Ok, just got back from Staples in L.A. and, once again, it was awesome... probably their first four or five songs were plain flawless (can't remember the exact setlist, but they did stick with Message, Synch II and Walking On The Moon for the first three, and despite Walking On The Moon being a "slower" song, I find it really fits beautifully in that 3rd slot)... Oh, they did this new thing where at the very beginning of the show, after the Bob Marley "Get Up Stand Up" thing, the house lights go dark and Stewart's on his percussion riser warming up the gong while the stage is still dark, and now Andy gets up on stage a bit earlier so that when Stewart finally nails that gong, Andy's already standing on stage looking down at his guitar: no funny off-notes in the ever-important intro to Message In A Bottle tonight!! Apparently, previously it would just be Stewart on stage with the gong at the beginning and as soon as he hits the gong, Andy and Sting both walk out on stage with the beginning of Message, so maybe the walking and looking out at the crowd and playing at the same time was probably messing Andy up a bit... again, not tonight. Sting's voice did crack slightly in one of the songs about halfway through the set (I can't remember, might have been "Wrapped..."), but overall he sang great... Walking On The Moon was stellar... Stewart forgot his calypso beat in the first chorus of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and it sounded awesome... overall, great set (got a chance to tell Stewart personally as in...)
Laz: Hey Stewart, I don't have anything for you to sign, but I just wanted to say that you were awesome tonight as always!!
STEWART: Oh, thanks.
*** mobbed by a bunch of other autograph hounds as he's herded to his van to take him home ***
Next stop (for the Police as well as for myself): Anaheim tomorrow night!!
Laz
Posted: 18 Jun 2007 20:36
