The Police with The Fixx and Eric Burdon and the Animals: 10/28/1983

As the ticket stub shows, this concert was originally supposed to be at the Miami Baseball Stadium. But because of the huge demand for tickets, the concert was moved to the Orange Bowl, a much larger venue. Even in the big stadium, it was a packed mob scene.

I went with my girlfriend at the time and my brother Mike. We got there plenty early, since it was general admission and I wanted to see The Animals, who were opening the show. The Animals were great and Eric Burdon’s voice was strong. The only downer song was “House of the Rising Sun.” They kind of changed the arrangement around and it felt like they were playing it half-assed. I felt like, really? I’m sure you are getting tired of the song, but if you are going to play it, at least put some energy into it and realize that it is such an iconic song that futzing with the arrangement  is akin to Led Zeppelin playing a reggae version of “Stairway to Heaven.”

The Fixx played next, and they were cool. They had some hits at the time: “Saved By Zero” and “One Thing Leads to Another.” They definitely had a good energy and light show. Plus, their style fit in well with The Police.

So I have to say that The Police were way better live than I expected. They always seemed more like a studio band than a good live act. But I was pleasantly surprised. They were really high-energy and sounded great, even in an acoustic hell hole like the Orange Bowl. My big complaint, though, was the overcrowding. It was really uncomfortable to be mashed among so many people sweating in the South Florida heat for the entire day. But other than that—good times!

Here is the Police’s setlist, courtesy of setlist.fm:

1. Voices Inside My Head
2. Synchronicity I
3. Synchronicity II
4. Walking in Your Footsteps
5. Message in a Bottle
6. Walking on the Moon
7. My God
8. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Tea in the Sahara
11. Hole in My Life
12. Spirits in the Material World
13. Invisible Sun
14. One World (Not Three)
15. King of Pain
16. Don’t Stand So Close to Me
17. Every Breath You Take
18. Murder by Numbers
19. Roxanne
20. (encore) Can’t Stand Losing You / Reggatta de Blanc
21. (encore) So Lonely