Featured review by:
UG Team, on december 22, 2008
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Sound: There was a massive hype when the world heard of a Police re-union, and rightly so. They do manage to live up to their high expectations well, playing all their classics as well as they did back in 1983. In places, the band has brought new life into some of the old favourites. The main DVD feature sounds great nearly from start to finish, opening with Message in a Bottle, working through rehashed, reworked and extended favourites like Every Little Thing She Does is Magic (which sounds amazing to say that there’s no piano featured), Wrapped Around Your Finger (Less synth, making it sound more ‘modern’) and Roxanne (which goes on for about 8 minutes), before ending with Every Breath You Take and the encore, Next To You.
The band has also slipped in a few none-hits such as Driven to Tears, Hole in My Life and Walking in Your Footsteps. The last of those three tracks is better than it’s ever been, becoming more up-beat and crowd-pleasing than ever. On top of those, you have one of the highest points of the DVD which is a medley of Voices Inside My Head and When the World is Running Down.
The bass playing and drum playing is phenomenal throughout the performance, as is Andy’s guitar playing. Andy, however, is using a Fender Stratocaster for most of the DVD and tends to over-use the whammy bar in his solos. Speaking of his solos, he doesn’t play his best solos on here. In Synchronicity II the solo isn’t quite up to the expectation – for most fans, the Summers standard is pretty high. For the record, his guitar playing in parts of King of Pain isn’t too mind-blowing either. He does make up for it with his solo in So Lonely, which should satisfy any Police fan’s appetite. To say that they haven’t played together officially since 1983, the sound is pretty great. // 8
Content: On the standard release, you get the full-length 109 minute DVD and a CD which features all of the hits from the DVD, which includes Don’t Stand So Close to Me, So Lonely and De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da, among others. If you buy the full ‘deluxe’ edition, you get the concert on DVD, the full thing stretched over two CDs, a brief picture booklet and a bonus DVD which features a documentary on the band getting back together, rehearsing for the tour and the usual back-stage stuff. The bonus DVD also gives two photo galleries (one of which is by Andy Summers) giving you a view into band life and promos etc. You get what you pay for on the standard release, but the full thing is worth the extra bit of money. // 10
Production Quality: The concert itself is produced nicely; I can’t fault it - It’s far from the boring fixed cameras and such. You get a view of every band member’s place on stage, near enough. There are even a couple of multi-angle tracks in there – I think Wrapped Around Your Finger is one of them. The DVD ends with the band remembering an incident involving Andy kicking a security guard on stage in 1983, which is pretty funny – I won’t say any more as it would spoil it. The documentary on the second disc is nicely put together too. // 9
Impression: This is something that I’ve been looking forward to for a while, personally. I must say that it certainly lived up to my expectations, and beyond in some areas. Stewart, Andy and Sting have only got better in most respects, though I was a little disappointed to see that Andy didn’t use his signature Telecaster on that many songs. Stewart is still as over-enthusiastic as ever and Sting is as difficult to read as ever – he does seem up his own backside at times on that second DVD, I’ll say that much. Is it worth buying? For someone who’s just interested I’d say to just get the standard edition, but for an avid fan, the full thing is a must. // 9
/ my profile 
Was this review helpful to you? 
--->MUSTHAVE then
