First, a thank you to all my friends who have voted for me so far–it means a lot! I thought I’d take a moment to explain why I chose the picture I did for the contest instead of just pimping and promoting for more votes (although I’ll get to that in a bit.)

As I mentioned in the description, I took this picture at the final Police concert at Madison Square Garden on August 7, 2008. Was it the best concert I ever saw (or even best Police concert)? Musically, mmm, maybe not. I tend to think the band’s earlier performances, specifically Jones Beach Night 2 and Holmdel were absolutely the peak of intensity, musically. The band rocked it hard and tight at Holmdel, and then went completely batshit crazy at JB2.

But the magic of that final night–being there with all of my friends, my “family” of Nutters, Snarks, tpt’ers, xmissionites, and other crazy Police fans–was unforgettable. That I was there, at the front, against the barricade with so many of these friends (and able to see many of the rest of you in sections 119 and 111 waving your “Thank you” flags) was a musical (and more) moment that will never be matched in my mind.

And then there was the fact that so many of us were there thanks to Stewart, and his generosity in giving away all those tickets to the sc.netters. I didn’t get really emotional at any Police concert until that night, from knowing it was the end, from being there with everyone, for getting to experience something I never thought I’d have the chance to as a fan who had once believed a reunion tour was an impossible dream to hold on to, that I’d never get the chance to see my favorite band play live.

I could have chosen any number of photos from that night for the contest, but I chose this one because it encapsulates so much of what I love about Stewart — his passion for the music and the drums, the energy of his playing, and just that slight hint of lovable dorkiness (or “adorkability”, as some of my friends call it!)

Anyway, all that said, here’s that pimp once more. Want to help me get to Bonnaroo? Please just do the following:

Go here

Select the link for Group 4.

Scroll through the photos until on image 42, there’s a voting link (shortcut link here)

Vote for “Nicole P.”, ’cause that’s me!

Enter your email address.

Wait for an email from vote@radio1045.com with the subject “Please Verify your vote”, click on the link in that, and you’re good to go!

Thanks again for helping me out!

Well.

I suppose it might be a little odd that, here we are at the very end of The Police tour, and I’m just now starting this blog.

I seem to have a tendency to do things bass-ackward like that.

Nevertheless, here I am. I suppose my reasons for starting this blog are several-fold:

• To give me a place to reflect back on the tour, to put all the pieces together after the year and a half of all consuming madness. Some of this will also involve working on a planned fanzine collecting stories
  from other fans about their experiences with the tour and fandom.
• To keep folks up to date on what is happening with policefans.org – how we will continue to keep working on the wiki, the forum, and perhaps open the site up for other fans who’d like to create a Police-related blog here.
• To keep the spirit of the band and the fandom alive. Because the end of the tour does not mean the end of The Police in the hearts and minds of their many fans.

Anyway, so there it is. Thanks for dropping by, and stay tuned for more…