I guess this is their last goodbye...

And I did care. And I did cry.


Last night Chris and I went to the final concert of The Police tour, a benefit for public television.

Back in the day:

Today:

It was amazing. It was probably my favorite of the three shows we've seen.

The B-52's opened which was great. We got to dance to "My Own Private Idaho", "Roam", "Rock Lobster" and, of course, "Love Shack." And they played some stuff from their new album which I had no clue what was.

And while that was great we all couldn't wait for the "real" show to start.


When they finally came back they opened with this riff I recognized, but didn't attribute to The Police. I said to Chris, "I can play this song on guitar hero." It was "Sunshine of Your Love". It was such a fun way to start.

Then they went to Message in a Bottle with the NYPD police band.




And here's a quick clip. I couldn't take long video clips but here's a little flavor. Please try and overlook my off key singing in the background.




And we got a great "Full Monty" look from Sting. No, not that. I mean the look before the clothes come off.




Stewart has the best drummer faces ever. I think he'd broken 2-3 sticks by the end of the 4th song. He was on! Here he is with some "Ghost in the Machine" graphics.

Stewart gets this awesome percussion solo in Wrapped Around Your Finger




Here's a clip from the song. It's kind of out of focus, but you can hear the music pretty well.



Andy is also still rocking his guitar. I have hardly any pictures of him though. He never got as much camera time as Sting and Stewart and when he did it was mostly close ups of his hands playing the guitar. It seemed like every time I tried to take a picture by the time the high sensitivity setting took the picture it was back to Sting.



Here's a great riff and as Sting said, "This is the last time we're ever going to do this so let's raise the f***ing roof!"




There were so many good things like Sting bringing his daughters out on stage to dance during "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic".



Can't Stand Losing





At the end of the show Sting shaved off his tour beard. Then he came out for the encore (Purple Haze, Roxanne, King of Pain, Every Breath You Take, So Lonely) beardless and shirtless. A nice combination.







Andy and Stewart wonder when the prima donna will come back out. "We can't start the encore without him."




And here Sting is with his naked face.


Purple Haze



And here you go Taudine, So Lonely. (Sorry he didn't do "lo lo lo lo lo")




Every Breath You Take

(I couldn't get Blogger to upload this so I had to go with youtube. And evidently there are some technical difficulties. I'll make Chris fix it tonight)


After the second encore (just one song, All I Want Is To Be Next To You) to let us know that it was over they brought out the fat lady (er man in drag) to sing us a little opera solo. Then Porky Pig told us know, "That's all folks."


And in a nice end end end to the show Stewart decided to take his shirt off too as they were walking off stage. Looks like Sting isn't the only one doing yoga.

Yes, yes, it's a terrible picture, but trust me, he looked good.

Here's the BBC's "review" of the show:



Rock band The Police have performed the final concert of their reunion tour in New York's Madison Square Garden. In what is thought to have been their farewell show, frontman Sting thanked his bandmates for their "musicianship, companionship and understanding". It was the 150th show of their reunion tour which has lasted 14 months and was the top-earning tour of 2007. The band scored a string of hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s and played their first US concert in New York. The band played at the far smaller CBGB's nightclub in 1978. Sting told the crowd: "The real triumph of this tour is that we haven't strangled each other. "Not to say it hasn't crossed my mind - or Andy's or Stewart's," he added. After playing a set that included covers of Jimi Hendrix's 'Purple Haze' and 'Sunshine of Your Love' by Cream, the trio walked off stage to the cartoon signature tune, That's All, Folks. During the show, Sting removed his shirt and had his greying beard shaved off by some female stylists and was kissed by drummer Stewart Copeland. The singer was also joined on stage by three of his daughters at one point during the set, while New York City's police band also performed with the group. The tour, during which the band are estimated to have played to more than three million people, has made 0m (£181m). © BBC News