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dA--bogeyman — Police / Fixx / Animals Concert 10-29-83

Published: 2011-03-22 02:28:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 1673; Favourites: 29; Downloads: 41
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Description What Is This?
I was asked by many about my musical influences when making stamps and asked to share some of the stories behind the concerts I have seen. I have been to 1200+ live concerts (all national touring bands/singers with albums, not local club bands or tribute/cover bands, have seen plenty of those too) and have saved every ticket stub and backstage pass (when I had one) and kept notes (like a journal) on every show I have ever seen. So from time to time I will scan in the ticket stub from a show I saw (going in no order, skipping around) and talk a little about the show and my opinion. All information property of dA--stamps/dA--bogeyman (me). This is entry#21.

The Concert:
The Police
The Animals / The Fixx (Two Opening Acts)
October 29, 1983
Tangerine Bowl, Orlando, Florida (USA)

Just So You Know:
This was The Police's mega-tour in support of the 'Synchronicity' album ("Synchronicity 1983-84 World Tour") and would record their 'Synchronicity Live' video on this tour. The Animals (original line-up including Eric Burdon) were on tour in support of their 'Ark' album. 'Ark' was the last studio album ever recorded by the original Animals line-up and this was the final tour of the original Animals line-up (Chas Chandler died sadly in 1996 putting an end to The Animals original line-up). The Fixx were on tour in support of their newly released 'Reach The Beach' album.

Personal:
This was not a concert but a "lifetime event" (I will only say this about two concerts ever - this one and the U2 'Joshua Tree' tour). Although I will call it a "concert" and "show" in my remarks here I want to make it clear it was so much more. There was just something about the time, place, people and music that made it feel very special. Alrighty then I attended this show with Big Jim, Manny, Mason and Sarah. MTV sponsored this event and it was "Rock Super Bowl XIX" - rock super bowls were mega-concerts they had in Orlando at the Tangerine Bowl - this was the last one they ever had (it was a huge outdoor festival event). Gates opened at noon and we were there at 10:30am waiting for the gates to open (it was general admission and we wanted to be right up by the stage so got there early). When they gates opened we headed straight for the field and got amazing places right in the center front. We took turns going to get food, sodas, use bathroom, buy concert stuff, ETC so no one would take our places. It was two days before Halloween and many people wore costumes and it was a very hot Florida day. Girl watching was fun, so many had just bikini tops on and many were topless (security would come by and tell them to put their tops on and they would and when security walked away they would remove them again LOL). Many hippies and leftover (older) hippies at this show (The Animals group fans). The concert was sold out way in advance and there was no less then 35,000-40,000 in attendance (not sure of actual numbers, just LOTS). I would experience so much rock history on this day it was truly amazing.

The Live Concert (Openers):
The Animals were the first to play and they hit they stage around 3pm in the afternoon. I could not believe how great they sounded and played - I mean this was a "British Invasion" band from the 1960's and Eric Burdon sang and roamed the stage like he was a teen! Eric Burdon talked a little bit about the bands origin in Newcastle Upon Tyne (England) and The Animals played their rock/blues/psychedelic set to the delight of the crowd. Honestly I did not know the names to many of the songs that day but they all sounded wonderful and The Animals played for 90 minutes total. Of course the crowd went nuts when song classics "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place", "Spill The Wine", "When I Was Young", "It's My Life", "The House Of The Rising Sun", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "See See Rider" were performed (again they played many more songs I knew and could sing along with but did not know the actual names of them that day). The audience was in to the whole Animals set and just seeing them would have made for a super concert - but there was much more to come. Around 5:30pm out came The Fixx and the crowd again got quickly into the set. Their music was all over the radio and MTV at the time and they were part of the early-mid 1980's "New Wave" of music that ruled at the time. The audience danced and sang (just like they did for The Animals set) and The Fixx also played for close to 90 minutes. The Fixx had a small circular screen behind them that showed parts of their videos while they performed (this was cool at the time most bands did not tour with screens/videos yet). Big crowd pleasers were "Saved By Zero", "Red Skies", "The Sign Of Fire", "Stand Or Fall" and "One Thing Leads To Another". Again lead singer of The Fixx (Cy Curnin) just lit up the stage with his singing and the band was amazing and it was like seeing them as the headliner (just like The Animals set) - that's why this concert is what I call a "lifetime event" - it was like seeing three complete concerts all in one day.

The Live Concert (Headliner):
I will give you The Police's full concert play list that day and then talk about this amazing show (in no specific order) : "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Can't Stand Losing You", "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da", "Voices Inside My Head", "Walking In Your Footsteps", "Hole In My Life", "Walking On The Moon", "Invisible Sun", "King Of Pain", "Message In A Bottle", "Murder By Numbers", "Next To You", "O My God", "Demolition Man" "Every Breath You Take", "One World", "Roxanne", "Don't Stand So Close To Me", "So Lonely", "Spirits In The Material World", "Synchronicity I", "Wrapped Around Your Finger", "Synchronicity II" and "Tea In The Sahara". This was amazing concert from start to finish. I was totally into The Police at the time and had all their albums and knew all their songs. The sun was down and the lights went out and you heard the intro to "Synchronicity II" and the crowd went wild as the spotlights hit the band and two large screens were uncovered on both sides of the stage (again bands usually did not tour with screens like this at that time, so was very impressive and exciting) and The Police went straight into the song. All three members were wearing tattered like clothing (Synchronicity theme style) and Sting commanded the stage and the show from start to finish. The band was very tight and Sting's voice was loud and strong. There were cameras that followed the band members around and the images showed up on the side screens. Every member of the crowd sang and danced to EVERY song during The Police's set (my friends and I included). The Police played for around two hours and twenty minutes total that night (with encores). During the encores (when the stage lights would go out and the crowd would clap and cheer for The Police to come back out and play more) the cameras followed the band members backstage (especially Sting) and you could see them drinking and relaxing a minute which made the crowd cheer even more and Sting attempted to do a pull-the-cloth magic trick (failed but was very funny) while backstage. When The Police were finally finished playing for the night and the lights came on no one wanted to leave. Everyone was talking about the amazing day, about all three groups and how they wished the music would go on. After a short while security starting motioning for everyone to leave and slowly we all left. This was The Police at their absolute musical and commercial zenith - a place where very few bands ever go or ever get back to.

Check out my 'Concert Memories' dA gallery for more of my concert musings da--stamps.deviantart.com/gall…
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