I Am The OMEGAMAN...

[kypolicefan]

Thank you Stewart and Andy for laughing and acknowledging my sign!

This is the sign that I held up tonight from the 2nd row, in front of Stewart!

My favorite song that is not on the tour list.

As others have said, this was a great show! Man they burned!

They were in a really good mood and the crowd was in it except for FP who rocked as well. Sorry FP.

More review coming up later...

You guys torched Louisville tonight.. thank you!!!!!!!!

[Divemistress of the Dark]

hey!! I saw you...was a couple rows back waving the HAPPY BDAY STEWART SC.NET banner...They truly rocked, didn't they? would write more but am still on handheld thanks 2 crappy cheap hotel with no internet...sigh

[kypolicefan]

ha ha. I was looking for you all too. Good idea on the sign Dive. After we got to our seats I thought I should have made a birthday sign for Stewart.

[kypolicefan]

they rocked.. I am stuck on that.. they blew me away,seriously..

[dontboxmein]

I completely agree with you The Police are coming back very strong.


However I must disagree with you on FP first and foremost..they do not have strong songs...sound too much like The Police at times are not original mediocre at best.

And the swearing got on my last nerve to say the very least..they were boring..if it was not for Joe being Sting's son. They would not make it and would have lost label support years ago.

His father is much better even when Sting was that age was a much better song writer.

Did you go afterwards to see them?

[Three over Four]

I have to agree with dontboxmein on this one....sorry to say. I really *wanted* to like FP....I even went and bought their album thinking that I just needed to listen to their stuff a dozen times and it'd grow on me, but I'm going to be selling that CD I'm afraid. They're fine and capable musicians, but dontboxmein nailed about the songwriting....it's very one-dimentional. Frankly, I'm rather shocked considering whose loins he sprung from....

[Divemistress of the Dark]

I went to their midnight gig at Coyote's in Louisville last night and loved it.
I think FP is terrific.

Here's why.

1.) It takes total balls to confront the expectations of the concertgoing public on this. Instead of the neutrality that most folks would grant Joe Public upon seeing him play for the first time, Joe Sumner immediately gets held to the standard of his daddy's five octave vocal range and mad bass-playing skillz. Not to mention Pete and Seton, who are immediately relegated to Joe's Supporting Player roles, instead of being judged on their merits.

Every time I've seen FP, they have worked their asses off. These guys are not phoning it in. In addition to the opening sets they're playing every night, they're also playing smaller shows in clubs and doing in-stores...I saw Joe carrying his guitars and amps out to the bus himself last night. A small thing, sure, but not what you'd expect out of a kid who most self-styled musical critics would consider rock royalty.

2.) I got a chance to talk to the fellas at the Best Buy VIP tent in St. Louis and asked them about their influences. I was impressed by the width and depth as expressed by Seton in particular...they seem to be actual scholars, not aping whichever band is the flavor of the month. Plus they're more interested in indie rock as opposed to stadium bands, which is something I personally would find more compelling than would some people.

3.) I suppose the lyrical depth is a matter of opinion. I think the stuff's pretty good. What would you have them discuss within the parameters of a 2-minute verse-chorus-verse song structure? Partly it's hard to tell what they're saying given the volume level and distortion, but we're hearing about tortured love, drinking, aimlessness, etc.

4.) I don't think they sound like The Police, particularly. I will cop to a sneaking feeling that Pete has been taking instruction from The Master, but I'm hearing a lot more bands like Gorillaz and Bloc Party in their mix than Police-like timing or arrangements. Joe can hardly help sounding like his dad to some extent, but I think he's found his own voice, lyrically speaking.

Seton can play like a mother, but you need to see them in a smaller club to get the full experience. They're really letting loose at the club shows, far more than I would imagine they're allowed to do during the arena gigs.

