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Synchronicity Tour

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The Synchronicity Tour was a 1983–1984 concert tour by The Police to promote their fifth album, Synchronicity. It commenced on July 23, 1983 in Chicago and concluded on March 4, 1984 in Melbourne. It touched three continents for a total of 105 shows.

Synchronicity Tour
Tour by The Police
Associated albumSynchronicity
Start date23 July 1983
End date4 March 1984
Legs6
No. of shows66 in North America
36 in Europe
3 in Australia
105 total
The Police concert chronology

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.[1][2] 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."[3] Copeland did however cite the 18 August show at Shea Stadium as the peak of "Policemania": "Playing Shea Stadium was big because, even though I'm a septic tank (rhyming slang for 'Yank'), The Police is an English band and I'm a Londoner – an American Londoner – so it felt like conquering America."[4]

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."[5]

The November 2 and 3 shows in Atlanta 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 Boston 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 exception 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 The Beatles' "Fixing a Hole" or Ray Charles' "Hit the Road Jack".

  1. "Voices Inside My Head"
  2. "Synchronicity I" / "Synchronicity II"
  3. "Walking in Your Footsteps"
  4. "Message in a Bottle"
  5. "Demolition Man" (some shows)
  6. "Walking on the Moon"
  7. "O My God"
  8. "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"
  9. "Wrapped Around Your Finger'
  10. "Tea in the Sahara"
  11. "Spirits in the Material World"
  12. "Hole in My Life"
  13. "One World (Not Three)"
  14. "King of Pain"
  15. "Every Breath You Take"
  16. "Murder by Numbers"
Encore
  2. "Roxanne"
  4. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (some shows)
  6. "Can't Stand Losing You" / "Reggatta de Blanc"
  8. "Next to You" (some shows)
  10. "So Lonely"

