Andy signing, last night in New York

[sockii]

It was a lot of fun seeing Andy last night in NY at the book reading & signing!

We got there two hours before the reading was scheduled to start, which was a good thing--the last few front row seats were soon claimed! The crowd was slow to grow but by 7pm it was standing room only, and they had to go get more books for Andy to sign.

He looked great and read from a number of different sections from the book. Most enjoyable (to me at least) was a section about the Synchronicity sessions on Montserrat and going to meet George Martin. I'm really looking forward to reading the book once I get the chance.

He answered questions for at least a half hour or so after the reading. There was some guitar geekery and of course one guy who HAD to ask the unavoidable "Will the Police ever reform?" question (sigh). But I did get to ask him about and he confirmed the plans, hopefully, for next year's shows in South America with Stewart - so start your road trip savings now! I also asked if there were plans for an audio book recording and he said yes, probably with some added guitar similar to the MySpace samples, which will be very neat.

Lawrence Impey, a photographer many of us know for his early images of The Police, was there! He surprised Andy with an early band shot after they'd just gone blond.

We managed to get our books signed right off the bat as they went row by row. I wish I'd been more on the ball to have something really "deep" or meaningful to say while getting my books signed, but I just mentioned how great it was to finally meet him after seeing him perform so many times, including at Birdland just a year or two ago. He said he hoped to be back there next year and do more shows as well, that he was itching to get back to playing gigs again after being so busy with other projects this year.

I took a number of photos and also a little video; once I figure out how to properly compress the video for the web I'll load it up. In the meantime here are two pics for y'all:

http://www.tookooltokalypso.org/images/andy1.jpg
http://www.tookooltokalypso.org/images/andy2.jpg

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Aw, he's always got a good haircut, doesn't he? Thanks for sharing!!

[BongoBoy]

Damn! He's here in Toronto on Friday and I am trying to arrange to go. Did anybody get him to sign anything other than his book? or is that a No No? (I'd like to bring in the pick guard off my Tele for him to sign).

Oh and I guess it's OK to bring a camera. Could you get a picture of you with him?

very Cool, Great book by the way! I'm halfway through.

[sockii]

If the crowd isn't too huge, they will let you get a piece of memorabilia signed along with the book. Seemed like it was up to the venue's discretion on that point.

I didn't try for a photo with Andy as I didn't want to hold up the line--it was also kind of an awkward setup for that as he was up on a slightly elevated stage behind a table - not easy for him to step around for a good photo, you know? But again that can depend on the venue and how they arrange things.

[BongoBoy]

Thanks Man!

I am trying to plan strategic way of not messing this up.

I must get a photo of Andy and I if possible for my studio wall.

I totally messed up when Stewart was in Toronto, even though I gave the interviewer all the material and back story on Stewart and he even used my KK albums on stage. Damn!

These are the guys who made me pick up an instrument and do music, I fell like a little kid trying to get an autograph. Good thing in the book Andy talks about the same stuff...kinda...cept he is a great guitarist meeting Jimi Hendrix...and I'm well.....typing.

Sorry I'm blabbing on...Cheers.

[olivier]

Cool review and cool pix sockii ! thanks !
I'll try to do a little review and to shot some pictures of Stewart in Lille next week.
By the way, did you receive Andy's book by Andy's MySpace crew ?
I'm still waiting....

[BongoBoy]

I got my book from "Chapters" here in Toronto Canada, right off the shelf on Tuesday.


...and I feel I must say again, this is one of the best (and funny) books I have read. If you are on this site you HAVE to buy this book, it tells you all the stuff you have wondered about. They WERE really starving...the stories are great, I have just started the Police part of the book.

I won't mention any spoilers but Boy! soon I hope to discuss it with y'all!

Cheers. (PS. Hey STEWART, what do you think of the book !!!)

[Grace]

Bongo - I'm planning to go to the Toronto signing too. Perhaps I'll see you there - not that I would know you!

[Samburu]

Andy is the only member of The Police I've ever encountered.

He played a club called the Phoenix Hill Tavern in Louisville, KY, in 1991 or so. I had "Charming Snakes" and asked for "Easy on the Ice" as the band made its way back on stage for the encore.

They not only played my request, but Andy introduced the song by saying "This is for our friend in the know."

Meant a lot, still does.

Afterward, he stood outside the tour bus and signed everything in sight as if there was nothing better to do.

I'll never forget how gracious and down to earth he was. It was perfect.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

I'm in Louisville every few weeks as Hub has to go up there for work a lot. It's a really arty, cool town. Surprising, I suspect, for those who've not visited before.

Haven't heard of any Andy gigs there lately, but one thing I have to admit: Bonnaroo is going to improve our chances a lot. Many artists do individual local shows before and after...Louisville's only a 3-hour drive or so.

[conroy]

It was a blast hanging out with Sockii and Kim in NYC last night for the Andy Summers book signing. The room was a buzz long before the signing started because Sting was coincidentally doing a signing for his new lute CD at another B&N further uptown at approximately the same time as Andy's signing. There was a minor adustment to the times of both events at the last minute to accomodate the fans who foolishly were thinking of trying to make both events. No one that we talked to at the event seemed to want to even attempt it since the Sting event required a rubber admission wristband limited to a certain amount that required showing up at the book store earlier in the day to retrieve it. Also, the Sting event had specifically limited the signing to the new CD only whereas the Andy event didn't explicitly prohibit anything besides Andy's new book and it seemed (as far as I could tell) that the fans at Andy's event were conscientious enough to only bring one or two extra items so as not to hold up the line of fans.

The highlight for me was also the George Martin story and the cool celebrity in the audience moment with Lawrence Impey so close to us and we didn't know it the whole time we were waiting for the event to start!

And I hope he and Stewart play together again next year. Although, I would like for them to play somewhere in the US, South America would be the next best thing since I've been looking for an excuse to go there since it's one of the remaining places where the exchange rates favored the dollar (at least it was a few years ago). Hopefully, if it happens, there would be an easy way for us to get tickets to the event.

All-in-all, the signing last night was a lot of fun and I could not imagine the Sting signing being as enjoyable as Andy's was.

[giovanni]

Oh no...something that hasn't been planned in Italy...got to do something about.....ok, I can move mountains, why can't I have Andy signing sessions in my territory??? ehehe...

[Lady P]

Please, Gio! Move mountains!

[Kim]

Yes, what Nicole and Conroy said already!

Here is some video courtesy of a Sting fan club member who was sitting behind us.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wx2aR1enhvw

[Ben]

I attended Andy's book signing appearance in Toronto last night and it was fun. He read some fairly interesting excerpts from his book, including his jam with Jimi Hendrix and the recording of "Every Breath You Take". I asked Andy why he didn't get a songwriting credit on "Every Breath You Take" despite composing the song's integral guitar riff. Andy responded that generally each member of the Police would present a song to record and would be the sole songwriter despite the other members' contributions. Andy signed everything put in front of him and was very kind. I estimate he sold about 30 books that night.