Police your expectations and ease up...

Maybe I'm just easy to please?

OK, people who know me can stop laughing now. It's just the only way to explain the difference between my take on The Police concert Wednesday night at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland and the single review I've read.

Jim Harrington blasted Sting and Company on the Contra Costa Times' Web site. Me? I had a magnificent time.

He's a music critic. I'm a music fan. He expected to be blown away. I expected to feel joy simply in being there. He was let down. I was elated.

The key to seeing a band in a huge arena gig on its first tour in nearly 25 years is to keep expectations in check. Maybe that's why I had such a great time and the reviewer was so cranky.

His biggest knock was the slow tempo of so many of the band's songs. I admit to desperately wishing they'd bust out on 'Don't Stand So Close to Me'. But they kept up the beat on several songs - including a standout version of 'Synchronicity II' - and didn't wallow in jazzy Stingness nearly as much as I expected.

Did the concert have the bombastic showiness of, say, the U2 concert a couple of years ago? Of course not. But U2 didn't take a 25-year break and is known for visual fireworks.

Fact is, I didn't go see The Police for a blast of visuals. Nor did I expect the energy of three men 24 years younger. I went to hear a monumental band that broke up and swore never to reunite. I went to rekindle memories and witness a piece of music history.

I'm not a music critic, just a music fan. As such, I wasn't the least bit disappointed.

© Modesto Bee by Pat Clark

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