Sure, the songs aren't 100% polished, but I think the album after next will be a masterpiece. I'm expecting great things out of these guys. If Joe can manage not to kill himself jumping off that amplifier (he took a tumble after an extra-high launch last night, I noticed...)

[DirtyMartini]

Excellent sign, KYPF.


FP-wise, they work their asses off. (And they're good people to boot.) I just want them to have better material. They've got potential and energy. What they need are some songs to set them apart. "Two Sisters" is a start. I hope they keep going.

(Although I still don't think they sound like the Police, nor do I think Joe sounds like Sting. Way different to my ears.)

[Lynne]

I, too, found the profanity in the lyrics quite off-putting; my bias is that profanity is a crutch for lazy articulation, and should be used sparingly to make it really matter.

That means I'm gonna have trouble telling daweasel to FO ...

[kypolicefan]

My ears are still ringing... ha ha.

Actually that was the first time I actually heard FP, the complete songs.
I was impressed. I do agree about the cigarette song too. The fans behind me said that if Sting and Bono had a child, Joe would the result, that was also there first time hearing them. There were times U2 came out but man I heard a lot of Sting.. my wife could definately hear the Sting in him too.

I would think the gig after the show that Dive went to would be the best way to really get into their music.

I am still on cloud 100....

[Three over Four]

I have nothing but the utmost respect for Joe especially given the fact that he has gone out of his way to get his band where it is on it's own merits....aside from this current tour. I agree, agree, agree on everything you said. It is clear that FP is a band, and not a couple guys supporting Joe. As I said before, they are all extremely competent musicians I just can't get into the songwriting....it's all to plain for *my* tastes, that's all.

It's not like I didn't try either....I thought they were rather bland in concert, yet I *still* bought their album and listened to it a good dozen times hoping it would grow on me.....it didn't.

[Susan]

[quote="kypolicefan"]My ears are still ringing... ha ha.

Actually that was the first time I actually heard FP, the complete songs.
I was impressed. I do agree about the cigarette song too. The fans behind me said that if Sting and Bono had a child, Joe would the result, that was also there first time hearing them. There were times U2 came out but man I heard a lot of Sting.. my wife could definately hear the Sting in him too.

I would think the gig after the show that Dive went to would be the best way to really get into their music.

I am still on cloud 100....[/quote]

YES that's exactly how I described Joe's voice...Sting and Bono. But younger, not the way either man sounds now. I saw Fiction Plane two years ago when they opened for Sting at Irving Plaza in New York, and then this year at the Plaza club in Vancouver and then on opening night. They were definitely more exciting in the club although they put 110% into their shows at the Police concerts. They're definitely better than they were two years ago.

I think they're far better than some of the younger, new bands that are out there and that I saw at Live Earth last week. Fall Out Boy--sorry that was boring.

If you read interviews with the band, Joe says it wasn't a decision taken lightly. I've heard stories of people asking THEM to play Police songs at their club gigs. Geez, it's a miracle they even want to talk to fans after that.

[conroy]

I agree with Dive 100%. It's best to experience FP in smaller venue than a stadium because I think it captures their raw energy better. Though, they sounded much better in Dallas than I originally feared. I think they are still finding their voice (something that it seems a lot of bands have difficulty with these days) and that over time the lyrics will only get better. Right now, I can't think of any other band I'd rather have open for the Police than Fiction Plane,except maybe Modest Mouse and I think they've already passed that stage in their career with Johnny Marr joining that band.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Hey folks, I just started an FP thread, a.) because this is an interesting discussion and b.) so we can get out of kypolicefan's original thread, which was more about his individual concert experience. Hop on over there if you like...

http://www.stewartcopeland.net/forum/vi ... php?t=3506

[kypolicefan]

So 24 hours later and my ears are still ringing from an outdoor concert, wow. I have to say this about the show:

"the train kept a rollin' all night long".

They are the best band on this earth.

Even though the Stones played at Churchill a year ago, The Police raised the bar last night.

I am the Omegaman.