2007

The most hyped reunion tour of all-time has finally started: The Police last night played its first full gig together in 23 years at GM Place in Vancouver, and the “all killer, no filler” setlist blended a terrific mix of the band’s best songs.

As previously announced, the band didn’t play any new tunes, which really must have thrilled the people who paid $250 a ticket and only know Roxanne and Every Breath You Take. We’ll also note that Sting, thankfully, left his lute at home.

The tour opener acted more like a full dress rehearsal, as tickets were only available to fan club members. Most of the reviews coming in have been positive: Stewart, Sting and Andy seemed to gel and get along throughout the two-hour show. In fact, Sting shed a few tears as the band took bows at the end of the show.

The few complaints about the show seen on message boards centered on the $40 T-shirts and the re-workings of songs such as Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and Walking In Your Footsteps. But the fluffers far outnumber the haters.

Stay tuned to Hidden Track as The Police Week rolls on with a new post each and every day. And read on after the jump for last night’s full setlist and a handful of brief clips from GM Place, courtesy of Ben Frith…lucky Vancouver.

We know it’s Memorial Day, and most of you are sipping margaritas by the pool. But there’s still plenty of news to report from this weekend, and we live to serve and aim to please. Plus, we really wanted to debut our amazing new logo designed by the one and only Felonious Monk. Monk for President.

We’re also excited to announce this is The Police Week on Hidden Track. Every day this week we’ll have a new post about Sting, Andy, and Stewart, the trio that kicked off its reunion tour last night in Vancouver. Of course, we’ll still be covering the rest of the music world in graphic detail, never neglecting our regular duties.

Before you get back to your barbecue check out these links and setlists:

• Lou Reed played with Bright Eyes on Friday night
• Blondie played Heart of Glass with Lily Allen on The Today Show
• Some More From The Road tells a great story about John Morgan Kimock, who we featured on The B List last week
• Sly and the Family Stone turned their one-off performance into a tour
• A tale of life on the road with Led Zeppelin
• The Traveling Wilburys have a new website
• Perhaps the Ozzfest isn’t free after all
• Pitchfork announces the final lineup for their festival
• A Summer of Love playlist
• Brooklyn Vegan has some info from the Sasquatch Festival
• Dweezil Zappa on the upcoming Zappa Plays Zappa tour
• The Foo Fighters cover Born On The Bayou
• Peter, Bjorn and John are flying in from Sweden for a few U.S. dates
• Mary-Kate Olsen will join the cast of Weeds this season

And remember to read on after the jump for as many weekend setlists as we could find, including the Beastie Boys, Bright Eyes, the Disco Biscuits, Kings of Leon, moe., Smashing Pumpkins, Steely Dan, The Who and Umphrey’s McGee…

As if the hot dogs, burgers, chicken, sausages, six pounds of steak and a table full of apps weren’t any indication, it’s Memorial Day, which if my history is correct

Apollo Sunshine once again proved that rock and/or roll is alive and kicking on last night’s Rocks Off boat cruise.

Warm weather, blue skies and, well, sunshine offered a perfect environment for a three-hour floating rock show around lower Manhattan, and Apollo Sunshine provided a high-energy blast of power pop, heavy on the power.

You can try to list some similar-sounding bands to describe their sound, but you’d have to list at least six or seven to even attempt to portray a realistic vision of what we heard last night. It was truly a perfect evening of music, friends, gorgeous views, the Queen Mary II and a gigantic double necked bass/guitar.

Read on to see whether Scotty got a good look up Lady Liberty’s knickers…