The Police announce 30th anniversary reunion tour
The Police are back and ready to hit the road. The band held a press conference at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood on Monday, February 12th to confirm their long-rumored reunion, which is in celebration of the band's 30th anniversary. Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland performed five songs at the event -- "Message In A Bottle," "Voices Inside My Head," "When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around" "Can't Stand Losing You," and "Roxanne" -- and announced that the tour begins May 28th in Vancouver, British Columbia. Fourteen shows were confirmed through August 3rd in New York City, and more will be added in the coming days and weeks, with a total of 80 dates likely to take place around the world. The opening act for the North American shows will be Fiction Plane, the band which feature's Sting's son Joe Sumner on bass.
After playing "Message In A Bottle," Sting "introduced" the band: (Sting) "I'd just like to introduce the band -- Andy, this is Stewart. (laughter)" (Summers) "(So) that's your name?" (Copeland) "Hey, hey! I remember you!"
Sting said the decision to re-form the band was sudden and shocking: "You know, if you'd asked me the day before I made this decision, I would have said you're out of your mind. This is not what I... this is... my head is somewhere else. I woke up one morning, it was about three months ago, and this light bulb went off in my head -- I'm gonna call Andy and Stewart and tell them that we should do a tour. I thought, well, it'll surprise them (laughter from audience and Copeland), it'll surprise the world, and it's surprising me, too."
The band was asked if they planned to work any other material into their set list -- specifically from their solo projects -- and they joked about all the stuff they could do: (Summers) "Mostly, we're gonna do U2, you know? Why not?" (Copeland) "Well, most of our stuff sounds like Bob Marley, so..." (Sting) "Actually, I thought we could do (the Knack's) 'My Sharona.'" (Summers) "Yeah!" (Sting and Copeland fool around with "My Sharona") (Copeland) "That's enough."
Sting said fans can expect the group to be even better than they were at their peak: "There's no reason why we shouldn't be 25 years better than we were then - -and we were good then! (cheers) Yeah, you bring that experience, you know? There are subtleties in the music that perhaps we're more willing to address now that we're older, but you know, it's still gonna be exciting and raw, and you're gonna recognize -- hopefully -- the songs that we're playing (laughs). But we're wiser and a bit more mellow."
Summers, Copeland, and Sting jokingly explained what their goals are for the tour: (Summers) "World domination, totally, I would say." (Copeland) "We're gonna come out, burn down the world, we're gonna enslave your children, eat your kings and queens, (and) rape and pillage across the world." (Summers) "Yeah, nothing's changed." (Sting) "Lock up your mothers." (Copeland) "Oh, you're talking about the music? Oh, that -- yeah, sure, yeah."
For most of the North American shows, tickets will cost $50, $90, and $225, with a four-ticket limit to arena shows and a six-ticket limit for stadiums.
Among the highlights announced today were a headlining set at the Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, on June 16th, and a stadium gig at Fenway Park in Boston on July 28th. There's also been talk of a second date at Fenway on July 29th, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.
In addition to the North American dates, the Police are also expected to play this year in Europe, Mexico, South America, and Japan, with Australia and New Zealand also possible.
It was also announced that a portion of the proceeds from the tour will go to WaterAid, which works to ensure fresh water and proper sanitation to people around the world as a means of battling poverty.
The tour is being sponsored by Best Buy, and members of the retail chain's Reward Zone program will be able to buy tickets before they go on sale to the general public. For more information on U.S. dates, go to bestbuy.com/the police, and for Canadian shows, go to bestbuy.ca/thepolice.
The itinerary (subject to change) (on-sale dates in parentheses):
May 28 - Vancouver, BC - General Motors Place (February 17)
Jun 6 - Seattle, WA - KeyArena at Seattle Center (TBA)
Jun 9 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center (TBA)
Jun 15 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena (TBA)
Jun 16 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Music Festival (TBA)
Jun 18 - Phoenix, AZ - US Airways Center (TBA)
Jun 26 - Dallas, TX - AmericanAirlines Center (TBA)
Jun 30 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Arena (TBA)
Jul 2 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center (TBA)
Jul 22 - Toronto, ONT - Air Canada Centre (February 17)
Jul 25 - Montreal, QUE - Bell Centre (February 17)
Jul 28 - Boston, MA - Fenway Park (February 20)
Aug 1 & 3 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden (February 20)
Additional North American concert dates in Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Edmonton, Alberta; Hartford, Connecticut; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; Philadelphia; Tampa, Florida; the San Francisco Bay Area; Minneapolis/St. Paul; and the Washington/Baltimore area will be announced in the next few weeks.
