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.
History 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. 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." 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."
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."
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 on VHS 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 on DVD 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 exceptions 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".
"Voices Inside My Head" "Synchronicity I" / "Synchronicity II" "Walking in Your Footsteps" "Message in a Bottle" "Demolition Man" (some shows) "Walking on the Moon" "O My God" "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" "Wrapped Around Your Finger' "Tea in the Sahara" "Spirits in the Material World" "Hole in My Life" "One World (Not Three)" "King of Pain" "Every Breath You Take" "Murder by Numbers"
Encore "Roxanne" "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (some shows) "Can't Stand Losing You" / "Reggatta de Blanc" "Next to You" (some shows) "So Lonely"
Opening acts Joan Jett & The Blackhearts A Flock of Seagulls The Fixx Ministry Stevie Ray Vaughan Peter Tosh Talking Heads Blue Peter King Sunny Adé James Brown R.E.M. Madness Thompson Twins Oingo Boingo The Animals UB40 Passionate Friends Bryan Adams Australian Crawl Sunnyboys Kids in the Kitchen Split Enz Berlin Re-Flex Kissing the Pink China Crisis The Alarm
Tour dates +List of tour dates, showing date, city, country, venue, attendance, grossDateCityCountryVenueAttendanceGrossNorth AmericaFirst North American Leg Box Office Data: Indianapolis (25 July): Chicago (23 July), St. Louis (24 July), Detroit (28–29 July): Cleveland (30 July), Montreal (3 August), Pittsburgh (8 August): Rochester (7 August), Foxborough (10 August), Hartford (12–13 August): New York City (18 August): Minneapolis (25 August): Winnipeg (27 August), Edmonton (29 August), Vancouver (31 August): San Diego (5 September), Phoenix (8 September), Oakland (10 September): 23 July 1983ChicagoUnited StatesComiskey Park44,622 / 50,000$651,24324 July 1983St. LouisCheckerdome20,095 / 20,095$227,90225 July 1983IndianapolisMarket Square Arena16,041 / 16,041$210,52528 July 1983DetroitJoe Louis Arena36,345 / 36,345$445,22629 July 198330 July 1983ClevelandRichfield Coliseum 18,728 / 18,728$234,1002 August 1983MontrealCanadaSpectrum de MontréalN/A3 August 1983Olympic Stadium38,617 / 40,000$690,4165 August 1983TorontoCNE Grandstand N/A7 August 1983RochesterUnited StatesHolleder Memorial Stadium30,000 / 30,000$450,0008 August 1983PittsburghCivic Arena 15,222 / 15,222$209,51410 August 1983FoxboroughSullivan Stadium61,000 / 61,000$1,003,00012 August 1983HartfordHartford Civic Center32,151 / 32,151$463,71513 August 198315 August 1983NorfolkScope Auditorium N/A18 August 1983New York CityShea Stadium67,000 / 67,000$1,130,00020 August 1983PhiladelphiaJohn F. Kennedy Stadium N/A21 August 1983LandoverCapital Centre 22 August 198324 August 1983BloomingtonMet Center 25 August 198314,709 / 17,000$210,43727 August 1983WinnipegCanadaWinnipeg Arena16,246 / 16,246$241,84829 August 1983EdmontonNorthlands Coliseum 17,043 / 17,043$256,77131 August 1983VancouverPacific Coliseum 16,357 / 16,357$287,0011 September 1983TacomaUnited StatesTacoma Dome N/A3 September 1983PortlandPortland Memorial Coliseum 5 September 1983San DiegoAztec Bowl20,000 / 20,000$298,9506 September 1983InglewoodHollywood Park RacetrackN/A8 September 1983PhoenixPhoenix Municipal Stadium21,330 / 23,000$322,78310 September 1983OaklandOakland–Alameda County Coliseum 59,800 / 59,800$1,066,50011 September 1983FresnoRatcliffe StadiumN/AEurope17 September 1983AugsburgWest GermanyRosenaustadion N/A18 September 1983DarmstadtStadion am Böllenfalltor 20 September 1983DijonFrancePalais des Congrès21 September 1983ParisVélodrome de Vincennes 23 September 1983NîmesArènes de Nîmes 24 September 1983FréjusAmphithéâtre de Fréjus 26 September 1983NantesParc des Expositions de la Beaujoire 27 September 1983ToulousePalais des Sports de Toulouse30 September 1983MadridSpainEstadio Román Valero1 October 1983BarcelonaCamp Municipal Narcís Sala3 