Without a doubt Andy Summers is a bona-fide legend. Those five albums as lead guitarist for The Police are five of the greatest albums on the rock era. There is no questioning the credentials of Andy Summers but ‘The Cracked Lens + A Missing String’ lost me.
Musically it was a privilege to see the guitar icon close up and personal in the intimate surrounds of the Melbourne Recital Centre. At 80 the man can play.
On paper this show looks like a great idea. Around two hours of music, photos and stories. Songs from Andy’s time with The Police took up five places in the setlist. Selections from Andy’s solo albums made up the rest.
What I didn’t get was why one of the great musicians of the rock era didn’t have a live band. This show is Andy by himself on stage playing guitar to pre-recorded music. Sting was only here 18 months ago so many in the audience (including myself) witnessed both shows and will be drawing comparisons. The photography drives the show and the music was the backdrop. It should have been the other way around.
There is an inconsistency to the timeline as well. The stories jump back and forth through random eras and are more anecdotes than a retelling of rock history. Andy talks about a holiday he once had with Jim Belushi in Bali, magic mushrooms, a Roxanne contest and a trip to Brazil where he arrived worse for wear after taking too many pills to relax. It all sounded like talk show topics for late night TV and slide night at your uncle’s house.
As a show, it was more like a conference topic at SXSW (which if I was attending this at midday in a conference room wouldn’t be a bad idea). Instead this was in one of Melbourne’s most upper-class music halls. The surroundings were a waste with pre-recorded music and narratives.
This was the 53rd performance of ‘The Cracked Lens + A Missing String’ which Andy began in Massachusetts in June 2023. It is no longer “a work in progress”.
‘The Cracked Lens + A Missing String’ is a great concept poorly implemented. I didn’t leave the venue wanting more which I do at every Sting show and definitely did the last time I saw The Police.
Andy Summers setlist, Melbourne
True Nature (from Triboluminescence, 2017)
Metal Dog (from Metal Dog, 2015)
The Bones of Twang Zu
The Last Dance of Mr. X (from The Last Dance of Mr. X, 1997(
Tea in the Sahara (from The Police, Synchronicity, 1983)
‘Round Midnight (from Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonius Monk, 1999)
Roxanne ((from The Police, Outlandos d’Amour, 1978)
Manhã de carnaval (Luiz Bonfá cover)
A Felicidade (Vinicius de Moraes cover)
Triboluminescence (from Triboluminescence, 2017)
Spirits in the Material World (from The Police, Ghost In the Machine, 1981)
Bring On the Night (from The Police, Reggatta de Blanc, 1979)
Encore:
Message in a Bottle (from The Police, Reggatta de Blanc, 1979)
Australian dates to go
Wednesday September 25, The Tivoli, Brisbane
Thursday September 26, City Recital Hall, Sydney
Friday September 27, Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide
Tickets from www.andysummers.com
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