CALL THE POLICE

Well, isn't it great news that Sting finally decided to throw Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland a huge bone by reforming the Police and going out on tour this summer? For fans of the band it certainly came as great news. Shit, even their performance at the Grammys last Sunday got everyone geeked up (I swear the backing vocals were pre-recorded, but that's another story.)

That was of course until their tickets went on sale this week.

In case you missed it, The Police held a presale for their Garden shows on Wednesday. The only thing you needed to do to get in the presale is join The Police Fan Club. Sounds like a great deal, right? I mean, Pearl Jam's fan club costs something like $20 for the year, and you get a free record at X-mas and great seats to their shows and other shit like that.

Well, as it turns out, for the right to purchase $254 tickets before anyone else, you had to pay a $100 fee to join the fan club. $100? Are you fucking kidding me, boys. The real police should be called in on this one. This is outrageous. I think you could also get seats for $95 beans. So let's say, you do that and get 4 seats at that price. So that's $120 for the ticket, plus about $15-20 more in other fees, and you are paying $150 beans to see three cats who haven't put out an album in 20 years. Plus, you know half of the show will be Sting doing his boring solo crap.

Last summer, I ripped Bruce for charging $100 beans for his jug band act. Bruce, I'm sorry. While the tickets were a bit high, at least you didn't pull this crap.

Honestly, this really pisses me off. These cats have money coming out of their arses and all they do is bilk their fans. Now, the people who pay this should be ripped as well since they are pretty much telling these a-holes charge us whatever you want, we'll pay it. Last fall, Todd hooked me up with Chili Pepper tickets that were $75 a pop. That seems like a frigging bargain now.

In think when the Garden shows come along, I'll drop $18 beans for a 30-pack of Miller Lite, put on my Police greatest hits CD and stare at the picture I have of me and Stewart Copeland from the 2005 Emmy awards.

A few other notes:

-- I spotted some kid checking out my daughter today in A&P. Now, my daughter Georgia is only 7, and this kid was about the same age, but it gave me a good glimpse into what I'll be dealing with in about 6-7 years, and let me tell you I'm not ready for it. Hopefully, my young son Kurt will be big enough to deal with all of these cats. Either that, or I may start taking her to some WNBA games.

-- As I sit here typing this, I have The Tonight Show on in the background and I'm wondering what ever happened to that Jay Leno guy who used to be so funny about 20 years ago. Holy shit does this show stink. Plus, to see Stuttering John all cleaned up just doesn't seem right.

-- Speaking of Stuttering John, congrats to Howard Stern on his engagment. Speaking of Stern, I'm getting pumped for the all Sinatra station coming to Sirius in a few months (man, am I getting old or what). Sirius also just unveiled a 90's alt rock station, which is pretty strong as well.

-- Finally, in an effort to make peace with the fans of FNC, I've told the Sandman I could in be for the Rush show at PNC this summer. He told me I'm welcome, but I have a feeeling he's gonna lure me into a whole arena full of Rush heads and then expose me as the guy who called them overrated. Hopefully, the beer count will be extremely high before the show, so I won't care what happens.

-- Speaking of the beer count, it stands at 12.