Rocks On! You don't have to put on the last concert!

For those of you with particularly good eyesight the tiny figure on stage holding a guitar is none other than Sting, taken with my mobile phone camera from some 100+ yards away.

Last night was The Police's first, and sadly last concert in Belfast. Around 30,000 people, mostly middle aged, shuffled their way to the Stormont Estate to see The Police on part of their 30 year anniversary tour. Even after 30 years they were not a disappointment. 

They performed all the usual crowd pleasers as well as a few that only die-hard fans (not the Bruce Willis ones) would have appreciated. The sound quality was fine and the screens helped those of us in the cheap area (£64.50!!!) to get a glimpse of them in close up. Not that that was a terribly appealing prospect. Of the three members, only Sting seems to have aged well. The other two looked like they'd given their Care Assistants the slip for a couple of hours. Also, there was little chat - I know that people come to hear the songs but a bit more audience participation would've been nice, or even a few stories to put things in context. Andy Summers said nothing for the duration and there was little or no 'chemistry' on stage, though at a couple of points Sting did try to 'pal' things up, but it looked slightly contrived.

I'm so glad I went now, even though I was on my own (wasn't it Henry David Thoreau who said "a city is millions of people being lonely together"). It was well organised and my only complaint is against not those who organised it, but against those who attended. The amount of rubbish left at people's feet was appalling. Now I realise this makes me sound like a something of a moaner.........and you'd be right, but it did sort of dent my faith in humanity. How arduous is it to carry a few plastic cups to a bin. What also dented my faith in people was the person who dented me. For the last 20 mins a fat, middle-aged, drunk woman proceeded to have a conversation with her male neighbour which obliged her to throw her arm around his shoulders EVERY time it was her turn to speak. Of course, EVERY time she did this she elbowed me in the sternum. And no matter how often I took a step back she seemed to follow me. To be fair to her, for the last 5 mins she stopped hitting me with her elbow, and switched to hitting me with the handbag she'd slung over her shoulder so that she was free to dance badly.

Other than those minor things, it was an amazing night and it made me appreciate the joys of live music, especially when that music is played well. And I also now have a greater respect for Sting as a musician and a live performer. He made the night.