This was a surprising show in more ways than one. Andy Summers, always the elder statesman of The Police, given he was around during the 60's ( and his former bandmate from the Big Roll Band & the Animals, Zoot Money passed away this week), is now 81 . And it was a solo show with a difference , more like a chat show without an interviewer, a multi faceted show without an MC, a concert without a band or singer. Just Summers , his photos, his anecdotes and for the guitar nerds in the audience (and there were many!), an exhibition of his always tasteful playing albeit without the iconic Police riffs (more on that later).
For those of us with long memories, the sound of the Police over the Radio & on TV in the late 1970's was different to anything else at the time. Sting's falsetto vocal over predominately white reggae rhythms , Andy Summers spiky chorus/delay guitar riffs and Stewart Copelands always inventive "ahead of the beat" drumming was unique certainly across the first two albums Outlandos d' Armour & Regatta de Blanc (arguably their best) released very close together in 1978-79. In fact the Police recorded career was succinct overall, basically an album a year through to the final (ginormous!) Synchronicity in 1983.
This wave of nostalgia with this era of music (and despite the bands individual pedigree in previous genre's of music, The Police were tagged firmly as New Wave circa 1978-1980) needs to have at it's very core memorable songs and in this respect The Police hit pay dirt with each album release . Despite at times the ridiculous lyrics of Sting (remember "Da doo doo dee, da da da da" anyone?) it seemed to have no barrier to the bands success , they were such great musicians and they had done the hard graft as a band for a couple of years before Outlandos was released.
So the scene was set for an intriguing evening.
Summers wandered out to a reasonably full , and very gold card equipped, James Hay Theatre audience, wearing a Miami vice type linen suit, loose dark T shirt and bright sneakers . He immediately asked if he had played there before (the answer was "yes" but it was in the main auditorium circa 1980, notable for a run in with NZ Customs upon arrival to ChCh). He then strapped on a bright yellow guitar (likely a Powers Electric cited recently and not sadly his iconic battered Telecaster, and delivered a trio of solo pieces ("True Nature", "Metal Dog", "The Bones of Twang Zu") with loops, harmonics and inklings of pre recorded backing tracks. Images of Japan, China and the Far East from his vast photography collection played via the big screen and he was able to sync many of the images with what he was playing, like a movie soundtrack.
It became clear that if we were expecting a dissection of his iconic Police riffs or dishing the dirt on his bandmates this was not going to be the show that did that ( and for that there is always his excellent memoir "One Train Later" , documentary "Can't Stand Losing You: Surviving The Police" and a host of You Tube clips). . It was also clear that Summers musical being/identity , particularly post The Police, resides in the salsa, boss nova and jazz influenced Latin and Spanish music pieces he played included "Spain" and the iconic "Manha de Carnival", and a highlight was recounting his many travels to that part of the world (if anything the concert was a travelogue with music).
However the Police music was represented by "Tea in the Sahara" (the only reference to Synchronicity) with particularly evocative images, "Roxanne" (cue anecdote and pictures of a beauty contest in Houston, Texas with the band in the early days), "Bring on the Night". "Spirits in the Material World" (the stand out track from Ghost in the Machine where much of his guitar lines were buried in horrible Sting saxophone influenced production) and as an encore, "Message in a Bottle". . Ironically these were the weakest part of the concert as Summers used the melody lines sans Sting vocals via guitar while the iconic riffs and layered guitar tracks resided on (at times very thin) backing tracks.
Still, he seemed to have a relaxed and at times reflective take on his life's journey. He mentioned the coincidence of playing in Christchurch, with his family roots in Christchurch , Dorset. The music highlight of the evening was his rendition of the Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight", to a backdrop of New York imagery mentioning this was a key influence growing up .
Summers doesn't need to tour like this (you sensed he was fairly fatigued after playing the night before in Wellington) and it didn't seem linked to the recent 40th anniversary boxed set reissue of Synchronicity. In a recent interview with RNZ he mentioned recently playing in South America with a Police tribute band hence he seems always busy. At aged 81 it is both impressive and ( with his at times confused back to the audience looking at the screen ) a poignant reminder that Time waits for No One...
Recommended
A jarring moment in the evening came when mid show Summers showed a montage of all his published books like a promotion spot. Although the biggest cheer was for his enormous photography book "I'll Be Watching You", his 2007 memoir, "One Train Later" still remains one of the greatest music autobiographies. Written at a time when this was still relatively uncommon it remains a benchmark for this form of writing and is well worth seeking out. .
Great review Blair. I thought his photography was pretty spectacular and really caught the vibe of the times. Also, as a guitar nerd, I loved the ping ping reverse delays in the early songs.