Glory Days

It was bound to happen. We all turn into our parents at some point right? So my turn finally came Tuesday night.

For the duration of the 1980's I idolized THE POLICE more than any other rock act of their era. This was for me the ultimate power trio. The percussive assault of Stewart Copeland. The mind-bending, progressive guitar chops by Andy Summers, and the solid-as-a-rock, backbeat of Sting and his Fender Jazz bass.

Together they had taken elements of rock, punk, new wave, ska and reggae and made a concoction all their own. The result is a unique and now legendary body of work that spans the generations all culminating in what I regard as the absolute, quintessential rock album of my generation.

SYNCHRONICITY became a soundtrack to my life as a 17 year old attending art school in Manila. Between my brothers and I, we wore down the oxide on that cassette tape. It was a gigantic leap forward not only for The Police and their music, but all music in general. It was experimental yet poetic, cinematic, expansive, surreal and introspective. Beatles fans might say the same for Sargeant Peppers. But that was the previous generation.

We also rented the only copy of the Synchronicity Concert from our local video store over and over again and could only imagine having been there in attendance at the old Omni in Atlanta, Georgia where the concert had been recorded. Video pioneers Kevin Godley and Lol Creme marvelously shot and edited one of the best concert videos ever produced.

When The Police disbanded in 1985 I've often wondered whether I would ever get my chance to see them live. Getting to America certainly helped. I did my end of the bargain, now if they could only live up to theirs. Tuesday night I got my chance when a group of us including my wife Julie went to the historic Hollywood Bowl for a date with history. They played a fantastic set and for a moment there, I could almost imagine being in my own Godley and Creme video, bouncing and swaying in slow-mo, losing my mind as I screamed the lyrics to songs like "So Lonely" and "Walking on the Moon".

I am speaking for myself but this certainly was my Beatles reunion. And thankfully all the original members of The Police are alive and kicking and aren't too geriatric to forget the lyrics.

For one night I was 17 again without a care in the world. A sure testament to the power of music and it's power to help forge indelible memories in our minds.

(and since I missed out on a tour shirt from the original Synchronicity Tour back in 1985, I made sure I geeked out and grab myself a newly minted version of the same shirt with the very same graphic from the album. Now I can die. That bus can hit me now....)