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The MOVIE part Deux

Killarney Ireland Nov.2006.This is the first of two videos to celebrate this occasion.

Darragh Benefit Night In Riddlers ,Limerick Oct 4 2006.

It is a year later and i have found the footage that i had mislaid of a great night,which proves that community spirit still thrives in the current system that exists.

www.helpdarraghwalk.com

The Police, Croke Park, Dublin, Oct 6 2007.

This was a day I never thought I would see again, the Police back together and playing live in Ireland, It was 27 since I had last seen them play in Leixlip Castle,Kildare near Dublin. The day will also be remembered for a certain support group” U2″! The Police had released two albums “”Outlandos d’Amour and “Regatta De Blanc” when I saw them in 1980.I have cherished the day I saw them back then and I have managed to hold on to the Original Programme also. There were five of us in our Twenties who ventured that day; sadly since then one has departed us, the result of a tragic accident. To see the Police again was a poignant memory of good times in our early twenties and a reminder of a loss of a friend.

This tour began in Canada in May and finishes in February in Australia. The band disintegrated in 1986 at the very moment when they became the most popular act on the planet. This time it was my wife Mary and I who would be going to see them in the magnificent setting of Croke Park, Dublin .Under floodlight and an impressive light show the stadium took on an even more magical appearance, the weather obliged with an unusually balmy October evening. Sting welcomed the crowd “there are 82,000 people here tonight, which means 164,000 hands,” I want to see them all in the air” not bad math’s from the ex school teacher and everybody duly obliged with both hands in the air clapping.

The trio was a band in the traditional-sense and so musical that no other musician appeared on their albums, they have not included any other musicians with them on the tour unlike so many other bands do. Sting has had a solo and movie career, Summers has 12 solo albums to his credit and headlined many jazz festivals & Copeland has soundtracks to some 40 movies and various solo albums etc, each one successful in their own right, it was their own egos that often led to so many in-house rows, that led to their acrimonious breakup, would these be put aside for this tour?. The answer is yes, Copeland began proceedings with an almighty thwack of a gong which heralded guitarist Andy Summers unleashing the spine-tingling solo that introduces ‘Message in a Bottle’, the hits followed. Naturally, they lost their way and some of the people when they strayed into album tracks, their music has stood the test of time though they exited with ‘Next To You’, Andy Summers was reluctant to leave the stage as it seemed he wanted to continue, a man enjoying playing the old hits again.

The crowd were really in full flight by then with ‘De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da’s’ reverberating all around the finest stadium in the world. Regatta De Blanc, Roxanne, Every Breath You Take, and the Police were in top gear. Wrapped around Your Finger, showcased Copeland’s remarkable percussive skills, while the already peculiar ‘Walking on the Moon’ was revamped with an extra layer of weirdness courtesy of Summer’s guitaring.

When I saw them in Leixlip ,Kildare in 1980 we all left disappointed waiting on an encore , they did not play “So Lonely ” this time they duly obliged ,it was a long wait of all 27 years but it was worth it.

Set list:
Message in a Bottle
Synchronicity II
Walking On The Moon
Voices Inside My Head
When The World Is Running Down
Don’t Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Truth Hits Everybody
Hole In My Life
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
Regatta de Blanc
Invisible Sun
Walking In Your Footsteps
Can’t Stand Losing You
Roxanne
King Of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
Next To You (more) (less)