Behind Andy's Camel

Last night, I was fortunate enough to be one of a few hundred people at the Arclight screening of "Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out," which is a documentary film of the legendary band The Police. It was shot/edited/everything by drummer Stewart Copeland.

I loved The Police. I can't tell you how much. When I lived in Maryland, I drove to Philadelphia to see them. I drove to New York (Long Island somewhere, I think) to go to an Andy Summers book signing. I went to a polo match at the Potomac Polo club to see Stewart Copeland play. Hardcore.

This movie is for the hardcore. It's, as Stewart put it, a "home movie." Nothing more, nothing less. There are all sorts of cool and amazing candid bits (Sting teaching Andy "Driven to Tears" was way too amazing, along with the Zenyatta Mondatta photo shoot, Stewart talking to the camera during a show, etc.) that could not have been captured by anyone but one of the band members.

Luckily, I dropped a dram (took a dramamine) before the show, so that I didn't have a repeat of Sunday's motion sickness fiasco. And thank god I did. I would have totally puked about 6 seconds into the movie. It is truly a glimpse into the whirlwind of being one of the world's biggest bands.

After the movie, Stewart (I feel like calling him "Mr. Copeland" in a New York Times sortof way) did a question-and-answer session with the crowd. Some of the questions were respectful ("How long did it take you to edit the film?") and some were predictable ("Will there ever be a Police reunion?" - by the way, the answer was a firm NO.). The whole evening was a slice of life - just a peek into the world of one of my favorite bands of all time.

The name of this blogpost comes from what the "working title" of this movie was. Stewart mentioned that Andy always came up with the best titles of songs - one of his favorites was 'Behind My Camel.' However, the marketing folk got ahold of the title (dagnappit) and wanted it to be something more obviously Police-like. Hence: Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out. Although I have a newfound affinity for "Behind Andy's Camel."

Footnote: guitarist Andy Summers was also in the audience. Having cut a deal with the devil - he looks exactly as he did 25 years ago, apparently he and Stewart still hang out and are friendly. Both Stewart and Andy were in the audience at the Arclight last night. In February, Sting was about ten feet from me at the MusiCares James Taylor event. Twenty years ago, if you would have told me that over the course of two months, I'd be within INCHES of all three members of The Police, I probably would have passed out.