamming. I just think Sting's not much of a jam kind of guy. He's an asshole for song structure. It's why the band broke up to begin with. Summers and Copeland were free form guys, and Sting likes his songs to sound like his songs...
The problem with The Police's "jam" sessions is that they are not at all impromptu or "jam" but just recompositions (or decompositions or whatever) of exisiting material. In fact, the so-called "jams" are nearly identical from set to set.
They tend to be very tightly rehearsed, exceedingly well practiced, and their shows are scripted down to the second. That makes them a great band for arena and stadium concerts but for stuff like Bonnaroo I think a bit out of place. Sting does not have the gift of banter and both Sting and Andy seem uncomfortable with anything spontaneous. I think Andy is very capable to jam-style performances but for whatever reason does not seem disposed toward them in The Police gigs.
Sting is basically the absolute exact opposite of Jeff Tweedy, who can banter and laugh and be spontaneous with an audience in a super friendly and very warming style. During the live performances Sting seems as inclined to spit on fans as talk to them.
Stewart really is the only one of the three with the experience and the disposition to really fit well with festival gigs, which is just one more reason I really am looking forward to the next Oysterhead tour to support the new album they will be putting out after this Police reunion is done. Stewart loves his fans. Stewarts talks to his fans. Stewart is funny and real with fans, even if he looks like a bit goofball or says something that later gets him into trouble.
Of course, the little version of Message in a Bottle that they played with John Mayer and Kanye West at Live Earth was like a kick in the nuts after Bonnaroo... They pull out the guest performers and little jamish stuff for Live Earth but not for Bonnaroo... Not to dis Live Earth at all, but man they really should have done something like that for the festival.
(and on the topic of Live Earth, I just about pissed myself when I saw Eugene and Serge from Gogol on stage with Madonna. I did a double take and yelled, W(ilco) T(ango) F(oxtrot)?!?
But I've heard voices not in the head Out in the air they called ahead Through ripped out speakers Through thick and thin They found a shelter Under my skin -Evgeny Aleksandrovitch Nikolaev
Perhaps we should just quit dreaming of various reunion tours. Maybe we should remember these older rock stars as they were in their prime.
I would say that John Paul Jones would fall into the "older rock stars" mold and he was bringing it all weekend. Ageism sucks!
No,no,no. I agree with you 100%. I was one of the guys defending the Police pre-roo. JPJ deserves MUCH praise for his turn at the farm. Now that it has come and gone though, and based on other reviews, I think maybe the Police should have just stayed with their solo careers.
I would say that John Paul Jones would fall into the "older rock stars" mold and he was bringing it all weekend. Ageism sucks!
No,no,no. I agree with you 100%. I was one of the guys defending the Police pre-roo. JPJ deserves MUCH praise for his turn at the farm. Now that it has come and gone though, and based on other reviews, I think maybe the Police should have just stayed with their solo careers.
no, i think the police should just stick to what they do. tool didn't try to become a jam band, just because they were playing at bonnaroo. i admit, beforehand, i was hoping they would a little bit. but seeing what happened to the police, it looks like a good thing that tool didn't try it.
ugh. Despite being one of my favorite bands of all time in the studio, the Police show at Bonnaroo was a gigantic disappointment.
They didn't even sound like the Police. It sounded like some old tired jam band that had decided to do Police covers. At least the best song they did did happen to be one of my favorites (King of Pain).
Live bands don't need to recreate their music, they just need to perform it. The best live bands (TOOL was an amazing example) add to their songs by doing variations on the themes or riffs and adding energy and experiences (e.g. the amazing sound system, visual shows) that just aren't available in studio recordings.
The Police were obviously clueless and felt they needed to change their carefully crafted, wonderfully simple songwriting to please their audience. The result was a terrible distortion of some of the greatest hits of my lifetime.
i agree the police would have been better just playing it straight off the greatest hits cd. but i still dont think it would have been a good show. just too out of practice to put on good shows. and tix cost way too much for crappy shows. but hey they are all lining their pockets. that was the intent. its not about music its about money. seems to fit the new roo mold quite well to me
and tom petty did a well performed note for note greatest hits set and it dissapointed me too. so just performing it dosent work for me. just a matter of taste. it was almost fun to see once but i certainly wouldnt want to see them several times a year like most of the bands i see that put on great shows and do new things as opposed to performing a cd. thats one of the reasons i love seeing phil so much more then seeing bobby. i guess it boils down to a matter of taste. and wether your catching a show just to see them before they die or if your gonna see them many times each year. i dont think i could stand seeing the police, petty, or tool put on the same show 8 times. but ill go see sci, umphreys, dso, moe, etc... as many times as i can each year. but thats why some bands play festivals regularly and others just roo. and i understand the need to draw bigger/new crowds to roo for money i just wish they would quit wasting headliner slots and put these bands where we have a choice. tool would have fit nicely at latenight. and the police would have been fine at 3 pm on the mainstage. hopefully it will improve next year. but im guessing coldplay and incubus on fri and sat. j/k (i hope) im actually predicitng dave and pearljam. which i can live with. thats a huge step up for me over this year. im hoping for umphreys on friday, moe on saturday, and phil/the dead on sunday. but ill hope in one hand and poop in the other and see which one fills up first.
Last Edit: Jul 23, 2007 14:43:13 GMT -5 by Dude - Back to Top
Post by stallion pt. 2 on Jul 23, 2007 14:39:40 GMT -5
Just because a band puts on a show similar to their studio work, or the same show every night of a tour, doesn't mean its a bad show. I really enjoyed Petty's Roo set in 06. I agree I wouldn't want to see it again and again, but I don't inted to follow him around and I don't think he intends to be followed around. Same w/ groups like the Flaming Lips. It's an awesome show, but they don't vary it too musch so seeing it once per tour is enough. Not every band is made to be followed like the dead.
