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 In what is destined to be an historic run, the Police will embark on
their first tour in 23 years, beginning May 28 at the GM Arena in
Vancouver.
As part of a tour that will play arenas and stadiums
internationally through the end of the year, the band will also
headline the June 16 date of the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tenn.
The group just finished a press conference and live rehearsal at the
Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, Calif., and has already rocked
through "Message in a Bottle," a medley of "Voices Inside My Head" and
"When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still
Around" and "Can't Stand Losing You"/"Reggatta De Blanc," which they
admitted they barely remembered how to play. The Police's breakthrough
hit, "Roxanne," was also performed.
As expected, the tour will be produced worldwide by the Next Adventure
in association with RZO Entertainment, under the direction of Arthur
Fogel, president of TNA and chairman of global music for TNA parent
Live Nation. "I'm thrilled to be a part of bringing the Police to their
fans after so long," Fogel said at the press conference.
The announcement comes in the wake of the Police's
dynamic performance of "Roxanne" last night to open the Grammy Awards
on CBS. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are the Police and we're back," Sting
shouted as the group kicked into the song.
Talk of a Police 30th anniversary tour has been
rampant in the previous weeks. The plan is for the Police to tour North
America through the first week of August, then play the U.K. and
Europe, returning to North America in late October.
The rest of the world will follow, including Mexico, South America,
Japan and possibly Australia and New Zealand through the end of the
year. About 80 shows are currently on the books, including 24 cities in
North America. There also is the possibility that the Police will play
several stadiums both in the U.S. and abroad, but as of now Fenway Park
in Boston is the only confirmed stadium date. No festivals other than
Bonnaroo are currently planned.
Best Buy is the North American sponsor of the tour;
some proceeds will benefit the aid organization Water Aid. Tickets will
be scaled primarily at $225, $90 and $50. Tickets for Vancouver,
Toronto (July 22) and Montreal (July 25) will go on sale Feb. 17. Other
markets, including Boston and New York (Aug. 1 and 3), will go on sale
Feb. 20. Ticketmaster will orchestrate a pre-sale through a newly
created Police tour Web site a few days prior to the general public
onsales. It is highly likely that the Police will be the top-grossing
tour of 2007.
Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart
Copeland split in 1984 amid internal tensions following the release of
their most successful album, "Synchronicity," although they regrouped
for a handful of concerts in 1986 before breaking up for good.
"I woke up one morning, it was about three months
ago," he recalled. "This light bulb went off in my head: I'm going to
call Andy and Stewart and tell them we should do a tour. I thought,
well, it will surprise them. It will surprise the world, and it's
surprising me too. It's very healing. It's a part of my life I've sort
of run away from for 25 years. We're still fighting. We're still
arguing about the music. (But) we have ways of navigating now that we
didn't have before."
The Police's lone public performance prior to the
Grammys was at the band's 2003 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame. The group also played an impromptu set at Sting's 1992 wedding to
Trudie Styler.
"The nature of the arguments were all about music. And
also hairstyles," Sting said with a laugh. "We fought tooth and nail
over the music, but as human beings, we always liked each other,"
Copeland added.
The group was mum on details about a potential tour
set list or new studio recordings, but Sting acknowledged they would
not play any of his solo material. "We're going to play songs we'll
never play before," he said. "We have a lot of work to do in three
months."
Fiction Plane, fronted by Sting's son Joe, will open the shows.
Here are the Police's tour dates:
- May 28: Vancouver (GM Place)
- June 6: Seattle (Key Arena)
- June 9: Denver (Pepsi Center
- June 15: Las Vegas (MGM Grand Garden Arena)
- June 16: Manchester, Tenn. (Bonnaroo Festival)
- June 18: Phoenix (US Airways Center)
- June 26: Dallas (AmericanAirlines Center)
- June 30: New Orleans (New Orleans Arena)
- July 2: St. Louis (Scottrade Center)
- July 22: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
- July 25: Montreal (Bell Centre)
- July 28: Boston (Fenway Park)
- Aug. 1, 3: New York (Madison Square Garden)
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