The Police @ MSG: the Final Show
Best. Show. Ever.
They opened with Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” and ended with “Next To You”, and in between played most of their standard hits and a few lesser known hits like “Demolition Man” (which I consider an A-level). “Purple Haze” was even thrown in for good measure. The highlight of the evening (which means just tad above the normal excitement) probably came during the second song, “Message In A Bottle”, when the NY Police Department Band backed them up onstage (above); Sting donned an NYPD cap and looked like one of the Village People. During “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”, Sting’s daughters and Andy’s sons and daughter came up on stage and danced and took pictures.
The Police was the first band that I really got into, back in fourth or fifth grade, but they broke up before I had a chance to see them live. I never thought I’d be able to see them live so I was psyched to see them last year at Giants Stadium, but I was beyond thrilled to be able to go to their final show at Madison Square Garden, still my favorite large concert venue. The crowd, unsurprisingly, was completely into the show. People were singing, jumping up and down, dancing in the isles and walkways, and just generally having a great time with a great band and great music.
At one point, Sting said, “The real triumph of this tour is that we haven’t strangled each other. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t crossed my mind. Or Andy’s. Or Stewart’s.”
