STEWART COPELAND

by **TheEqualizer** on 15 Jul 2007 18:33

It's my understanding that Vinnie Colaiuta toured with Sting and did not just record wth him in the studio. If that is correct, has anyone seen Vinnie play Police songs live? If so. what's it like/ how does it compare? Does anyone know if Stewart has heard Vinnie play his stuff and if so what Stewart thinks? Ona related note, what Sting drummer do you think has done the best job of playing Police stuff (not necessarily emulating Stewart, but maybe being the most interesting in doing so)?

by **Kalypso** on 15 Jul 2007 18:34

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PFbxr_Jc7E

by **cpriddims** on 15 Jul 2007 19:48

Saw Sting's Mercury Falling tour July 1996 Columbus, Ohio ampetheater outdoors. Great show I must say! Vinnie on drums. BTW, in my opinion, Vinnie is probably one of the the most technically advanced drummers of all (right next to Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, Jeff Porcaro, Buddy Rich, etc).

All I can say is that they broke in to 'Synchronicity II' and over half the crowd stood up and went crazy. Vinnie did a tasteful job. Didn't use any Stew licks, did his own thing,played pretty smooth, not on the edge like Stew, and the song went over well. I enjoyed it. Little did I know I would have to wait another 11 years to hear it from The Police live! When the finished that song eveyone sat back down for pretty much the rest of the show.

Anyway, Vinnie, as technically advanced as he is, really knows how to 'play to the song' and not overdo it.

by **Three over Four** on 16 Jul 2007 00:56

Saw the same tour, only at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington and.....well.....what he said!

by **TheEqualizer** on 16 Jul 2007 01:57

I know this is not a Police song, but I thought this was an interesting video kind of on the subject of this post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IjCvmfZknQ

By the way, is this show on DVD? If so, what is it called?

by **Susan** on 16 Jul 2007 02:13

[quote="cpriddims"]Saw Sting's Mercury Falling tour July 1996 Columbus, Ohio ampetheater outdoors. Great show I must say! Vinnie on drums. BTW, in my opinion, Vinnie is probably one of the the most technically advanced drummers of all (right next to Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, Jeff Porcaro, Buddy Rich, etc).

All I can say is that they broke in to 'Synchronicity II' and over half the crowd stood up and went crazy. Vinnie did a tasteful job. Didn't use any Stew licks, did his own thing,played pretty smooth, not on the edge like Stew, and the song went over well. I enjoyed it. Little did I know I would have to wait another 11 years to hear it from The Police live! When the finished that song eveyone sat back down for pretty much the rest of the show.

Anyway, Vinnie, as technically advanced as he is, really knows how to 'play to the song' and not overdo it.[/quote]

Yes, what he said. I've seen Sting on all his solo tours. I actually liked the last drummer, Josh Freese, the most. I don't know a lot about drums or drumming--I just know when something seems "better" or more energetic. That's what I felt with Josh's playing, on both the Police songs and Sting solo songs that were played. He also played with Sting on Live 8.

This is actually a little hard for me to think about, now that I'm trying, because it is SO good to see Sting with Stewart playing the drums. It is a different Sting than I've seen in the past few years.

by **Divemistress of the Dark** on 16 Jul 2007 02:20

Sting has redeemed himself somewhat in my eyes, despite the StingCorp flavor this tour takes on at times (thanks to PapaCat for the apt descriptive term). I just wasn't into the lite rock he was producing the past few years.

Tho I did love the lute record...I also dug his autobiography much more than I expected to...

by **Omaha_Perez** on 16 Jul 2007 04:24

[quote="Divemistress of the Dark"]Sting has redeemed himself somewhat in my eyes, despite the StingCorp flavor this tour takes on at times (thanks to PapaCat for the apt descriptive term). I just wasn't into the lite rock he was producing the past few years.

Tho I did love the lute record...I also dug his autobiography much more than I expected to...[/quote]

I was given Sting's autobiography as a gift by my mom, who didn't realize I had given up on the man over the last 10 years. I, too, was pleasantly surprised. Not including The Police tour, I think that book is the best thing Sting has done in years. It made me hopeful that he would write more prose.

by **TheEqualizer** on 16 Jul 2007 07:50

Interesting article on the subject: http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/ ... mer93.aspx

By the way, learned on his website that vinnie has played on albums by Lindsay Lohan, Hillary Duff, Clay Aiken, and the Backstreet Boys. Hilarious

by **feralkid** on 16 Jul 2007 08:47

He also played on the last andy summers record 'Earth & Sky' which is worth checking out

by **blueboy** on 16 Jul 2007 16:12

The only time I've ever heard Vinnie blatantly "borrow" from Stewart is on a song called the "Speed of Light" from Wang Chung.

It sounds like they brought Vinnie in as a studio drummer and said..."play like Stewart Copeland all over this track please".

I think he even started speeding up the tempo mid song. (j/k) :lol:

by **secretjourneyranch** on 16 Jul 2007 16:45

I have long felt the finest drummer Sting ever hired was Manu Katche.
You can get a glimpse of him doing The Police thing on the first 2 songs of NLTS with Sting and Andy.

His live work was amazing on Police tracks...

by **dontboxmein** on 16 Jul 2007 16:47

Seeing Sting 8 times with a myriad of different drummers I would say for original drumming it would be Vinnie...he kept "The Copeland Vibe" and did not place the kick and snare in the exact same places all the time.

Keith Carlock put a nice flair to it.

Manu Katche even though an incredible player a little akward on The Police Material. On the studio albums however I think his palying was the best very unique on record. I liked Manu's studio albums with Sting better than Vinnie.

Omar Hakim ...would have loved to see his versions of "The Police" classics.

Josh Freese Hell no...tried to copy Copeland lick for lick, but his Hi Hat playing reaked...needs to develope his left hand he's been playing that punk for so long he plays fast quarters and eights...but the left hand is extremely weak.

Ab Laboriel ...great player but did not sound good on The Police Material.

by **Kalypso** on 16 Jul 2007 16:48

[quote="By the way, learned on his website that vinnie has played on albums by Lindsay Lohan, Hillary Duff, Clay Aiken, and the Backstreet Boys. Hilarious[/quote]

Well, people have to make a living (a nice one in this case). So Vinnie plugged his nose and dove in.

by **secretjourneyranch** on 16 Jul 2007 17:07

[quote="dontboxmein"]

Omar Hakim ...would have loved to see his versions of "The Police" classics.[/quote]

That guy was amazing to watch. I caught him with Sting in Berkeley 1985. Burn For You and Driven To Tears come to mind. Demolition Man. That guy could play. I remember he had lights in each of his drums and they would flash on and off. It looked like he was in a space ship.

I guess I still like Manu's style though....

STEWART COPELAND

Colaiuta covering Stewart

Colaiuta covering Stewart

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