Written by Jim Bille
May 20, 2008 at 07:00 PM
ImageJust in case you missed the first performance of the final Police concert tour at the Toyota Center last summer, the band gave us a second chance to experience a rare event by returning to the Woodlands Tuesday night. In less than one years time the Police returned to H-Town on their farewell tour to say goodbye again.

After originally disbanding in the mid 80’s, Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers and Sting decided in 2007 to organize a world tour to commemorate the 30 year anniversary of the release of their ground breaking hit ‘Roxanne’.  The tour is kind of in its second phase, catching up with towns and venues that were omitted from the original schedule.  Houston was one of the cities lucky enough to get the band back for a second time.

During the band’s so-called twenty plus year “hiatus” Summers, Copeland and Sting have successfully pursued individual careers that have included music, producing, acting and humanitarian work.

Andy Summers embarked on a solo career that encompassed film scoring and collaborations with musicians such as Robert Fripp, Herbie Hancock, Deborah Harry, Brian Auger and Ginger Baker.

After the Police stopped touring in 1984, Stewart Copeland established a career composing soundtracks for films such as Wall Street, Talk Radio, Highlander II and a number of others.  He has played with Stanley Clarke, Peter Gabriel, Trey Anastasio and David Fiuczynski.

Sting went on to become Sting.

Kicking off the evening with two songs from the album Regatta del Blanc, ‘Bring On The Night’, followed up by ‘Message In A Bottle’, the trio started a two hour musical barrage of all the Police music you would ever hope to hear.  Noteworthy numbers included ‘Every Little Thing She Does is Magic’, ‘Invisible Sun’, and ‘Voices in My Head’.  Most of the music remained true to the original sound that we would all recognize, but a few numbers were expanded on with slightly different arrangements.
You would never guess that these guys disbanded more than 20 years ago as they crafted their Reggae-Fusion-Punk sound for the shows sold out crowd.

Stewart Copeland never sounded better.  Outfitted with a massive drum set that was equipped with all sorts of rhythmic widgets, bangers, bells and gongs Copeland maintained the pulse of the performance to perfection.  His percussion work on ‘Wrapped Around Your Finger’ was ethereal.

Sting’s use of the bass as a second guitar to Summers lead has greatly contributed to the trademark Police sound.  The front man’s vocals were stunning Tuesday night.  Forget his guitar playing, his vocals alone are worth the 16 or so Grammy’s he’s garnered over his career.

Andy Summers was on top of his guitar playing game Tuesday night as he masterfully applied his classic syncopated style to each note.  His work on ‘Driven to Tears’ was outstanding.

According to the band this is the final hurrah for the Police.  No new CD’s or tours after this one.  Gone for good?  Maybe, but I would never say never. Judging from the overflowing enthusiasm of the multi-aged crowd at the Woodlands last night the fan base is as strong as it’s ever been.

The Police still continue to sell out every show on the schedule and after twenty years of inactivity are as popular as ever.  Their music is required play on the airwaves, and unlike most of their contemporaries the Police still have a relevant and timeless sound.

ImageElvis Costello has always been known for his smart and sometimes smart alec lyrics. You’re not likely to hear much of this Elvis’s music on the radio, probably because it is too smart for commercial airplay.

Costello’s expansive musical repertoire has touched on everything from lounge lizard, country, rockabilly, and in your face bar room rockin punk. He has collaborated and recorded with everyone from Burt Bacharach to Paul McCartney. One of his best team-ups was with Allen Toussaint with their recording of the CD, ‘The River in Reverse’ a couple of years ago.

Elvis Costello, and his band The Imposters, are touring in support of his latest CD ‘Momofuku’. The CD was just released the first week of May and Tuesday was my first exposure to the new material. ‘American Gangster Time’ and ‘Go Away’ were two of the songs performed from the new release. Elvis fans will not be disappointed if these two numbers are any indication of what the rest of the CD sounds like, both were classic Costello.

‘Pump it Up’ from his 1978 release ‘This Years Model’ was one of my personal favorites, an enthusiastic and rowdy tune that gave the crowd an early work out in 90+ degree weather.

Probably his two most recognizable songs featured in the one hour set was ‘Watching the Detectives’ and an absolute show stopper duet version of ‘Alison’ featuring Sting and Costello.

The one negative issue with Elvis Costello’s set, no fault of his, was that it was about one hour too short. The programming constraints of the show only gave him enough time to scratch the surface of his immense catalog of music. Elvis did manage to work the crowd up but had to let them down way too soon to make way for the next band.

The Verizon or Warehouse Live should get him booked so we can enjoy a full show from this merry manic maestro.