October 1983LyonFrancePalais des Sports de Gerland 4 October 1983RotterdamNetherlandsRotterdam Ahoy Sportpaleis 6 October 1983CologneWest GermanySporthalle Köln7 October 1983HamburgErnst-Merck-Halle9 October 1983West BerlinEissporthalle an der Jafféstraße 10 October 1983DortmundWestfalenhalle 13 October 1983CopenhagenDenmarkBrøndby Stadium 14 October 1983StockholmSwedenJohanneshovs Isstadion North AmericaSecond North American Leg Box Office Data: Miami (28 October): Atlanta (2–3 November), Knoxville (5 November), Lexington (6 November): Birmingham (8 November): Dallas (13–14 November), Houston (16–17 November): Birmingham (8 November), Baton Rouge (10 November), Cedar Falls (27 November): Denver (22 November): 28 October 1983MiamiUnited StatesMiami Orange Bowl 48,920 / 48,920$742,89529 October 1983OrlandoFlorida Citrus Bowl N/A31 October 1983TallahasseeTallahassee-Leon County Civic Center 2 November 1983AtlantaOmni Coliseum 33,174 / 33,174$418,9903 November 19835 November 1983KnoxvilleStokely Athletic Center12,268 / 12,268$168,5396 November 1983LexingtonRupp Arena21,805 / 21,805$286,2798 November 1983BirminghamBJCC Coliseum14,638 / 14,638$197,61310 November 1983Baton RougeLSU Assembly Center13,014 / 13,014$175,68911 November 1983BiloxiMississippi Coast Coliseum14,980 / 14,980$202,23013 November 1983DallasReunion Arena34,813 / 36,000$465,49414 November 198316 November 1983HoustonThe Summit 33,141 / 33,141$452,48517 November 198319 November 1983AustinSouthpark MeadowsN/A20 November 1983Oklahoma CityMCC Arena 22 November 1983DenverMcNichols Sports Arena 17,706 / 17,706$259,52424 November 1983Kansas CityKemper Arena N/A25 November 1983Park CityKansas Coliseum 27 November 1983Cedar FallsUNI-Dome18,718 / 20,000$277,50028 November 1983ChampaignAssembly Hall N/AEurope8 December 1983EdinburghScotlandEdinburgh PlayhouseN/A9 December 198311 December 1983GlasgowApollo 12 December 1983BlackpoolEnglandOpera House Theatre 14 December 1983NottinghamNottingham Royal Concert Hall15 December 1983LeedsQueens Hall 17 December 1983St AustellCornwall Coliseum 18 December 198320 December 1983BirminghamNEC Arena 21 December 198323 December 1983BrightonBrighton Centre 24 December 198327 December 1983LondonWembley Arena 28 December 198330 December 198331 December 198330 January 1984RomeItalyPalazzo dello Sport 31 January 1984North AmericaThird North American Leg Box Office Data: Providence (5 February): Atlantic City (7 February), Greensboro (10–11 February): Charleston (13 February), Memphis (16 February): 4 February 1984SyracuseUnited StatesCarrier DomeN/A5 February 1984ProvidenceProvidence Civic Center13,349 / 13,349$227,2357 February 1984Atlantic CityBoardwalk Hall 18,186 / 18,186$298,5678 February 1984WilliamsburgWilliam & Mary HallN/A10 February 1984GreensboroGreensboro Coliseum31,106 / 31,106$419,68811 February 198413 February 1984CharlestonCharleston Civic Center11,259 / 13,202$166,17014 February 1984CincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum N/A16 February 1984MemphisMid-South Coliseum11,401 / 11,401$171,01517 February 1984CarbondaleSIU Arena N/A19 February 1984RosemontRosemont Horizon 20 February 1984MilwaukeeMECCA Arena 22 February 1984BuffaloBuffalo Memorial Auditorium Oceania25 February 1984Honolulu United StatesAloha StadiumN/A29 February 1984AucklandNew ZealandWestern Springs Stadium 2 March 1984SydneyAustraliaSydney Showgrounds 4 March 1984MelbourneMelbourne Showgrounds
Personnel Sting – lead vocals, bass guitar, double bass, oboe, pan flute Andy Summers – guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals Stewart Copeland – drums, percussion, xylophone, backing vocals Michelle Cobb – backing vocals Dolette McDonald – backing vocals Tessa Niles – backing vocals Danny Quatrochi – bass guitar on "Invisible Sun" and "Walking on The Moon" on Atlanta shows when Sting was filming with the camera.
References
External links "The Police – Synchronicity Tour – 1983 / 1984" (Archive.org snapshot of fan site) "The Police Synchronicity Tour 1983–84" collection of audio recordings on YouTube" https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/re-flex/1984/riverfront-coliseum-cincinnati-oh-6b8f8e16.html