Back in February, after having heard only “My Moon My Man” from the sublime The Reminder LP, we called it like we saw it: this was to be Feist’s big breakout year, predicting a “Chan-like rise in stature.” In a sense, that’s an understatement, but broken-out she has, winning raves around the world and up and down the NYSE, tapped for campaigns from LG to Apple, pulling her friends along into the spotlight.

But after all the great stuff that’s gone down for this year for Leslie (friend/producer Chilly Gonzales saying “she sold half a million Let it Die albums in three years and almost the same amount of The Reminder in three months”), there’s still stuff on the horizon getting her stirred up…

[Pic from Feist/Grizzly Bear @ Town Hall 6/12/07]

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“We are the mighty Police and we are totally at sea.” Just took two days for Stewart to have his first tantrum, which, hey, is two days longer than a lot of us thought it’d be! From what we saw of the “dress rehearsal,” things seemed to be going fairly well — but Reuters reports that Copeland has branded the second official show of the tour, in Vancouver, a “DISASTER GIG!” Don’t worry though, he’s not blaming Andy and the “petulant pansy” Sting. Not entirely, anyway. He even laughs it off! Stew posted this to stewartcopeland.net:

?Whenever you?re ready Mr. Copeland? says Charlie, the production manager, as two crew members hold aside the giant gong, creating just enough space for me to slither onto my percussion stage, which is still down in its pit. I leap on board but my foot catches something and I sprawl into the arena in a jumble as the little stage starts to rise into view. Never mind. The audience is screaming with anticipation as I collect myself in the dark and start to warm, up the gong with a few gentle taps. But I?m overdoing it. It?s resonating and reaching it?s crescendo before the stage has fully reached its position. Sort of like a premature ejaculation. There?s nothing for it so I take a big swing for the big hit. Problem is, I?m just fractionally too far away and the beater misses the sweet spot and the big pompous opening to the show is a damp squib. Never mind.

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Fox News continues to be a surprisingly steady source of Police reports. Today’s evidentiary offering:

Sources tell me that the date for the show is July 13 and it will take place at a still-to-be-named location in Miami.

?It?s an all-acoustic set,? says a source. It?s also the first time The Police as a group have appeared on ?Unplugged,? since the group disbanded in 1983 and the MTV show didn?t start until 1989. Sting appeared on ?Unplugged? in 1991 as a solo act.

This marks the second time this month we’ve actually wanted our MTV! Incidentally, this also marks the second time this millennium we’ve actually wanted our MTV.

But of course this report is our not-so-clever excuse to post another clip from the Police “dress rehearsal” show in Vancouver on 5/27. Last time it was “Walking In Your Footsteps” — today’s treat is “King Of Pain.” Enjoy! (Yeah we know you guys probably don’t care about this reunion thing quite as much as we do, but we are so stoked for Bonnaroo, just humor us. Vid after the jump for those that don’t feel like it.)

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Thanks to the band’s 30th anniversary and Sting’s bountiful yogic exercises (yoga kills the ego, ya know), the Police have set aside their personality clashes and embarked on their first tour since ’83, starting with a 21-song fan-club/friends-only “dress rehearsal” for 4,000 or so in Vancouver Sunday night. As Andy promised, the setlist is full of vintage hits with no new tunes to dampen the reunion mood, with “Murder By Numbers” and “Next To You” perhaps the most left-field choices. Here’s the best vid we could find on the night, Synchronicity‘s “Walking In Your Footsteps.”

Tough to argue with this setlist.

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That’s what it’s looking like, according to Andy Summers. With such an unimpeachable catalogue, we hoped they’d keep the “reunion” to song revisitations, give or take a jazz odyssey. Oh well. Via NME:

The Police’s guitarist Andy Summers has hinted that the band may get to work on a new album after their forthcoming world tour.

The star, who attended a book signing and Q&A session for his memoirs ‘One Train Later’ in London yesterday (April 4), said the reformed three-piece would consider making a new album after their world tour.

See that? “…new album after their world tour” — NME knew you wouldn’t believe it, so they had to state it twice! The article goes on:

The guitarist also revealed that the trio will be debuting some new material at their forthcoming tour, which kicks off in Vancouver on May 28 before heading to Europe in August.

He added: “If we do well with these concerts we may well make a sixth album. I can’t see why not.”

Okay, obviously we’re excited to hear it. Shit, we’ll even buy (ha) the new record. But you can’t sell us on this being a good idea. Looking forward to seeing what Paul Weller’s phlegm thinks about this one.

