Synchronicity Tour Explained

Concert Tour Name:Synchronicity Tour
Artist:The Police
Album:Synchronicity
Start Date:23 July 1983
End Date:4 March 1984
Number Of Legs:6
Number Of Shows:66 in North America
36 in Europe
3 in Australia
105 total
Last Tour:Ghost in the Machine Tour
(1981–1982)
This Tour:Synchronicity Tour
(1983–1984)
Next Tour:A Conspiracy of Hope
(1986)

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.

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

Leeds Queens Hall The Belle Stars

Tour dates

Date! scope="col" style="width:13em;"
CityCountryVenueAttendanceGross
North America[6]
23 July 1983ChicagoUnited StatesComiskey Park44,622 / 50,000$651,243
24 July 1983St. LouisCheckerdome20,095 / 20,095$227,902
25 July 1983IndianapolisMarket Square Arena16,041 / 16,041$210,525
28 July 1983DetroitJoe Louis Arena36,345 / 36,345$445,226
29 July 1983
30 July 1983Cleveland18,728 / 18,728$234,100
2 August 1983MontrealCanadaSpectrum de MontréalN/A
3 August 1983Olympic Stadium38,617 / 40,000$690,416
5 August 1983TorontoN/A
7 August 1983RochesterUnited StatesHolleder Memorial Stadium30,000 / 30,000$450,000
8 August 1983Pittsburgh15,222 / 15,222$209,514
10 August 1983FoxboroughSullivan Stadium61,000 / 61,000$1,003,000
12 August 1983HartfordHartford Civic Center32,151 / 32,151$463,715
13 August 1983
15 August 1983NorfolkN/A
18 August 1983New York CityShea Stadium67,000 / 67,000$1,130,000
20 August 1983PhiladelphiaN/A
21 August 1983Landover
22 August 1983
24 August 1983Bloomington
25 August 198314,709 / 17,000$210,437
27 August 1983WinnipegCanadaWinnipeg Arena16,246 / 16,246$241,848
29 August 1983Edmonton17,043 / 17,043$256,771
31 August 1983Vancouver16,357 / 16,357$287,001
1 September 1983TacomaUnited StatesN/A
3 September 1983Portland
5 September 1983San DiegoAztec Bowl20,000 / 20,000$298,950
6 September 1983InglewoodHollywood Park RacetrackN/A
8 September 1983PhoenixPhoenix Municipal Stadium21,330 / 23,000$322,783
10 September 1983Oakland59,800 / 59,800$1,066,500
11 September 1983FresnoRatcliffe StadiumN/A
Europe
17 September 1983AugsburgWest GermanyN/A
18 September 1983Darmstadt
20 September 1983DijonFrancePalais des Congrès
21 September 1983Paris
23 September 1983Nîmes
24 September 1983Fréjus
26 September 1983Nantes
27 September 1983ToulousePalais des Sports de Toulouse
30 September 1983MadridSpainEstadio Román Valero
1 October 1983BarcelonaCamp Municipal Narcís Sala
3 October 1983LyonFrance
4 October 1983RotterdamNetherlands
6 October 1983CologneWest GermanySporthalle Köln
7 October 1983HamburgErnst-Merck-Halle
9 October 1983West Berlin
10 October 1983Dortmund
13 October 1983CopenhagenDenmark
14 October 1983StockholmSweden
North America[7]
28 October 1983MiamiUnited States48,920 / 48,920$742,895
29 October 1983OrlandoN/A
31 October 1983Tallahassee
2 November 1983Atlanta33,174 / 33,174$418,990
3 November 1983
5 November 1983KnoxvilleStokely Athletic Center12,268 / 12,268$168,539
6 November 1983LexingtonRupp Arena21,805 / 21,805$286,279
8 November 1983BirminghamBJCC Coliseum14,638 / 14,638$197,613
10 November 1983Baton RougeLSU Assembly Center13,014 / 13,014$175,689
11 November 1983BiloxiMississippi Coast Coliseum14,980 / 14,980$202,230
13 November 1983DallasReunion Arena34,813 / 36,000$465,494
14 November 1983
16 November 1983Houston33,141 / 33,141$452,485
17 November 1983
19 November 1983AustinSouthpark MeadowsN/A
20 November 1983Oklahoma City
22 November 1983Denver17,706 / 17,706$259,524
24 November 1983Kansas CityN/A
25 November 1983Park City
27 November 1983Cedar FallsUNI-Dome18,718 / 20,000$277,500
28 November 1983ChampaignN/A
Europe
8 December 1983EdinburghScotlandEdinburgh PlayhouseN/A
9 December 1983
11 December 1983Glasgow
12 December 1983BlackpoolEngland
14 December 1983NottinghamNottingham Royal Concert Hall
15 December 1983Leeds
17 December 1983St Austell
18 December 1983
20 December 1983Birmingham
21 December 1983
23 December 1983Brighton
24 December 1983
27 December 1983London
28 December 1983
30 December 1983
31 December 1983
30 January 1984RomeItaly
31 January 1984
North America[8]
4 February 1984SyracuseUnited StatesCarrier DomeN/A
5 February 1984ProvidenceProvidence Civic Center13,349 / 13,349$227,235
7 February 1984Atlantic City18,186 / 18,186$298,567
8 February 1984WilliamsburgWilliam & Mary HallN/A
10 February 1984GreensboroGreensboro Coliseum31,106 / 31,106$419,688
11 February 1984
13 February 1984CharlestonCharleston Civic Center11,259 / 13,202$166,170
14 February 1984CincinnatiN/A
16 February 1984MemphisMid-South Coliseum11,401 / 11,401$171,015
17 February 1984CarbondaleN/A
19 February 1984Rosemont
20 February 1984Milwaukee
22 February 1984Buffalo
Oceania
25 February 1984HonoluluUnited StatesAloha StadiumN/A
29 February 1984AucklandNew Zealand
2 March 1984SydneyAustralia
4 March 1984Melbourne

Personnel

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Summers, Andy. 5. One Train Later. 3 October 2006. Macmillan . 0312359144.
  2. News: Pearce. Garth. Shea, yeah, yeah.... The Daily Express. 18 August 1983.
  3. Mark . Blake . Mark Blake (writer). The Great Return . . 258 . January 2008 . 57.
  4. Paul. Lester. Heavy Load. Classic Rock. 247. April 2018. 130.
  5. Web site: Andy Harris . The Paperboy's Archive: The Police Play Shea and Sting Decides to Quit . Paperboyarchive.com . 2018-08-18 . 2021-11-23.
  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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