I keep Crying Baby, Baby Please!

So it seems that after all these years, all of this time, my secret boyfriend finally responded to my silent plea and decided to come into town to put on a rock show just for me.

Okay, well that's how it played out in my mind anyway when I heard that The Police decided to go on tour this summer.

In all actuality, my very wonderful Big Daddy husband got me tickets months ago. At the time we were in the middle of a bad patch of night time parenting and the tickets were a great distraction of good things to come. The anticipation of a night out with my Bid Daddy man to see my favorite band of all time has been as good as the AMAZING experience of seeing The Police play live.

Most of the artists I adore are not great big rock stars. While their concerts have been amazing interactive experiences, there is something different about seeing a widely revered & acclaimed rock band with tens of thousands of other people.

Seeing The Police was a bit like a reunion with old friends, but maybe better. It was a nostalgic experience hearing their legendary songs as only they can play them. At the same time there was a fresh take on their music that showcased their evolution as artists ....it reminded me why they were great to begin with; they have always played their music well. Their presentation of their classic songs was done in a familiar way. To me, it felt like the perfect balance of familiarity with innovation. Sting's voice is as clear and lovely as it has ever been. All of his hallmark yodel like "eyooooo eyo yo yo's" were spot on and in full beautiful force.

My favorite songs of the evening were: Walking on the Moon, So Lonely, I Can't Stand Losing You, Wrapped Around Your Finger, Next to You, Invisible Sun ,Every little Thing She Does is Magic, Walking in Your Footsteps and King of Pain.

There were only two downsides to the evening. First, I really wanted to hear them play Canary in a Coalmine and that didn't happen. But there was enough of my more obscure (if any of their songs can really be called 'obscure') favorites to make up for that omission.
My second complaint has nothing to do with Sting or The Police, but the venue. The parking and crowd control was, at best, abysmally bad. It took us well over an hour to get out of the 'parking area' which amounted to a big field of cars trying to drive every which way without rhyme or reason. Once out of the field, it was at least another 35 minutes to slowly meander to the 'exit' of Rentschler Field.

I feel so fortunate that I was able to go to this show. It did feel like a very special event to go to because it doesn't seem that they will pull a Rolling Stones and Tour, Tour, Tour every summer for the foreseeable future.

Edited to add: While on my long awaited vacation, it occurred to me while I was listening to my boyfriend sing to me via my i pod that, for years, I have been Calling baby baby please as opposed to CRYING baby baby please. Maybe that is why he took so damn long to show up in Hartford. I apparently suck at being a groupie as I do not know the lyrics without flaw. My deepest and sincerest apologies Sting....