Police work their magic...

"Sometimes I wonder what the f**k happened," Sting lamented to the 25,000-strong crowd at The Police reunion concert at Members Equity Stadium.

The peroxide blonde singer and bassist wasn't referring to the untimely demise of his band back in 1984, but he might as well have been.

After all, who could help but wonder what might have been if Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland had not imploded after releasing only five albums?

The flipside of the coin is that with no new album to promote, the band didn't play any obscure or unknown new songs, instead they delivered exactly what their audience wanted, their greatest hits. Only one song was "missing" as such, 81's hit 'Spirits in a Material World'.

With a crystal dangling around his neck and his azure blue eyes flashing, Sting looked yoga-fit and sounded incredible.

Andy Summers looked a tad glum, but perhaps the heat was just getting to the slightly portly guitarist. A South Park guitar strap held his hopes to his chest as he worked his magic.

Behind the drums Stewart Copeland in a black sweatband and white gloves had a slightly manic cartoonish quality about him. His huge kit got a massive workout and every now and then he would get up to tinker with a free-standing percussion set or beat a huge gong.

Support act Fergie joined the band for 'Don't Stand So Close To Me'. Thankfully she had changed out of the shiny black leggings she wore during her own set - there was only room for one pair of dodgy black pants on this stage and Sting had them covered. Instead Fergie was content to shimmy and shake her booty in a tiny black skirt, evidently enjoying the role of the schoolgirl vixen.

'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' and 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da' inspired crowd singalongs, but it was the sparse and beautiful 'Wrapped Around Your Finger' that proved to be the first real standout of the night.

'Can't Stand Losing You' and the 30-year-old 'Roxanne' rounded out the first set.

To much cheering, the band returned to perform 'King of Pain' and the brilliant 'So Lonely'. By this stage the extended improvisations that adorned almost every song were wearing a little thin, but all was forgiven when the familiar intro to 'Every Breath You Take' resounded around the stadium. Needless to say this was the song most had been waiting for.

Sting and Copeland exited the stage for the second time, but Summers seemed reluctant to budge. Wandering around he waved his arms in the air to conjure applause and tapped his watch to hurry the band back on stage. His little comedy skit went down a treat. When Copeland and Sting returned they performed "Next To You" from arguably their best album 'Outlandos D'Amour'.

The song rounded out an arresting night of reggae-infused, jazz-tinged punk and it went down a treat. Cop that indeed.

© Perth Now by Jay Hanna

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