Getting Arrested In Hersheypark

So, last night Bubala and I went to go see the Police at Hersheypark. It was my Birthday present from way back in March. There were no roller coasters this time. We just went to the show. And, it was a great show but...

Traffic getting there was horrible! Bumper to bumper most of the way up. What usually takes about 90 minutes took more like 3 hours. There were so many people there. Once we parked the truck, we had to take a tram to the stadium on the other side of the Hershey property. We had prime 17th row seats on Sting's side, but we still seemed acres away. There were large monitors which helped to see detail. Yeah, I know this tour is just a huge cash grab. Cha-ching! I hope Stewart and Andy make a mint.

How do they look?

Andy looks old, but he is about 10 years older then the other guys. Stewart looks gray with glasses. Sting still looks fantastic with his classic spiky hair, although there is less of it then there was 30 years ago. He obviously worked out to be in shape for the tour. It is easy to see why everyone hates him so much. He is hot, talented and wrote some of Rock's greatest songs before breaking away from the Police and turning his music in the direction of adult contemporary suck.

How do they sound?

Vocally, Sting was incredible, holding notes for an eternity. He was also great in the bass guitar department and he also played bass pedals with his feet. He was no chump either and meshed well with Stewart into the strong rhythm section that they always were. Andy played well too, but what he was doing didn't always work well with what Sting was doing and in some places it sounded very out of tune. Stewart Copeland stole the show though with his incredible drumming. He still has it. He used a vast array of percussion instruments to accent the music. Some of the arrangements were altered to a more jazzy feel and sometimes it slowed things down too much in some of the songs. Other songs really rocked out though with a lot of free form jamming.

All in all, it was a great show and now we can say that we saw the Police on their reunion tour. I can't help but compare it to another old trio I just saw recently who has been around longer and never broken up before. A band whose ticket prices were less then half the price of The Police tickets. A band who always plays at least an hour longer and their show is always much more visual.

I still had a great time except for all the people. Man, Hersheypark was NOT prepared to deal with that crowd. There was damage to the fences around the park from all the exiting concert goers. There was almost NO police directing traffic to get us out. I guess they figured we had enough Police for one night! So, exiting the parking lot was a complete nightmare as all 25,000 people tried to move their vehicles out of the area at the same time. My advice is don't go see shows there. They are just not set up to handle it. Not enough staff or police direction for such a large crowd. It took another 3 hours to get home, and an hour and a half of that was spent sitting in bumper to bumper, directionless traffic on Hershey's parking lot.

Just go there and ride roller coasters, That's my advice.

Set List

Message In A Bottle
Synchronicity II
Walking On The Moon
When The World Is Running Down
Don't Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Truth Hits Everybody
The Bed's Too Big Without You
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking In Your Footsteps
Can't Stand Losing You
Reggatta de Blanc
Roxanne

King Of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take

Next To You