For the first time in more than 20 years, The Police played a show in Tennessee. Some 80,000 people clogged a cow pasture in Manchester to see the reunited band play Bonnaroo.
And the show was fantastic, it really was.
Except…

It was a great show, but it wasn’t a phenomenal one, and that’s what I wanted to hear after waiting two decades for them to reunite.
For one, they were scheduled to play two hours, 30 minutes. They played one hour, 45 minutes, surprising many in the crowd who cheered for one more encore.
They left some songs off their previous setlist, songs like “Spirits in the Material World” and “Invisible Sun.”
And the songs they played didn’t quite sound what fans who’ve played “Synchronicity” and “Ghost in the Machine” two million times might’ve expected. Perhaps reflecting the musical tastes they developed in their time apart, the band added an improvisational segment to nearly every song, turning a New Wave classic like “Roxanne” into a 7-minute exercise in indulgence. Perhaps that’s what it takes to make these classic songs fresh and interesting to the band. And if that’s what it took to reunite them, I’m glad. But I still think many of the songs lost their momentum the moment the band started jamming.
Still, there were some transcendant moments in the set. The band opened with “Message In a Bottle,” which sounded as fresh now as it did two decades ago.
And “King of Pain.” Wow. Easily one of Sting’s greatest lyrical achievements, the song resonated more strongly with me than it ever had before. Wonderful performance on that song.
So I’m not condeming this show. There are certain bands I never thought I’d get to see, and The Police topped the list. There are moments from tonight I’ll never forget.

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