Oakland show was amazing- nice work Stewart!

[patbateman]

Hi All,
I just want to report that The Police played a great show in Oakland last night. It was everything I expected and hoped for all of these years! I was able to sit in the 2nd row to the side of the stage and had a nice view. The guys looked great. Stewart is definately the most interesting drummer to watch live. Sting and Andy were also spectacular (of course).

The only bad thing was that they didn't anything like "See you again soon" or "We'll be back". But then again, I never thought I would see them at all, so I won't complain.

Thank you Police!

Setlist:
MESSAGE
SYNCH II
DON'T
VOICES / WHEN THE WORLD
SPIRITS
DRIVEN
MOON
TRUTH HITS
EVERY LITTLE THING
WRAPPED
BED'S
DE DO
INVISIBLE SUN
FOOTSTEPS
CAN'T
ROXANNE
....
KING
SO LONELY
....

BREATH
...
NEXT TO YOU

[Dallas]

They did say .."See you again, Seattle" at the Seattle show I went to.

Now, as I remember, Sting told the crowd in Melbourne, Australia in 1984... "see you again, Melbourne"..... and then they went on haitus for 20+ years.

[patbateman]

Let's hope there isn't another hiatus for a while.

[Krokodyle]

Yeah, it was a pretty good show, definitely different (though I knew what to expect from hearing recordings of the earlier shows).

I sat on the side as well, lower tier, great view and sounded pretty decent for being on one side. I would have liked to have seen it more straight-on, but even at that angle it was nice visuals. Here's a very brief, very raw clip I shot of the show. I'm going to try and work on it this weekend to make it better...we'll see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQk_T7pTATQ

I'm sure there are better videos out there for this show (and pics), cellphones are the new 'cigarette lighters' at concerts

In any case, a very decent concert, not as fantastic as when I saw them last (1983, Day on the Green, same venue) but it was still The Police, so it was a dream come true for me. I liked the way they changed some of the music, but for people expecting to see the exact same show of 24 years ago, I'm sure they might have been a bit bewildered--especially when a few of the songs made multiple tempo changes during the course of the tune. I'm sure if they had released some of these 'new interpretations' before the tour, people would have a chance to grow on them, and like them better.

[patbateman]

Hey Krokodyle, you're right about the cell phones! I also agree the tempo changes were a little strange to the ear. I had section 8 and the sound was perfect with earplugs. I heard some of my friends comment that the sound wasn't great in the upper levels.
I will look for your clips. Thanks for posting this one. I hope to see more audio/ video footage of this show surface.

[Krokodyle]

I have a few more videos (raw) but for some reason, whenever I changed the zoom, the sound cut out... LAME!

I'll upload a couple more (they're short) and post the links once done.

Yeah, the upper levels stink sound-wise, you get a lot of echo. Personally, I [b][i]HATE[/i][/b] the Oakland Coliseum as a venue. I was really hoping they'd play the (indoor) stadium next door...

[samburusunset]

Hey guys,

Did anyone see the official SC.net flag??

[patbateman]

Here's a review from the Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... QF22D1.DTL

I just love the expression on Stewart's face in that picture!

[Krokodyle]

Another clip. Again, sorry for the sound & video quality...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSO6Iq5Evws

There's an audio of the show up at dime, btw. It's decent sounding, but would sound a lot better if it wasn't for the idiotic yakking people next to the taper. I'll never understand that phenomenon...

[patbateman]

Thanks for the clip. I don't know about dime. I have been out of downloading for a while.
As for yakking, I saw people on cell phones during the Police! And then the group of girls trying to hold conversations i.e. yelling at each other like they were at a club .

[Krokodyle]

[quote="patbateman"]yelling at each other like they were at a club .[/quote]

Bingo!

$100 a seat (and more) and they're acting like they're at the local bar checking out the local action. I've waited 24 years to see my all-time favorite band again (listening to them since '79) and these stupid COWS can't shut the hell up.

And it wasn't just the "ladies", there also was a guy behind me, and during the show he proceeded to impress his date by spouting endless--and not always accurate--Police trivia.

I understand getting into the show. I understand being excited, dancing, screaming, singing along...but this kind of mindless chatter was just inexcusable.

I hope our boys come back. I know it won't happen, but I can hope...

[patbateman]

Sorry, I don't mean to pick on the ladies. It just happened to be near a group of them who were doing this. By the way, they were in the $220.00 section!

[Krokodyle]

and another one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thz297IpjZM

YouTube is making the audio even worse, for some reason. The original files don't sound this bad...