Tuesday 7 June 2011

Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out (2006) - Stewart Copeland


Tuesday 7th June 2011.

Shortish (75 minute) documentary made up from Police drummer Copeland's own Super 8 footage of his days with the band. The footage itself is exactly what you'd expect, and is the real selling point of the doc, after all you get to see what goes on behind the curtain. The only problem being there doesn't really appear to be too much going on behind the scenes. This coupled with Copeland's awful narration - sort of halfway between some crummy pulp novel and a kids diary - make this less essential than one might expect.

Sure Police fans will (or probably have) lap it up, but for the average punter who just likes seeing bands imploding I'd say go watch the Anvil/Metallica/Dandy Warhols documentaries instead, or better still Uli M. Schüppel's The Road to God Knows Where. I think this might have been better if Stewie had turned over his footage to someone else, that way we might have had a little more focus on what was actually going on, rather than the 'boo hoo being in a band is tough 'cos you have to be away from home' type narration.

Anyway he takes us from The Police's faux punk beginnings through to their ultimate stadium demise. Anyone with a bit of music biz savy will know what to expect, it's all lads together in a van gigging from town to town for beer and petrol money at the start, and separate suites by the end. Of course the early days are rose tinted, and the end times aren't really discussed much beyond lil Stew thinking that he hasn't driven his own car for a few years, and maybe all this world domination stuff is getting a little dull. On the whole I'd say worth watching once, if only to shake your head at just how bad Copeland's stage attire was. However if you're expecting some insight as to how one of the biggest bands in the world suddenly wasn't there anymore, then this isn't for you.

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