From Billboard.com (I love Stewart's quote about a new solo album "It's sort of like Sting's lute thing-so gay, but OK"):

As expected, the Police plan to release a live CD and DVD from its reunion tour later this year. Drummer Stewart Copeland tells Billboard.com the group filmed and recorded two shows, Dec. 1-2 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the projects, which are due out later this year.

"Those rockin' Argentines -- man, are they noisy," Copeland recalls. "It was a pretty exciting show." The DVD will also include a documentary about the tour, titled "Better Than Therapy" and directed by Copeland's son, Jordan, who the drummer calls "a much better filmmaker than me.

"He totally gets right under our skins, the little bastard, and his analysis of the group is better than any I've seen," says Copeland, who turned his home movies into his own film called "Everyone Stares: the Police Inside Out."

He adds that in the documentary, "it's unbelievable to see the early rehearsals compared to where we're at now. Some of them were so raw we had to take them out, some of the scenes. But he's still got the nitty gritty there, with us each grappling with the reality of life in the band again."

Copeland reiterates that there will be no life for the Police after the tour ends on Aug. 7 at a benefit for New York public TV stations at Madison Square Garden. "It was always planned as a very finite thing," Copeland says. "In the back of our minds there was the possible 'Who knows? Maybe if some new material comes up or something like that, you never know...' But the mission has always been finite."

But it's not like the Police didn't roll any tape during their time together. Copeland confirms that he, singer-bassist Sting and guitarist Andy Summers made an unsuccessful attempt at recording a new version of "Truth Hits Everybody" from the trio's 1979 debut album, "Outlandos d'Amour." The song was played at a much slower tempo live during the reunion tour.

"We went into the studio, laid down a backing track and immediately disagreed about where to go with it," Copeland recalls. "And since there wasn't an audience cheering at us ... it just kind of withered on the vine."

Copeland has done some solo projects during the tour, including a five-note melody for Blackberry's new Bold model and a violin piece. He's currently finalizing a commission "with a major orchestra to write a major concerto" after the tour ends. "It's sort of like Sting's lute thing -- so gay, but OK," Copeland says. "Real uncommercial, career suicide moves is probably what you'll be seeing from the three of us over the next year or two before we get back into the business of earning a living from our music."

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(Pre-order links not available yet.)

Good news about the upcoming live releases, but I doubt this will really be the last go-round for The Police... as Copeland himself inadvertently suggests, just give it a few years.

did the police play anything new on this tour?

if not, how much different can this live album be from the last one?

RENNY

Renny:
The arrangements were radically different (as well as the keys songs were played in) on a number of songs and they also played songs that did not appear on the last live record. Also, that live record was a combo of two shows from '79 and '83. To be honest, I feel they sounded much better this time around than on the Synchronicity tour or the '86 shows for Amnesty International.
We're planning on seeing The Police and Elvis Costello in 2 weeks here in Philly (July 29) as there are still a few "cheap seats" available at $50 and the set list has changed since last year.


good to know,

thanks.

Anyone have any hints or tricks about how to keep the discs and booklet inside this incredibly cheap packaging? When I took the blu-ray version out of the slipcase, everything (booklet and all three discs) went everywhere. And did so again when I resleeved it. Would it really have cost Best Buy that much more to put in the regular type of plastic clips -- you know, ones that are capable of holding a disc in place? These nipple-like nubs are worthless. And there's no place for the booklet at all. Just stuck inside. Who designs this crap and why are they allowed to do this for a living?

The packaging for this release is cheap garbage. Too bad, because the content is decent.

I found pressing down somewhat hard on the discs keeps them in place. Great looking and sounding dvds. My only minor complaint is they could have mixed in a little more of the crowd to capture the incredibly energized crowd.

I got the DVD version, and the packaging is pathetic. It is really, really bad. It won't hold the CD's and DVD's in place whatsoever. They just fall to the ground. Who the heck made that decision? I have Four Flicks from the Stones which came out thru Best Buy, and the packaging is just fine. This has to be the worst packaging I have ever seen for a commercially released DVD.

Thank goodness for double capacity slim jim cases........

- side: I got the vinyl 3LP set and it's a double gatefold so two of the LPS have to slip into one side. There's a single sheet of photos. Very cheap. Very cheesy.

+ side: You DO get a 'free' download of the album so you can listen to on your computer or burn discs for your car or friends. Sonically it's excellent.

The CD/DVD set was only $17.99 Canadian up here, too good to pass up. Very impressive package.