16.07.2007
USA, Cleveland, Quicken Loans Arena	
Stewart's 55th Birthday	
fair Aud.

Disc 1: [1:01:29]
01. Message In A Bottle [6:24]
02. Synchronicity II [6:19]
03. Walking On The Moon [6:01]
04. Voices Inside My Head / When The World Is Running Down... [7:12]
05. Don't Stand So Close To Me [4:14]
06. Driven To Tears [5:58]
07. Truth Hits Everybody [3:43]
08. The Bed's Too Big Without You [6:09]
09. Every Little Thing She Does [4:56]
10. Wrapped Around Your Finger [6:07]
11. Do Do Do Da Da Da [4:21]
 
Disc 2: [50:11]
01. Invisible Sun [5:22]
02. Walking In Your Footsteps [4:42]
03. Can't Stand Losing You [7:37]
04. Roxanne / Audience Participation [8:50]
05. King Of Pain [5:35]
06. So Lonely [6:13]
07. Every Breath You Take [5:58]
08. Next To You [5:52]

RxR: Recorded by Roche
from section 229, Row 15, Seat 6
Giant Squid Cardioid mics > Sony MZ-R700 minidisc
Sony MD rack optical out > Marantz CD-R630 burner
Ripped to computer with EAC > encoded FLAC 8 with sector align

Here's a fair audience recording of the Police in Cleveland on drummer Stewart Copeland's 55th birthday.  Being a low-budget recording made from the nosebleed seats, it won't rank with the best recordings from the tour.  That said, it's an enjoyable listen, has merit for collectors, and is (thus far) the only capture of this performance.
I tried recording the gig with a patch from an ALD (Assisted Listening Device) I obtained from the venue, but sadly (for the second time) the damn thing just wouldn't work.  Anyone familiar with these devices knows that they're preset to whatever frequency the house is using--or at least they're supposed to be.  In this case, it wasn't, or else reception was just plain impossible in my high-altitude seats.  I fussed with the headphones and my line-in, knowing from previous experience that any reception gained at all will be lost if you remove the phones or move them around.  But it just wasn't to be, and after toying in vain for the first couple songs, I abandoned the ALD altogether and occupied myself with the cardioid microphone recording I had running on my other Sony MD recorder.  At one point early on, you can hear my buddy ask what the hell the problem is with the phones.
I've read mixed reviews about the sound for this performance.  Some say it was great, others say it was muddy.  From where I sat, it was fairly bassy and distorted.  Given that these musicians are (arguably) virtuoso instrumentalists, you'd think the sound technicians would go to drastic lengths to ensure that each instrument would be distinct in the mix.  But that didn't happen, and I found myself missing out on the intricacies of Stewart's percussion prowess.  Telepathically, the guys were tight and Sting's voice was in top form.  No complaints there.
This was my 8-year old daughter's first true concert experience.  She'd been exposed to all the requisite Police tunes at home and in the car, and when a buddy dropped out of coming to the show to attend his son's championship baseball game, I decided my kid should join her dad for the gig.  You'll hear her make observations and ask a question or two during the show, but it's not often and it's not obtrusive.  About twenty minutes into the set, I had to accompany her for a bathroom break, but I left my recording on and when I re-adjusted upon returning to our seats, the sound quality improves a bit.  You probably won't even notice the 'disturbance.'
There's a digital hiccup during "Wrapped Around Your Finger" at about 2:06 and a hiccup during "Invisible Sun" at 2:48.  No more than 1.5 seconds is lost in either case, so rather than edit the tracks to slur the material together, I opted to leave the skips in for purposes of maintaining "real time" in the recording.

Extra Bonus Materials include: Folder with exclusive digital photos from the show (taken from a distance, they suck but what the hell) and about five minutes of MVI video / audio.

Dimeadozen.org: Torrent 154869 (by pmroche)

comment: some gaps and cuts in a few tracks.