Can you imagine the bickering if Sting, Iggy Pop, Frank Black, Phil Collins, Neil Finn and J. Mascis sat down together for a cup of coffee?
To put it mildly, the frontmen from the Police, the Stooges, the Pixies, Genesis, Crowded House and Dinosaur Jr. all have dominating personalities.
Regardless, they could still agree on one thing: Reuniting a band, as all have done, is no easy matter.
“It’s not an easy process,” Black told The Denver Post when his band, the Pixies, reunited in 2004, “but it’s kind of the same now as it was then – other than there’s a certain lack of alcohol around now, so everyone is very clear-headed.”
Lou Barlow, who was kicked out of Dinosaur Jr. in 1989 by frontman J. Mascis, takes a philosophical attitude. “I guess we just figured out a way to make it work,” he said after the group reunited in 2006. “We’re all still the same, but there’s still a lot of water under the bridge.”
So, as fans get ready to hear the Police Saturday and Sunday at the Pepsi Center, they should keep in mind that these late-life band reunions can be complicated. Keep these points in mind as you head to the Can:
1. This band first came together for a reason, i.e, a shared love of music. (1977)
2. This band broke up for a very different reason, i.e, mutual hatred. (1985)
3. This band is back together for a different reason, i.e, a shared love of money. (2007)
That said, sit back, relax and enjoy Stewart Copeland’s precision percussion, Andy Summers’ reggae-aping guitars and Sting’s storied tenor and celebrated delivery. The shows have been getting great marks from everybody – except the band.
Copeland made headlines last week with a blog posting that tore apart his – and his bandmates’ – performances in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the second night of the reunion tour.
“This is unbelievably lame,” Copeland wrote. “We are the mighty Police, and we are totally at sea.”
Suddenly the owners of the 1.77 million tickets already sold to this tour alone are questioning their purchases. (Tickets cost anywhere from $50-$225 at face value in Denver; they were going for twice that earlier this week on eBay.) Copeland’s criticism continues at length. Some nuggets:
About Sting’s stage presence: “The mighty Sting momentarily looks like a petulant pansy instead of the god of rock.”
On some recent changes: “In rehearsal this afternoon we changed the keys of ‘Every Little Thing’ and ‘Don’t Stand So Close,’ so needless to say, Andy and Sting are now on-stage in front of twenty thousand fans playing avant-garde twelve-tone hodgepodges of both tunes.”
On the analysis: “It usually takes about four or five shows in a tour before you get to the disaster gig. But we’re the Police, so we are a little ahead of schedule.”
On the aftermath: “When we meet up back- stage for the first time after the set and before the encores, we fall into each other’s arms laughing hysterically. … It’s only music. What are you gonna do?”
Once upon a time, this band was making music. Now this band is making money. And as refreshingly honest as Copeland’s post is, it’s also telling. “It’s only music.” Sure, because they got paid all the same.
There is nothing wrong with a reunion tour. There’s not even anything wrong with a band doing it for the money, so long as the music is good and practiced. (Take notice, Police!) We’ve seen a lot of reunion shows in the past couple of years, and while the Pixies’ energy was lacking and Dinosaur Jr.’s tones were questionable, they were still great shows that surpassed the levels of basic nostalgia.
This year’s Coachella festival was a weekend of reunions, from Rage Against the Machine to the Jesus and Mary Chain, from Crowded House to Happy Mondays. Everywhere you turned, you were faced with 10-year-old band T-shirts.
But there was Hollywood starlet Scarlett Johansson onstage singing with the Reid brothers of the Jesus and Mary Chain, the group responsible for “Just Like Honey,” the song that was the exclamation point at the end of “Lost in Translation.” Crowded House played to a stacked Coachella crowd in anticipation of a North American tour that brings the band to Denver on Aug. 22 for a Fillmore gig.
The Police will headline the Bonnaroo festival later this month, and while they’ll undoubtedly own the biggest tour grosses of the summer, there’s another biggie reunion tour that will be sure to make a healthy chunk of change. Genesis made its world tour announcement a month ago, and that brings the band to Denver on Oct. 6 for a Pepsi Center show.
And on a much smaller level, but important nonetheless, Dinosaur Jr. plays Denver on June 16 at the Westword Music Showcase. The legendary rock band played two nights at the Fox last year, and the gigs were loud, epic and beautiful.
It was great to hear the music live, just as it will be brilliant to hear the Police live this weekend – regardless of the band’s nasty squabbling or financial motivations.
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
| The Police
ROCK|Pepsi Center, 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with Fiction Plane opening|$50-$225| ticketmaster.com, 303-830-8497
