Comments on: Please don’t stand so close to me

By: Historiann

Historiann — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:16:41 +0000

Kathie–yep, and I should note that “So Lonely” was one of the encores (I think–it was at least towards the end of the set) he was saving it up for. The crowd went wild, when they weren’t checking in with home to see if the babysitter got their kids to bed on time…

By: Kathie

Kathie — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:09:53 +0000

I was amused by the comments on Sting’s aging voice - I am on a listserve with my high school graduating class (there are about 100 of us, about 1/3 of the class)- and just a day or so before your concert post, one of my friends who played guitar in a band in high school - wrote the following (I’m paraphrasing slightly since he seems to be on vacation and didn’t respond to my email about sharing his research):
He was watching a YouTube of The Police on their current
tour. Sting was singing So Lonely, and he thought, his voice sounds much lower than the original recording. So he checked out a 1978 video of the same song. Sure enough. In 1978 The Police played the song in the key of C (Guitar players can tell by watching Andy Summers’ guitar chords. The first chord in the verses and chorus is C). You can hear how high Sting’s voice is.
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duXohSAjP2w&feature=related For the 2007 tour, they had lowered the key to G. Again, you can tell by watching Andy Summers’ guitar chords. Sting’s voice sounds much lower. The only reason they would have made the change is to accommodate Sting’s voice. He can’t reach the high notes anymore. So time affects even rock gods!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKypK97qWeo

By: ortho stice

ortho stice — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:19:03 +0000

I admit, I don’t like strangers touching me in public, or private. Nor do I like strangers talking close to my face. Nor do I like strangers stepping within my privacy zone, which I mark off with as an imaginary one foot circle around my body at all times. Nor do I like strangers sitting next to me on the bus when there are many more open seats.

However, while preparing for my upcoming trip to Romania, all the guidebooks I’ve read suggest that privacy and personal space are practically none existent in the country. The author of Culture Smart! Romania writes, “Personal space in Romania is also much less valued than you may be used to, and often does not really exist as an idea at all.” Oy, the Culture Shock to come!

I wonder why I, and others, have this ingrained desire to protect our privacy and personal space, and demand not to be touched.

Historiann, I dance everywhere — clubs, stadiums, trains, airplanes, airports, buses, on tables, in seats, you name it, I dance there.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:15:05 +0000

Hi Zoe–good strategy. (I don’t see The Police as very good dance music, though many in the crowd clearly disagreed.)

Also: does anyone else feel awkward about dancing in stadium seats? (That’s what Red Rocks has.) I guess I see dancing as more of a club show activity.

By: Zoe the Wonder Dog

Zoe the Wonder Dog — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:42:17 +0000

I’m very twitchy about being touched in public, yet I am an avid live music goer. Consequently, I have embraced my hippie roots and dance like at a Dead show - lots of twirls and elbows. Nothing like *accidentally* planting an elbow in the gut of a creep who gets too close! I know, violence isn’t the answer, but I wasn’t being violent. I was just dancing enthusiastically That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:40:19 +0000

Oh, there was some smoke being shared there, definitely! But your Police show sounds much, much cooler than this one.

Sting seemed to be saving his voice for some of the songs that required the high notes–in some versions of songs other than “Roxanne,” he sang at a lower (and presumably more comfortable) pitch, which made me wonder if he was saving it up for “Roxanne,” which apparently he was, because that song was in one of the encores.

By: Rad readr

Rad readr — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:50:35 +0000

Yet another reason why the classic rock concert scene should be avoided at all costs.

I saw The Police at an amazing show in 1990. Not long after Pinochet stepped aside they had the first really big rock concert in Santiago, Chile, where I was visiting for some months. It was an Amnesty International Concert in that horrible stadium where they tortured and killed people right after the CIA-backed coup. The audience was electrified — imagine living under a dictatorship that didn’t allow concerts. Sinead did a great set. So did the Chilean group Inti Illimani. All were very attuned to the context of their show. And then The Police closed with an awesome set.

Not sure the aging Sting can hit the notes to Roxanne gracefully anymore — although he can still jump from the looks of the photo. I also suspect the concertgoers don’t share smoke the way they used to in the 70s and early 80s.

By: hysperia

hysperia — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:40:54 +0000

Google “keep your hands to yourself kindergarten rules”

By: Historiann

Historiann — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:54:53 +0000

Umm…not my photo, hubs–it’s copied from the linked review above! And I was in row 27, which is why el gropenator could reach down and fondle me. (I’ve inserted a photo credit now in the post–my bad.)

KC: They put out 8-tracks? Wow!

By: hubs

hubs — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:33:45 +0000

Great photo for being in the 28th row.