Opening acts

Tour dates

List of tour dates, showing date, city, country, venue, attendance, gross
Date City Country Venue Attendance Gross
North America[6]
23 July 1983 Chicago United States Comiskey Park 44,622 / 50,000 $651,243
24 July 1983 St. Louis Checkerdome 20,095 / 20,095 $227,902
25 July 1983 Indianapolis Market Square Arena 16,041 / 16,041 $210,525
28 July 1983 Detroit Joe Louis Arena 36,345 / 36,345 $445,226
29 July 1983
30 July 1983 Cleveland Richfield Coliseum 18,728 / 18,728 $234,100
2 August 1983 Montreal Canada Spectrum de Montréal N/A
3 August 1983 Olympic Stadium 38,617 / 40,000 $690,416
5 August 1983 Toronto CNE Grandstand N/A
7 August 1983 Rochester United States Holleder Memorial Stadium 30,000 / 30,000 $450,000
8 August 1983 Pittsburgh Civic Arena 15,222 / 15,222 $209,514
10 August 1983 Foxborough Sullivan Stadium 61,000 / 61,000 $1,003,000
12 August 1983 Hartford Hartford Civic Center 32,151 / 32,151 $463,715
13 August 1983
15 August 1983 Norfolk Scope Auditorium N/A
18 August 1983 New York City Shea Stadium 67,000 / 67,000 $1,130,000
20 August 1983 Philadelphia John F. Kennedy Stadium N/A
21 August 1983 Landover Capital Centre
22 August 1983
24 August 1983 Bloomington Met Center
25 August 1983 14,709 / 17,000 $210,437
27 August 1983 Winnipeg Canada Winnipeg Arena 16,246 / 16,246 $241,848
29 August 1983 Edmonton Northlands Coliseum 17,043 / 17,043 $256,771
31 August 1983 Vancouver Pacific Coliseum 16,357 / 16,357 $287,001
1 September 1983 Tacoma United States Tacoma Dome N/A
3 September 1983 Portland Portland Memorial Coliseum
5 September 1983 San Diego Aztec Bowl 20,000 / 20,000 $298,950
6 September 1983 Inglewood Hollywood Park Racetrack N/A
8 September 1983 Phoenix Phoenix Municipal Stadium 21,330 / 23,000 $322,783
10 September 1983 Oakland Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 59,800 / 59,800 $1,066,500
11 September 1983 Fresno Ratcliffe Stadium N/A
Europe
17 September 1983 Augsburg West Germany Rosenaustadion N/A
18 September 1983 Darmstadt Stadion am Böllenfalltor
20 September 1983 Dijon France Palais des Congrès
21 September 1983 Paris Vélodrome de Vincennes
23 September 1983 Nîmes Arènes de Nîmes
24 September 1983 Fréjus Amphithéâtre de Fréjus
26 September 1983 Nantes Parc des Expositions de la Beaujoire
27 September 1983 Toulouse Palais des Sports de Toulouse
30 September 1983 Madrid Spain Estadio Román Valero
1 October 1983 Barcelona Camp Municipal Narcís Sala
3 October 1983 Lyon France Palais des Sports de Gerland
4 October 1983 Rotterdam Netherlands Rotterdam Ahoy Sportpaleis
6 October 1983 Cologne West Germany Sporthalle Köln
7 October 1983 Hamburg Ernst-Merck-Halle
9 October 1983 West Berlin Eissporthalle an der Jafféstraße
10 October 1983 Dortmund Westfalenhalle
13 October 1983 Copenhagen Denmark Brøndby Stadium
14 October 1983 Stockholm Sweden Johanneshovs Isstadion
North America[7]
28 October 1983 Miami United States Miami Orange Bowl 48,920 / 48,920 $742,895
29 October 1983 Orlando Florida Citrus Bowl N/A
31 October 1983 Tallahassee Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center
2 November 1983 Atlanta Omni Coliseum 33,174 / 33,174 $418,990
3 November 1983
5 November 1983 Knoxville Stokely Athletic Center 12,268 / 12,268 $168,539
6 November 1983 Lexington Rupp Arena 21,805 / 21,805 $286,279
8 November 1983 Birmingham BJCC Coliseum 14,638 / 14,638 $197,613
10 November 1983 Baton Rouge LSU Assembly Center 13,014 / 13,014 $175,689
11 November 1983 Biloxi Mississippi Coast Coliseum 14,980 / 14,980 $202,230
13 November 1983 Dallas Reunion Arena 34,813 / 36,000 $465,494
14 November 1983
16 November 1983 Houston The Summit 33,141 / 33,141 $452,485
17 November 1983
19 November 1983 Austin Southpark Meadows N/A
20 November 1983 Oklahoma City MCC Arena
22 November 1983 Denver McNichols Sports Arena 17,706 / 17,706 $259,524
24 November 1983 Kansas City Kemper Arena N/A
25 November 1983 Park City Kansas Coliseum
27 November 1983 Cedar Falls UNI-Dome 18,718 / 20,000 $277,500
28 November 1983 Champaign Assembly Hall N/A
Europe
8 December 1983 Edinburgh Scotland Edinburgh Playhouse N/A
9 December 1983
11 December 1983 Glasgow Apollo
12 December 1983 Blackpool England Opera House Theatre
14 December 1983 Nottingham Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
15 December 1983 Leeds Queens Hall
17 December 1983 St Austell Cornwall Coliseum
18 December 1983
20 December 1983 Birmingham NEC Arena
21 December 1983
23 December 1983 Brighton Brighton Centre
24 December 1983
27 December 1983 London Wembley Arena
28 December 1983
30 December 1983
31 December 1983
30 January 1984 Rome Italy Palazzo dello Sport
31 January 1984
North America[8]
4 February 1984 Syracuse United States Carrier Dome N/A
5 February 1984 Providence Providence Civic Center 13,349 / 13,349 $227,235
7 February 1984 Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall 18,186 / 18,186 $298,567
8 February 1984 Williamsburg William & Mary Hall N/A
10 February 1984 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum 31,106 / 31,106 $419,688
11 February 1984
13 February 1984 Charleston Charleston Civic Center 11,259 / 13,202 $166,170
14 February 1984 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum N/A
16 February 1984 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum 11,401 / 11,401 $171,015
17 February 1984 Carbondale SIU Arena N/A
19 February 1984 Rosemont Rosemont Horizon
20 February 1984 Milwaukee MECCA Arena
22 February 1984 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
25 February 1984 Honolulu Aloha Stadium
Australasia
29 February 1984 Auckland New Zealand Western Springs Stadium N/A
2 March 1984 Sydney Australia Sydney Showgrounds
4 March 1984 Melbourne Melbourne Showgrounds

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

  1. ^ Summers, Andy (3 October 2006). One Train Later. p. 5. ISBN 0312359144.
  2. ^ Pearce, Garth (18 August 1983). "Shea, yeah, yeah..." The Daily Express.
  3. ^ Blake, Mark (January 2008). "The Great Return". Q. No. 258. p. 57.
  4. ^ Lester, Paul (April 2018). "Heavy Load". Classic Rock. No. 247. p. 130.
  5. ^ Andy Harris (18 August 2018). "The Paperboy's Archive: The Police Play Shea and Sting Decides to Quit". Paperboyarchive.com. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  6. ^ First North American Leg Box Office Data:
  7. ^ Second North American Leg Box Office Data:
  8. ^ Third North American Leg Box Office Data:
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