Show Date	1981-02-19
Location	Brisbane QLD
Venue	Festival Hall
Tour	The 'Zenyatta' years 1980/81

BRISBANE: Festival Hall

More! More! More! More!

Police burst onto the Festival Hall stage two Thursday's ago to a welcome of darkness. Much of their intro bars had passed before the first powerful clear spotlight shone on the face of the supergroup's lead singer and energetic front man - Sting.

Ninety minutes later my sandshoed feet hurt, my spun rayon shirt was dripping, and my naked ears felt as if they had spent the day beside an earth mover. But with 5,000 other foot-sore, shirt-soaked, ear-blasted Police fans, I shouted for more. Twice my rantings were accepted. By 10.45 the well drilled Police stage show was over and I was well pleased.

Police are clearly a well drilled outfit. They're professional musos through and through, energising througha show with so much power and clarity that you have to agree they are one of the freshest and most talented bands to emerge from the band explosion of the late '70's and early '80's. Sitting through 90 minutes with the Police is great entertainment.Lead singer Sting, (real name Gordon Sumner) from the the moment he appeared on stage lectri in a large black academic gown, kept the crowd entranced. Whatever he did, the crowd reacted. Even a smile sent the Festival Hall mob screaming. At times the noise was deafening, but I couldn't believe his control when at one stage he wanted to ask a question. He simply raised his finger to his lips and the noise stopped. But all he wanted to say was shout louder!

Around 10.45 the encores ended, the stage emptied and I headed for the quiet, wet Brisbane streets. What thoughts drifted through my mind?For a start, I was astonished at the almost symphonic quality generated by only three musicians - Sting (who is as much the public's image of Police as Mark Knopfler is to Dire Straits) with his driving electric bass and some sort of Police version of an lectrified acoustic-type bass, Andy Summers on lead guitar and keyboards and drummer par excellence Stewart Copeland. But always there was Sting - the "all-American" type lad (sic) - theatrical, charismatic. Despite his very talented backing duo, Sting holds the show together. His vocals are excellent - strong and so clear.

The stage show was obviously well planned - a result of their relentless touring (to some of the strangest countries!) They sang the songs we wanted to hear like 'Message In A Bottle', 'Walking On The Moon', 'Can't Stand Losing You', and 'Roxanne'. Yes - brilliant 'Roxanne'. The much extended live version ended their show. No wonder we screamed for more.Another reason why I enjoyed the Police sho much was that they were like eating cheese after chalk compared to the support band - the Models, from Melbourne. I don't want to waste too much paper on this crowd and the less said the better. If you want ear-splitting noise, backed by roaring distortion, a lead singer who sounds like he is in pain - then the Models are your group. The only hint of talent was the drummer who had an incredible resemblance to Animal of the Muppets fame.

© The Chronicle by Lex