STEWART COPELAND

Let me just establish a little background as a fan: been a life long fan (yeah, I've been around for a while), I've seen the Police twice - many moons ago, had all their albums on cassette, then CD, and have started replacing those with the remastered versions. Kept track of the guys; Rumblfish, Animal Logic, The Secret Policeman's Ball, etc... In other words not a fair-wheather fan.

With that said, I've been hoping/waiting for a Police tour for a long time. So of course I was excited when they announced a reunion tour.

Then I found out that it was a stadium tour - I've always hated stadium shows; too hard to see the band, bad sound, too many people. But if that's all that is offered, that's what I'll take.

Hmm, $60 for a ticket that will make you feel like you are touring the Grand Canyon in a helicopter; $250 for a ticket that might get you close enough to tell which is the guy that does that yoga stuff and wich guy makes those cool guitar sounds. Steep prices, but again, if that's all I have to choose from, OK.

So I accepted the things that would normally keep me well away from any other show. This may be my only chance to see the band perform again - ever.

That should have been the end of the story.

BUT:
1 - some brilliant tour manager said "hey, this market isn't tapped out yet - there's more cash out there waiting for us". OK, even music is a business, if there's money to be made, might as well go for it. I'm sort of OK with that.
2 - same brilliant tour manager (I'll just call him "Brill" for short), so Brill says "I don't know if we could sell another stadium show, so lets play it safe and put the band in a venue that will pretty much guaranty a sell out ; lets put them in a place that holds half the capacity of the stadium.
3 - Brill to second venue; "what date do you guys have open? Three days before the sold out stadium show? Sounds great!"

So I (and tens of thousands of other fans) spent big bucks to see them in a venue I ordinarily would never go to because I thought it would be my only chance to see them only to be submarined by the bean counters by having a second show added in a smaller venue and THREE days BEFORE their sold-out stadium show.

Am I the only one that thinks this was a slap in the face to every Los Angeles fan that bought a ticket to the stadium show? Normally additional shows come AFTER the original date. Normally the added dates are in the SAME VENUE (unless they come around for a second leg of a tour months later, then they may make adjustments for demand), not a smaller, more centrally located venue.

They may have my money, but they've lost me.

Yes, I was quite bummed about that, too. I don't know why it wouldn't have bothered me if it was after the dodger show, but it does.

I'm not bummed...a lot bands I see play much smaller clubs, so it's fun to go to arena shows. I've NEVER been to a stadium show, certainly not for my favorite band ever. And I'm very stoked about the Foo Fighters opening.

While we're on this topic - I originally scored some floor tickets (Section F19, Row 7) but for some reason I realized I wanted seats. I'm currently looking at some very good tickets in Field 40, Row L. I've never been to a stadium show and I'm excited - just worried that with relatively close floor seats I'll miss the full experience of a stadium show. My mom and I are the tallest in our family at 5'6", I don't want to be fighting heads the whole time, and from the floor I don't even know if I'll be able to see the whole stage (i.e. Stew's way in the back). Another problem is I have a family of 4 and we have 2 seperate pairs, with like 5 seats in between. For these seats I'd hope a couple in between would be kind enough to switch so my family could be together. Sure, I'll be close to the band...(about 30 rows back?)...but I don't know if it's worth the other risks.

The Field 40 seats are all together and elevated, so it seems little-to-no fighting heads. But it's nearly as close as you can get with an elevated seat - and judging on Dodger Stadium photos I googled - we'll probably still need binoculars. Not that I really mind all that much...just seems almost as far as the opposite end of an arena. the thing is I want to experience the "stadium show" feel which I might not get on the floor. I think not being so close allows one to take in the lights, the stage, the video screens, the crowd going wild, and so on. (I've seen a lot of smaller bands that play smaller, standing-room-only venues - so I appreciate the
occasional arena show, and I usually like to get seats for those). Plus, it's 4 seats together...elevated enough that I should be able to see everything fine without fighting heads much if at all. I guess my gut (at least right now) really is leaning towards these...I just don't know if it would be dumb to give up the floor seats I already have.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/x ... master.jpg - seating chart with the 2 sections marked

Don't stress. I'm guessing that the huge outdoor summertime show on a Saturday night will probably be the better of the two. If you've got decent seats you're fine at either one. I have tickets to Dodger Stadium in the $100 range and they are to the side but quite close to the stage. If I wanted to sit the same distance from the stage at Staples I would probably have to pay the same price and then I would have to deal with the dreaded "rafter reverb" that you get at indoor arena shows. When they announced the Dodger show I figured that they would add another one somewhere in So Cal, but I'm still happy with the Saturday night show. Other people will see them first, but you've waited this long already.