2007 is shaping up to be the year of the one-off reunion. The Police. Genesis. Van Halen (for a glorious 18 minutes). Rage Against the Machine. Squeeze. And that?s just off the top of our heads. These once (and still) beloved bands have patched up their differences, dusted off the groupies, and climbed into bed with Ticketmaster. Smart money says they?ll go all the way and actually record some new material. But should they? Can they approach their creative peaks, or should they be content to cash in on nostalgia? Here?s our take on four upcoming reunions.

The Police
PROS: The Grammys showed that these guys aren?t afraid to rip, remix, and rebuild. And besides, after the Lute fiasco, Sting owes us big time.

CONS: They broke up at their peak, and aside from the misguided “Don’t Stand So Close to Me ’86″ (they were actually supposed to record a whole album of remakes, but Stewart choked the hell out of Sting), they haven’t marred their catalogue at all.

WE SAY: No! We love ‘em as they were, not as they are. Though we’d definitely be curious and would probably buy it anyway.

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So said Stewart. We love that guy. The Police opened this afternoon’s press conference/show with “Message In A Bottle,” and followed that with “Voices Inside My Head” > “When The World Is Running Down You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around.” Between the “>” and Stewart’s claim they were “going jam band” without a setlist, now we’re sure he’s been spending too much time with Trey. After those songs, it came time to address the elephant: The Police will reunite to tour the world, starting 5/28 in Vancouver, moving to the States (including a headlining set at Bonnaroo 6/16, a show at Fenway 7/28, and shows at MSG on 8/1 and 8/3 — latter cities on sale 2/20), then to Europe to play nearly every country on the map, and coming back to this side of the Atlantic for more shows in the States, Mexico and South America. After that, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. If they haven’t killed each other yet.

Actually, the guys did seem genuinely excited. The crowd of press, fans, and drummers (Taylor Hawkins and ?uestlove got on the mic to ask questions) were pumped too, until the announcement of prices ($225, $90, and $50) was met with comical silence. But they’re donating a portion of the proceeds to WaterAid, so $225 is totally reasonable after all, grinch. Stewart had the quote of the conference:

Just speaking for myself, I’m really enjoying playing my drums. I don’t have to make my name in music anymore. I don’t have to make every record express myself I don’t care I just wanna play my drums and follow Sting’s lead and play the songs with Andy. We don’t have an agenda.

The room ate it up. Sting followed with, “You’ve changed,” and Stewart was similarly quick in reply: “Yeah I have. He hasn’t. This is what we have to deal with. We now refer to Sting as ‘Our Dear Leader.” This is gonna be fun! The Police ended the conference with “Can’t Stand Losing You” (Sting, mid-song: “it’s all coming back to me! I’m 24 and I’m mad”) and, of course, “Roxanne.” Tour dates after the jump.

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So, we broke even. Transposed down to suit Sting’s vocal cords, spaced out for the benefit of the young, drug-loving generation next, The Police celebrated the 30th anniversary of “Roxanne” by playing “Roxanne.” Stewart looked awfully spry with his traditional-gripping drum fills; Oysterhead did him good! Take a bow, guys.

Fifteen minutes to thepolicerehearsals.com! Beantown and Bonnaroo down, full tour announcement to go.

We’re just hours from seeing if the The Police beat the odds with their Grammy appearance, and less than a day away from the big press conference (and performance) at the Whiskey A Go Go, which you can watch at thepolicerhearsals.com. And all of this is marvelous excuse to post the band’s new press shot.

It only took them 20+ years, but they learned to smile! They’ve aged better than any ’70s mega group we can think of. It’s all so exciting! Too bad Andy and Stewart are gonna get into a fist fight ten minutes into the press conference and call the whole thing off. See ya in a few.

Not only is it OK To Like The Grammys, it’s so OK that we’re inviting you guys to watch ‘em with us: Log on Sunday night ’cause we’ll be live blogging the show. We’ll drink every time Kanye crashes the stage (you are welcome to follow suit).

Tequila shots aside, the three best reasons to tune in to NARAS’s shit show are Gordon, Andy, and Stewart. We’ll be in a breathless state of suspense for the minutes leading up to the event; of course The Police are gonna sound great, but what are The Police gonna sound great playing? We’ve got a hunch. Below, our odds on the band’s Sunday night song selection.

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