After playing "Message In A Bottle," Sting "introduced" the band: (Sting) "I'd just like to introduce the band -- Andy, this is Stewart. (laughter)" (Summers) "(So) that's your name?" (Copeland) "Hey, hey! I remember you!"
Sting said the decision to re-form the band was sudden and shocking: "You know, if you'd asked me the day before I made this decision, I would have said you're out of your mind. This is not what I... this is... my head is somewhere else. I woke up one morning, it was about three months ago, and this light bulb went off in my head -- I'm gonna call Andy and Stewart and tell them that we should do a tour. I thought, well, it'll surprise them (laughter from audience and Copeland), it'll surprise the world, and it's surprising me, too."
The band was asked if they planned to work any other material into their set list -- specifically from their solo projects -- and they joked about all the stuff they could do: (Summers) "Mostly, we're gonna do U2, you know? Why not?" (Copeland) "Well, most of our stuff sounds like Bob Marley, so..." (Sting) "Actually, I thought we could do (the Knack's) 'My Sharona.'" (Summers) "Yeah!" (Sting and Copeland fool around with "My Sharona") (Copeland) "That's enough."
Sting said fans can expect the group to be even better than they were at their peak: "There's no reason why we shouldn't be 25 years better than we were then - -and we were good then! (cheers) Yeah, you bring that experience, you know? There are subtleties in the music that perhaps we're more willing to address now that we're older, but you know, it's still gonna be exciting and raw, and you're gonna recognize -- hopefully -- the songs that we're playing (laughs). But we're wiser and a bit more mellow."
Summers, Copeland, and Sting jokingly explained what their goals are for the tour: (Summers) "World domination, totally, I would say." (Copeland) "We're gonna come out, burn down the world, we're gonna enslave your children, eat your kings and queens, (and) rape and pillage across the world." (Summers) "Yeah, nothing's changed." (Sting) "Lock up your mothers." (Copeland) "Oh, you're talking about the music? Oh, that -- yeah, sure, yeah."
For most of the North American shows, tickets will cost $50, $90, and $225, with a four-ticket limit to arena shows and a six-ticket limit for stadiums.
Among the highlights announced today were a headlining set at the Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, on June 16th, and a stadium gig at Fenway Park in Boston on July 28th. There's also been talk of a second date at Fenway on July 29th, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.
In addition to the North American dates, the Police are also expected to play this year in Europe, Mexico, South America, and Japan, with Australia and New Zealand also possible.
It was also announced that a portion of the proceeds from the tour will go to WaterAid, which works to ensure fresh water and proper sanitation to people around the world as a means of battling poverty.
The tour is being sponsored by Best Buy, and members of the retail chain's Reward Zone program will be able to buy tickets before they go on sale to the general public. For more information on U.S. dates, go to bestbuy.com/the police, and for Canadian shows, go to bestbuy.ca/thepolice.
The itinerary (subject to change) (on-sale dates in parentheses):
May 28 - Vancouver, BC - General Motors Place (February 17)
Jun 6 - Seattle, WA - KeyArena at Seattle Center (TBA)
Jun 9 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center (TBA)
Jun 15 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena (TBA)
Jun 16 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Music Festival (TBA)
Jun 18 - Phoenix, AZ - US Airways Center (TBA)
Jun 26 - Dallas, TX - AmericanAirlines Center (TBA)
Jun 30 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Arena (TBA)
Jul 2 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center (TBA)
Jul 22 - Toronto, ONT - Air Canada Centre (February 17)
Jul 25 - Montreal, QUE - Bell Centre (February 17)
Jul 28 - Boston, MA - Fenway Park (February 20)
Aug 1 & 3 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden (February 20)
Additional North American concert dates in Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Edmonton, Alberta; Hartford, Connecticut; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; Philadelphia; Tampa, Florida; the San Francisco Bay Area; Minneapolis/St. Paul; and the Washington/Baltimore area will be announced in the next few weeks.
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