That being said the Police were dissapointing, and I think the"We're only touring for the money" attitute was what did them in, at Bonnaroo and everywhere else. I don't think, however, that this attitute is now the norm at Bonnaroo. That's why their performance stuck out as being contrived and commercial as compared to every other show I saw this year.
John: We don't even understand our own music Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
well i would agree with that. tool didnt seem to be a bad show. just not my tastes. and most tool fans i talked to loved the show. so i agree it dosent seem to be the overriding motivation for most of the bands at roo. or the norm. but it does seem to be the norm now to headline bands that have a mass commercial/pop fanbase regardless of the shows they are putting on. does it matter if the police suck now? nope. does it matter if tom petty is gonna play greatest hits straight off the album for 2 hours just like every other stop on his tour? nope. does it matter that noone has ever come to roo for metal before and many people would be completly uninterested? nope. does it matter that it gets roo mentioned on radiostations all across the country and people who come to see these more commercial bands have more money to spend? you bet ya. they know that sci, mule, umphreys, phil, and wsp are enough to get the regulars to show up. the rest is based on making money. it didnt start out that way.
Post by stallion pt. 2 on Jul 23, 2007 15:01:54 GMT -5
Bonnaroo has always been about making money. They made a killing in 2002, and they will continue to make a killing. It has always been about money. If it weren't profitable, they wouldn't do it.
That said, Bonnaroo is also about the music, and about putting out the best live music that's out there. I totally agree that the Police was a misstep. It seems obvious that after Oysterhead the folks at Roo thought the Police would so something special at Roo. They were wrong, and I do hope this means they will be more careful with their headliner selection next year. But Tool and Tom Petty, while certainly outside the realm of what would have been at Roo a few years before, were good shows by solid live bands who were not reuniting just to make some money. Just because they're not your idea of a band you'd want to follow around does not mean they didn't deserve to headline.
John: We don't even understand our own music Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
i guess my point on tool, the police, and petty is that you could have caught them at any of the dozens of other tour stops and seen the same show. thats why i feel they dont deserve to headline roo. ive come to expect something special out of roo headliners. atleast use up all the time they give you to play. if your gonna do a mialed in greatest hits set then atleast do it for 3 hours and have some guests. dave is a comercial/pop act and i loved both of his roo shows. they werent just stops on a tour him. it meant something and he brought out the guests and put on great shows. they were a bit short but i wasnt dissapointed in what i saw. i guess thats what roo has been missing the past couple of years. although i must admit that radiohead blew me away. bring back radiohead!!!!!!
atleast the latenights havent been affected. other then there are too many great acts at the same time. make some of these latenights headliners and use the niche acts to spread things out for latenight.
Last Edit: Jul 23, 2007 15:12:11 GMT -5 by Dude - Back to Top
Post by stallion pt. 2 on Jul 23, 2007 15:16:38 GMT -5
OK, I see more what you mean. I does seem like Roo headliners haven't been making the extra effort to fill their time slots and do something unforgettable, But even Widespread failed to pull any special guests this year. I think it's just getting harder and harder for headliners to top what has already been done.
In the end it matters very little to me, as te headliners have never been my reason for attending Roo. As long as there's still kick-ass latenights, living legends you never thought you'd get to see (No, not Sting), and great music from up-and coming bands during the day, Bonnaroo will always keep me happy. The headliners have just never done much for me (Neil Young and Radiohead excepted).
John: We don't even understand our own music Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
sang_xcx
Inforoo Influencer Efficient Sangry Panda
i guess my point on tool, the police, and petty is that you could have caught them at any of the dozens of other tour stops and seen the same show. thats why i feel they dont deserve to headline roo. ive come to expect something special out of roo headliners. atleast use up all the time they give you to play. if your gonna do a mialed in greatest hits set then atleast do it for 3 hours and have some guests. dave is a comercial/pop act and i loved both of his roo shows. they werent just stops on a tour him. it meant something and he brought out the guests and put on great shows. they were a bit short but i wasnt dissapointed in what i saw. i guess thats what roo has been missing the past couple of years. although i must admit that radiohead blew me away. bring back radiohead!!!!!!
atleast the latenights havent been affected. other then there are too many great acts at the same time. make some of these latenights headliners and use the niche acts to spread things out for latenight.
actually tool played a special show compared with their usual show. they added 2 songs to the set and they brought out tom morello. that doesn't sound very drastic, but it's not what they normally do. i still wish they would have played longer. but then i wouldn't have made it to superjam at all.
Yeah, i think TOOL really did their fans right. Not only did they play extra songs, bring out a guest, and have an amazing visual show that they probably can't pull off in a lot of other venues, but the songs they played were extended and varied versions. That's saying a lot for a band who routinely writes 9 minute songs.
I actually liked the Police show. But my expectations were not too high. Let's face it, they hadn't played together in 25 years and they're not a jam band. It was kind of like getting together with old friends and putting on some old music from the 70's, shutting your brain off and just having fun. There are lots of reasons to say it's cheesy and dated but...
I was mainly looking to see if they were having fun playing together and from my spot in the 2nd row they sure seemed to be enjoying themselves. I was just happy to be able to join in the fun for a while.
The Police were a major reason I went to 'Roo this year, and I was not too impressed with their performance. First off, I thought their set list could have been so much better (Every Breath You Take as an encore?! C'mon! This isn't the Grammy's). Also, the disconnect between Sting and the audience was palpable. He seemed to not notice -- or perhaps not care -- that 80,000 people from all over the country were on hand for the show, and that his band was the headliner. Lastly, I thought it was pretty shitty The Police did not even play their full time slot. As my buddy and I walked from the show into Centroo I said: "Those guys should be arrested for impersonating The Police."
