Lynne Kiesling
Seeing the Police at Wrigley Field last week has reinvigorated my too-long dormant fascination with Stewart Copeland. And I'm not alone; Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis turns out to be the same age as I am, and to have had similar behavior when attending Police concerts the first time around:
I first saw bassist-vocalist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland perform at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1980. I was 15, an aspiring drummer and such a geek that I intentionally bought tickets behind the stage so I could try to figure out what Copeland was doing; his uniquely syncopated, reggae-inflected hi-hat patterns, complicated fills and polyrhythmic beats remain some of the most innovative in rock history, as any of my fellow drum geeks will tell you.
Well ... living in Columbus, Ohio (a town lacking even a decent radio station), I had to wait until 1983 to see them live, and I had to drive all over the Midwest to do so. In Indianapolis we had seats behind the stage so I could watch Stewart.
John at Ascent Stage got the picture I wanted at Thursday's show.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled economics commentary ... but perhaps with a little better rhythm.
Lynne,
As a recovering drummer, economist and resident of the Columbus Metro area, I agree. Copelands drumming is fascinatingly (is that a word) different and Columbus radio is...not.