The Police at Wrigley Field, July 5

I don't know what to say about The Police concert. It was good. Our seats were not bad (200 level, perfect sight lines, only slightly back and farther to the left than the person who filmed this). My throat hurt afterwards, which is always a good sign.

But.

I am jaded. I am no longer 13 years old, content with just being at a concert. I want to feel the energy of the band, not just watch it on an oversized screen. I now know what it is like to be in the front row and I am afraid I find it hard to settle for less. I wish I had shelled out the money for a floor seat. My friend, Joel, put it best when he said that it would have meant paying twice as much money, but he is pretty sure he would have had twice as much fun. Sure, it would have been next to impossible to get front row tickets, but I know that people on the floor didn't suck the energy out by sitting down during the slow songs (or songs they didn't recognize).

Excuse me for a moment while I address all the people sitting in section 208 on Thursday night:

People, I know you are all old, but you do realize that if you don't commit to the concert experience, you probably should have just stayed home and waited for the DVD to be released, don't you? You know how much fun we all had when we all were singing "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"? Well, you could have had that much fun throughout the concert if you had only applied yourself .

Alright, I am glad we had that talk. Now back to the rest of my readers.

Anyway, Sting eventually gave us all permission to yell our heads off (suggesting that we had to do a better job if we wanted to be louder than the crowd for their second show) and that loosened up enough people so that we were loud enough to get three encores (though I always wonder if they were planning to do the encores anyway. The set lists themselves don't change much from show to show).

As I said, the show was good. It wasn't great, but the band played pretty much everything I could have hoped for them to play (except "Tea In The Sahara") and were in good form for the most part. I think it would be hard for them to live up to my expectations because I have this memory of seeing them during the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope Tour (it was supposed to be just Sting playing songs from his solo record, but then, surprise, we got to see The Police instead). They were younger then and probably had more energy. I was younger then and (as I have already mentioned) was just so excited to be at a concert (though I actually was on the floor for that show and was much closer than I was this time around). I have been waiting to see them for over twenty years, believing it would never happen ever again, and then, they announced the reunion tour and I managed to get tickets (thank you, Joel) and I have had months of waiting for this particular show to happen. So the truth is, as much as I enjoyed the show, the most overwhelming feeling I had was relief that it finally came. Because in addition to all the anticipation, I couldn't help but worry that something happen which would make it impossible for me to attend--I have had my attendance at much anticipated concerts almost derailed by everything as gigantic as terrorist attacks and as run of the mill as UTIs. The fact that I managed to get to the shows in those circumstances only makes me worry that my concert luck may eventually run out.

So that is what I thought of the concert. I am glad I went. But I have to remember that I am a concert snob and that my level of appreciation is directly proportional with my proximity to the stage. Being older and wiser means not making the same mistakes twice.

And as a final thought, here is how parenting has changed me in terms of concert going: the first time Stewart Copeland went to play the whistles and bells (as he did for "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and "Walking In Your Footsteps") I thought of the episode of Arthur where D.W. plays the bottles for the local talent contest. So, yeah, I go to concerts and think of children's programming.

P.S. For those of you who do not have tickets for future shows, just go to the venue a little early on the night of the show. You should be able to get tickets without too much trouble (and given the number of people selling tickets Thursday night, I imagine you won't have to pay much more than face value for them either).