Stewart Copeland is a natural conversationalist. His long and entertaining storytelling at dinner parties eventually led to a spoken word tour in the UK in 2024 in small theatres. After a successful stint in the UK, Copeland is back in Melbourne after an eighteen-year absence to regale us with stories from his time as the drummer in The Police, who blended reggae, jazz and punk to become one of the most successful bands of all time. And tales of his more recent role as a composer.
The evening is set out in two parts; the first hour is in interview style, with Perth musician/ broadcaster Sarah Tout attempting to keep Copeland on track, (talking over photographs projected behind them as prompts), so he doesn’t go off on too many tangents, and the second half is a Q and A format, audience members are asked to write questions on a piece of paper and place them in a drum shell and these are randomly drawn and answered by Copeland. The two parts are broken up by an intermission in between.
Copeland enters the stage and warms up the audience. His lanky, tall frame flits around the stage with boundless energy, and he finally sits on his comfy chair across from Tout
The evening begins in chronological order; Copeland was born in Alexandria Virginia and is the youngest of four siblings, including his sister Lenny. His father, Miles Copeland was an Intelligence officer in the CIA and was assigned duties in the Middle East, which led to the family moving to Beirut when Copeland was 5 years old. He spent his formative years in Beirut, started drumming at the age of 12 and was soon playing school dances where he discovered the transformative power of music. He saw his first crush Janet McRoberts dancing to their rendition of the Animals “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” and his fate as a musician was sealed. Copeland’s drumming was also influenced by the Arabic drumming time signature which shares similarities to reggae.
Copeland is witty and engaging, and whilst Tout tries to keep him on track using the photographs being projected as their backdrop to generate discussion, he can’t help but digress. The evening is unscripted and Copeland has many interesting and humorous anecdotes and stories to tell. “Even without drums I bang on!” exclaims Copeland, which is one of many humorous puns that the punters laugh at.
Copeland tells us his father’s cover was blown by a double agent and the family moved to the UK. Copeland’s brothers Ian and Miles later became successful music managers, and through their influence Copeland learnt everything there was to learn about touring. He became a tour manager for Prog. Rock band Curved Air and between 1975-1976 became their drummer.
Shortly after he met Sting (aka Gordon Sumner) and he founded The Police with Sting on bass and lead vocals and guitarist Henry Padovani, who was soon replaced by Andy Summers. All three were accomplished musicians in their own right, with Copeland confessing to have studied music and composition.
Reminiscing about the early years, Copeland excitedly tells us during his time in The Police, he concurrently formed his own side project Klark Kent, playing all the instruments in the band and released the single “Don’t Care,’ which led to a TV appearance on Top of the Pops predating The Police’s first TV appearance and first single release. The performance featured Sting playing in a monkey suit and Copeland in green face paint and sunglasses to disguise his identity, inciting much laughter from the audience.
There are many similarly hilarious anecdotes throughout the show. The Police disbanded in 1984, before reuniting in 2007-2008 with a world tour. Copeland surmises that the “secret sauce” that made The Police such a great band, was also part of their undoing. Three completely different individuals with differing musical tastes and playing styles, led to arguments and disagreements predominantly with Sting and Copeland, who in his own words he has a lot of love and respect for. In 1982 Copeland composed the music to Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumblefish, and over the years he has composed the soundtrack to many films, to his current role as a composer for orchestras. He loves that the “Orchs” will play whatever is on the page without question.
In the second half during the Q and A when the audience member wants to know whether The Police would ever reform, the answer seems clear. The funniest question of the night is one punter wanting to know “what hotel Stewart Copeland is staying at so he can pick his mother up in the morning”, this leads to raucous laughter from Copeland and the throng.
Stewart Copeland regaled us with entertaining and funny stories and we learnt a bit more about the man and his music. Overall, a highly engaging and funny show.
Upcoming Stewart Copeland shows:
Friday, 16 January – State Theatre, Sydney
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Saturday, 17 January – The Tivoli, Brisbane
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Tuesday, 20 January – Opera House, Wellington
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Wednesday, 21 January – Bruce Mason Centre, Auckland
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