STEWART COPELAND - Deranged For Orchestra with the Seattle Symphony September 14, 2022 Eclectic Arts
STEWART COPELAND
Police Deranged For Orchestra with the Seattle Symphony
Benaroya Hall
September 14, 2022
Seattle, WA
As a longtime musician, I used to hear The Police around the house growing up. My brother would be drumming to the songs quite competently while I would be butchering Andy Summers guitar work. As I grew into an adult, I always liked Stewart Copeland’s drum work but I never really dug into it seriously until about ten years ago. That’s when I realized what an amazing musician he was/is.
My brother saw Stewart Copeland play with an orchestra many years ago (via tickets for his birthday). Little did I know that was the first time Stewart Copeland had performed with an orchestra (he mentioned this at the show on the 14th). So the performance on September 14th was a bit of a full circle moment for Mr. Copeland.
As he explained, he had been scoring some documentary footage he took of The Police from all of their years as a band before disbanding in the 80’s. The actual recordings didn’t quite work as soundtrack material for his footage so he started to deconstruct some of the songs to make them fit the film work better. Thus this idea was born.
Some of the songs were heavily deconstructed while others were left closer to their original recorded shape. Seattle got a selection of both on Wednesday evening.
Starting off with “Demolition Man” and ending with an encore of “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”, watching Stewart Copeland play for ninety minutes was a joy to behold. He’s always been a pioneer in his field with such a unique approach to the instrument. But, many don’t know about his many television and film credits, along with a slew of other artistic musical endeavors he’s worked on over the years.
One of the best numbers of the night (no pun intended) was the lesser known, “Murder By Numbers”. The new arrangement really worked well and it brought a new life to the song.
After the intermission, the key notes from “Every Breath You Take” were transformed into a symphonic vision that could have come out of any top tier film before diving into the first sung words of the song.
A few of the derangements were a bit too left of center for me but I could still appreciate the vision behind them.
Stewart hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. From his banter between songs, to strapping on a guitar for a number, to conducting the Seattle Symphony for another number, he commanded the stage like a mad scientist. In some cases he reminded me of Doc Brown (played by Christopher Lloyd) from the Back To The Future films - he had so much energy and enthusiasm throughout the show.
I think what would be a great aspect to add to the show would be to have a video shown during a few of the songs as Stewart and the orchestra plays to it - so the audience can put everything together. Whether it's The Police footage he filmed or something completely different, I would love to see that marriage of different media come together.
A legendary artist on a beautiful Seattle evening. If you were there, you know what I’m talking about.
Best,
Mark Sugiyama
Eclectic Arts
Connect with Eclectic Arts: Social Media Links Here
STEWART COPELAND OFFICIAL SITE
Police Deranged For Orchestra with the Seattle Symphony
Benaroya Hall
September 14, 2022
Seattle, WA
As a longtime musician, I used to hear The Police around the house growing up. My brother would be drumming to the songs quite competently while I would be butchering Andy Summers guitar work. As I grew into an adult, I always liked Stewart Copeland’s drum work but I never really dug into it seriously until about ten years ago. That’s when I realized what an amazing musician he was/is.
My brother saw Stewart Copeland play with an orchestra many years ago (via tickets for his birthday). Little did I know that was the first time Stewart Copeland had performed with an orchestra (he mentioned this at the show on the 14th). So the performance on September 14th was a bit of a full circle moment for Mr. Copeland.
As he explained, he had been scoring some documentary footage he took of The Police from all of their years as a band before disbanding in the 80’s. The actual recordings didn’t quite work as soundtrack material for his footage so he started to deconstruct some of the songs to make them fit the film work better. Thus this idea was born.
Some of the songs were heavily deconstructed while others were left closer to their original recorded shape. Seattle got a selection of both on Wednesday evening.
Starting off with “Demolition Man” and ending with an encore of “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”, watching Stewart Copeland play for ninety minutes was a joy to behold. He’s always been a pioneer in his field with such a unique approach to the instrument. But, many don’t know about his many television and film credits, along with a slew of other artistic musical endeavors he’s worked on over the years.
One of the best numbers of the night (no pun intended) was the lesser known, “Murder By Numbers”. The new arrangement really worked well and it brought a new life to the song.
After the intermission, the key notes from “Every Breath You Take” were transformed into a symphonic vision that could have come out of any top tier film before diving into the first sung words of the song.
A few of the derangements were a bit too left of center for me but I could still appreciate the vision behind them.
Stewart hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. From his banter between songs, to strapping on a guitar for a number, to conducting the Seattle Symphony for another number, he commanded the stage like a mad scientist. In some cases he reminded me of Doc Brown (played by Christopher Lloyd) from the Back To The Future films - he had so much energy and enthusiasm throughout the show.
I think what would be a great aspect to add to the show would be to have a video shown during a few of the songs as Stewart and the orchestra plays to it - so the audience can put everything together. Whether it's The Police footage he filmed or something completely different, I would love to see that marriage of different media come together.
A legendary artist on a beautiful Seattle evening. If you were there, you know what I’m talking about.
Best,
Mark Sugiyama
Eclectic Arts
Connect with Eclectic Arts: Social Media Links Here
STEWART COPELAND OFFICIAL SITE
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