Some big news and rumors on The Police (1 Viewer)

[Matt Fisher]

Is anyone here a Best Buy Reward Zone member who will not be using their presale code? I applied for a NYC code and by the time I went through they were all gone, but there appears to still be some Boston presale seats left if anyone would be kind enough to let me use their code

 

[oscar_merkx]

any word on UK Dates ?

 

[Ron Reda]

I'd love to read about an Atlanta date sometime soon. There's some gap in dates when they head down to FL.

 

[Jay_B!]

my friend and I just scored fifth row seats to The Police in July, I am so stoked. We were planning on getting mid-level seats because sometimes the lesser top-range seats aren't really worth the price upgrade compared to the better mid-range seats, but we saw two 5th row seats in need of a taker so we upgraded from 90 to 230 without a thought. I mean, I hate expensive concerts but come on man... this is The Police, they haven't toured in 24 years and it's a once in a lifetime event, and I'm going to be so close to the band that it's worth the money, how many major concert tours does Louisville get a year anyways?

 

[Chris Atkins]

Here's hoping for some D.C. tour dates soon...

 

[Michael Elliott]

Very few outside of country. Maybe one major rock act a year, although Dylan has been coming every couple of years now. We did get The Stones last year at Churchill.

I might get beat up for saying this but I've only heard one song from The Police but I am going to the Churchill show. So, which albums should I get to "warm up" to them? I guess their greatest hits should do?

 

[Chris Atkins]

Michael:

I guess I would recommend that you buy their greatest hits album.

Their sound evolved so much that it's not really possible to get one album that best represents their sound...

 

[Ron Reda]

Looking like Phillips Arena will be announced any day now for ATL.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Just get the Message In A Box set -- it squeezes every track from their 5 albums plus all(?) their singles and B-sides onto 4 CDs, along with a very nice book containing tons of liner notes and photos. You can supplement it with their double live album (I think it's just called Police Live), which combines a very early show from the '70s with a Synchronicity tour show (one on each disc).

I hear they're working on another set that will include all the unusual stuff that was left off Message In A Box.

 

[Jay_B!]

I agree with Aaron, get the whole enchilada with the box set. All five albums are excellent and there's also the b-sides and it's not that expensive.

 

[Jay_B!]

You've only heard one Police song? I'm kinda surprised since so many of their songs are pretty much standards, I'm sure you've at least heard Roxanne and Every Breath You Take. More than likely you've heard Don't Stand So Close To Me, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and King Of Pain at least.

Yea, it does get pretty frustrating when all the big tours skip Louisville. I am hoping with Churchill Downs proving itself a viable arena setting, scoring bands like The Stones and The Police who scoff at a place like Freedom Hall, that we'll be getting more and more major concert events from here on out. Plus, considering Louisville and Jefferson County merged, we've gone from like the #50 city to the #15 city, so major artists should take note of that instead of skipping us on their 40-city US tours. I remember being happy when I heard The Police have gotten back together, but also realistically thinking "oh well, like they'll come any closer than Atlanta/Chicago", and yet they're coming 15 mins from me. Maybe we can also get Genesis as well, but I'm not holding my breath. I am just not a big fan of country so there isn't much that comes to town that appeals to me, so I indulged myself and got the $230 tickets for The Police since it's not like we'll get any other shows this year I'll want to see as badly.

 

[Jay_B!]

However, if you don't want to blind-buy a $60 box set, my best bet would be Every Breath You Take: The Classics. On sale at Ear-X-Tacy for $9.99 right now (lol, I sound like someone who works there, I'm not, I did notice it on sale last night tho on an endcap when I was there, LOL). The one advantage that Greatest Hits (although it misses a few of the classic hits like So Lonely and Synchronicity II) has over the box sets is the remastering job (that and the entire catalog was remastered into SACD as well as standard cd remasters) in 2003, Message In A Box is from 1993. All five albums have their own distinct sounds, so just listening to that package could make you decide if you next want to go for Zenyatta Mondatta or Regatta de Blanc or Synchronicity or whatever. It's all good, but there is a distinct sound that separates each album, and that hits package is done chronologically so you could easily be able to tell which period you want to check out in more detail. Personally, I'm a Zenyatta Mondatta guy myself.

 

[MarkMel]

I am a big Police fan. I even saw them the last time they played at the Amnesty International concert.

I so wanted to see this show. First off, the ticket prices are out of hand, Ticketmaster totally p*ssed me off. Tried to get tickets, no tickets available 10 minutes after they went on sale. Then you look at the auction tab, of course there's tons of tickets available there - opening bid starting at $700 a pop. How is this legal?

I have always hated ticketmaster and saw most of the big bands on their way up in smaller clubs and theaters so I didn't have to deal with them that often. I think that ticketmaster is doing something sketchy with the auction thing and I wish that some legal action would take a look at what's going on.

 

[Jay_B!]

I agre. Ticketmaster's surcharges are insane too, like $20 per ticket. I remember when Pearl Jam were combating Ticketmaster when they were surcharging $5 a ticket, what gives

 

[oscar_merkx]

The Police are not even playing in Glasgow, Scotland

Gutted

 

[Michael Elliott]

Thanks for the recommendations. I picked up their Greatest Hits album last night and noticed that I did remember more than one song.

JAY B!---I hear you about the new arena. I also heard they're going to put an outdoor venue where the old Cardinal Stadium is now. I'm not sure if you heard but the former Deer Creek in Noblesville is now gone so perhaps this will help Louisville get some more rock concerts.

As for Churchill, I'm hoping it's more organized than The Stones show was. The only had one exit for people on the floor and only one door open for people to get in and out. I'm not sure how The Police are going to have their stage set up but there weren't any good seats for The Stones until their stage came out into the crowd. Even those with front row seats were still way back from the stage.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The Evil of Ticketbastard is on par with that of tobacco companies and insurance companies. These days, individual venues could run their own online box offices for peanuts, but good luck waiting for exclusivity contracts with TB to run out.

I thank my lucky stars that I spent my teens and twenties in the era when attending concerts was still easy and inexpensive. By the time my son's a teenager, who knows how bad it'll have gotten.

 

[MarkMel]

Me too. When listening to sirius, I say to my daughter "I saw these guys" to at least 50% of the bands played on ch. 22.

I had a rule that I wouldn't ever pay more than $100 a ticket for any concert. This prevented me from seeing U2 on their last tour. Which killed me because I've seen them on every tour since War.

I don't know how any kids can afford to go to shows these days. At the time I was going to 4+ shows a month. And this was on part time jobs pay.

 

[Jay_B!]

I think it's terrible seeing artists like Justin Timberlake charging over $100 for concert tickets, because of the median age he appeals to. While I don't "love" high ticket prices, bands like U2, The Police, Stones, McCartney and others who charge high prices are veteran artists who will mostly be selling tickets to adults who can afford tickets a little more than 15 year olds who are going to beg their parents to buy expensive tickets to see Justin or Beyonce for them because there's no way they can afford it (I'm talking a typical 15 year old, if you're a Paris Hilton type of teenage brat, that's totally different)

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Really? I went to 18 U2 shows on the last tour and only paid >$100 once...