Stewart Copeland & Friends

A rich, full, short and highly intense concert on a calm Friday evening in Rome. Playing first and foremost is Stewart Copeland, one of those drummers who, behind the kit for The Police, helped write rock history. Backing him are Italian musicians of the highest caliber, who helped create a truly distinctive atmosphere in the evocative setting of the Casa del Jazz.

Among the highlights of the evening that helped forge an immediate bond with the audience was an excellent interview before the show proper, in which - through words and previously unseen footage from the Police days - some of the key moments and most significant events in the story of the Anglo-American trio were revisited. Providing the backdrop to the anecdotes and episodes was the difficult relationship between Sting and Copeland, which, not least, resurfaced during their reunion a few years back. The whole thing was framed around the presentation of the book ("Strange Things Happen: My Life with the Police, Polo and Pygmies", Minimum Fax, 2011), which recounts the English drummer's behind-the-scenes stories and truths, with genuinely interesting glimpses into his life and personal experiences.

Opening the show was the trio led by Copeland's own son: Hot Head Show. Each of them monstrously skilled on their instrument, a bit unhinged and at times psychedelic ("The Lemon Lp" is their second and final album - just listen to "Chopstickabean" and "Bambini" to believe it...), in half an hour they wowed the crowd with vocal and musical virtuosity and warmed up the stage for the superband.

And it really is fair to call it a superband: alongside Copeland Sr. are artists like John De Leo, Max Gazzè and Niccolò Fabi, with Cesare "Mac" Petricich of Negrita on guitar, Armand Sabal Lecco (Simon & Garfunkel) on bass, Mauro Refosco on percussion, and on piano Vittorio Cosma (PFM, Elio e Le Storie Tese) and Gianni Maroccolo (Litfiba, CSI and PGR). Refosco opens on vocals with a couple of "exotic"-sounding pieces, before passing the baton to someone who has sought, and continues to seek, to turn the voice into a genuine instrument: former Quintorigo singer John De Leo, who in his usual highly distinctive style - one that certainly draws attention and curiosity - masterfully performed two songs, offering yet another (needless to say) demonstration of his immense vocal talent. Max Gazzè, who took the stage with a cheat sheet in hand, made "Don't Box Me In" his own, the old hit sung by Stan Ridgway, which in 1983 soundtracked the film "Rumble Fish".

After Gazzé's performance, his friend Niccolò Fabi, currently in the midst of his own personal tour, delivered a heartfelt and thoroughly successful personal rendition of "Darkness", a track from Police's 1981 album "Ghost In The Machine". To round off the lovely evening, a communal singalong version of "Does Everyone Stare?" (track ten from "Reggatta de Blanc", written by Copeland himself) saw Fabi on top form, with Gazzé lending his support on backing vocals.

Great music on this intense, nostalgia-tinged Roman evening, with Copeland stealing the show and as spectacular as ever — sporting his trademark white boxing gloves and headband — backed by musicians of the highest calibre, reworking past songs in new guises, in shows whose only flaw is being too short.

The drumstick toss at the end, tossed behind the cymbals and drum shells, is the icing on the cake of the evening: a signature gesture from a legendary musician who proves he can still throw himself into the game time and again, even in more "intimate" settings than the big shows Police fans have grown used to, showing off skill and a love of music that are simply out of the ordinary.

Ride the wave of great music

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