Thanks for the positive comments. Don't get me wrong - at first I was just as excited as everyone else when they announced they would tour again.

I've already seen the Police in a stadium. I saw the Syncronicity tour when it came through MA at Sullivan stadium (where the Patriots used to play). They had A Flock Of Seagulls and The Fixx opening for them. And I've also seen the Foo Fighters several times in smaller venues (The Strand in Providence and Wiltern in LA). So I don't have any unfulfilled desires about a stadium show.

I'm just really upset that the Police have hired someone to take care of their tour, and this person thought it was a good idea to; 1 - add a second show at a much smaller venue and 2 - to hold that show three days earlier than the original date (on every other date where they have added a second show, it is at the same venue as the original date). This person is supposed to be a professional with experience, and I'm sure he's getting paid very well for his services.

I'm also upset with others in the Police camp for not pointing out that this was a bad idea.

I think what this reveals is that this tour has little to do with musicianship or a longing to play together, or giving fans what they've been asking for - for decades. Unfortunately, I think the sole purpose is about how much money they can pull in in one summer. They will make a ton off this one tour, then produce a live CD, and then release the inevitable live DVD. And I'm sure there are many fans that will be happy that they will do so. But because they have apparently put the importance of money above any consideration for their fans, the Police will not get another penny of my money and they have lost 30 years of good faith towards them.

Anybody need a pair of F16 seats for Dodger stadium?

(Um, why don't you just sell the tickets you originally bought for the larger venue, and buy some for the smaller? Seems like a quick way to take care of the problem to me...)

Guess I'll repeat what I've said to others about this issue: If you don't want to pay $$$ and go to a stadium to see a show, get interested in smaller indie bands. There are thousands of worthy contenders.

It's just that many people think The Police will be worth the money...and I can't imagine many other bands who are this famous handling things much differently. Especially given that it's impossible to do a large tour without going through Clear Channel and Ticketmaster these days. Which is a subject I'd be more inclined to discuss on some politics and government boards I frequent, honestly...

not me been waiting for this since I was 8 back in "78" I paid and will be there with a demons breath singing every f@#$$ lyric. I beat the system, and will make $ in the process. Can u say best buy,, as sokii says ask everyone u know who has a bb code!!! it really works too many tickets, in our camp so we will resell for our money back

[quote="Divemistress of the Dark"] (Um, why don't you just sell the tickets you originally bought for the larger venue, and buy some for the smaller? Seems like a quick way to take care of the problem to me...)

Guess I'll repeat what I've said to others about this issue: If you don't want to pay $$$ and go to a stadium to see a show, get interested in smaller indie bands. There are thousands of worthy contenders.

It's just that many people think The Police will be worth the money...and I can't imagine many other bands who are this famous handling things much differently. Especially given that it's impossible to do a large tour without going through Clear Channel and Ticketmaster these days. Which is a subject I'd be more inclined to discuss on some politics and government boards I frequent, honestly... [/quote]

Capital idea mate! The only problem is that for some reason the tickets for the first show have seemingly lost most of their value. Could it be that given a choice, most people prefer to see them perform first in a smaller venue rather than later in a baseball stadium? My tickets are for sale and I'm praying that I don't take too much of a beating on them.

As far as clubs and indie bands, I'm all over that. I would guess that I go to about 35 shows a year; most in venues with a capacity of 600 or less. Even so, I've been lucky enough to see Prince at the House of Blues, and the Pixies, Radiohead and Bowie at the Greek Theatre. I liked the Police so much, that I discarded my normal ways of doing things. I liked them enough that I was even thinking of taking the day out of work so I could stand outside and listen to them "practicing" at the Whisky.

This will be my last posting as I'm sure you are all tired of my whining. I just wanted to log my complaint somewhere where the band or management might see it. I hope everyone has a great time at the shows, and if you happen to need a pair of seats in section F16 on 6/23, I'm looking to sell.

Cheers.