The Synchronicity Tour was a 1983–1984

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

to promote their fifth album, ''

Synchronicity Synchronicity () is a concept introduced by Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology, to describe events that coincide in time and appear meaningfully related, yet lack a discoverable causal connection. Jung held that this was a healthy fu ...

''. It commenced on July 23, 1983 in

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and concluded on March 4, 1984 in

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. It touched three continents for a total of 105 shows.

History

During the early dates in the first North American leg, the band resided at a mansion in Bridgehampton, New York and were flown to the concerts. This was the band's final tour as a working unit and one of the highest-grossing tours of the 1980s. As the band's album ''Synchronicity'' featured an extensive use of backing vocals Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers were not able to replicate live due to the intricacies of their drums and guitar parts, the live set was augmented by three vocalists – Michelle Cobb, Dolette McDonald and Tessa Niles. This was only the second time the Police would work with additional musicians on stage, the first being the use of a horns section during the Ghost in the Machine Tour in 1981. The grandiosity of the tour and the expectations around it – it came at the end of a five-years progression that saw the Police growing from underground phenomenon to global superstar – put a lot of stress on the band members. "I was never relaxed," drummer Stewart Copeland recalled. "I had so much anxiety. And I know how crazy that must sound to people who do real jobs." Copeland did however cite the 18 August show at

Shea Stadium William A. Shea Municipal Stadium ( ), typically shortened to Shea Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City.septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatment ...

''(

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for 'Yank')'', The Police is an English band and I'm a Londoner – an American Londoner – so it felt like conquering America." According to Sting, the band's performance at Shea Stadium constituted the peak of their career. "I realized that you can't get better than this, you can't climb a mountain higher than this. This is Everest. I made the decision on stage that ok, this is it, this is where this thing stops, right now." The November 2 and 3 shows in

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were filmed and recorded for a live album and a video release. ''Synchronicity Concert'' was originally issued in VHS format in 1984 under the direction of Godley & Creme, who had also been responsible for directing all the music videos from ''Synchronicity''. The film would later be released in DVD format in 2005. The album was mixed but did not materalize until 1995 when it was packaged together with one of the band's early gigs at the Orpheum Theatre in

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under the title '' Live!''. The double album was produced by Andy Summers.

Setlist

The following setlist is obtained from the 18 August 1983 concert held at the Shea Stadium in New York City. It does not represent all concerts during the tour. For the whole duration of the tour, the setlist largely revolved around ''Synchronicity''. All songs from the album, with the exceptions of "Mother" and "Miss Gradenko", were performed. " Invisible Sun" and " Don't Stand So Close to Me", from '' Ghost in the Machine'' and '' Zenyatta Mondatta'' respectively, were performed mostly during the European leg of the tour. During "Hole in My Life" Sting would occasionally add snippets of

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' " Fixing a Hole" or

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

' " Hit the Road Jack". #"Voices Inside My Head" #" Synchronicity I" / " Synchronicity II" #"Walking in Your Footsteps" #" Message in a Bottle" #" Demolition Man" (some shows) #" Walking on the Moon" #"O My God" #" De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" #" Wrapped Around Your Finger' #" Tea in the Sahara" #" Spirits in the Material World" #"Hole in My Life" #"One World (Not Three)" #" King of Pain" #"

Every Breath You Take "Every Breath You Take" is a song by the English rock band the Police from their album ''Synchronicity'' (1983). Written by Sting, the single was the biggest US and Canadian hit of 1983, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart for ei ...

" #"Murder by Numbers" ;Encore #

" Roxanne"

" Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (some shows)

" Can't Stand Losing You" / "Reggatta de Blanc"

" Next to You" (some shows)

" So Lonely"

Opening acts

* Joan Jett & The Blackhearts * A Flock of Seagulls * The Fixx * Ministry *

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Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

* Blue Peter * King Sunny Adé *

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* R.E.M. * Madness * Thompson Twins *

Oingo Boingo Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave music, new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a Surrealism, surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and wri ...

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UB40 UB40 are an English reggae band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy ...

*Passionate Friends *

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

Australian Crawl Australian Crawl (often called Aussie Crawl or The Crawl by fans) were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne (lead vocals/piano/harmonica), Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar), Paul Williams ( bass), Simon Binks (lead guitar) and David ...

* Sunnyboys * Kids in the Kitchen *

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* Re-Flex * Kissing the Pink * China Crisis Leeds Queens Hall The Belle Stars

Tour dates

Personnel

* Sting – lead vocals, bass guitar, double bass, oboe, pan flute * Andy Summers – guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals * Stewart Copeland – drums, percussion, xylophone, backing vocals *Michelle Cobb – backing vocals *Dolette McDonald – backing vocals * Tessa Niles – backing vocals *Danny Quatrochi – bass guitar on "Invisible Sun" and "Walking on The Moon" on Atlanta shows when Sting was filming with the camera.

References

External links

"The Police – Synchronicity Tour – 1983 / 1984" (Archive.org snapshot of fan site)"The Police Synchronicity Tour 1983–84" collection of audio recordings on YouTube"
*https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/re-flex/1984/riverfront-coliseum-cincinnati-oh-6b8f8e16.html {{The Police The Police concert tours 1983 concert tours 1984 concert tours