The Police Announce Last Show Ever

Ray Waddell, Nashville

The Police and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today (May 6) announced at a press conference in Times Square the band's final concert ever, to be held in New York on a date still to be revealed in August.This final concert -- for which ticket and venue information have yet to be announced -- will be a fundraiser with proceeds benefiting the production of arts programming for public television stations Thirteen/WNET and WLIW New York. Tickets will be available nationally online via the Thirteen/WNET and WLIW Web sites.Additionally, Sting and the Police announced that they will contribute $1 million to Mayor Bloomberg's MillionTreesNYC initiative -- a gift the city will match -- to plant trees all over New York City.At the press conference, held in Times Square, Sting commented: "Some people may be surprised to know that the greatest single contribution to greenhouse gases is deforestation. We all want cleaner and cooler air, and planting trees is the best way to achieve that."We have a long history in New York," he added. "We came here first in 1978. We want to leave a gift that will last for decades."
The contribution by the Police to the MillionTreesNYC initiative -- which aims to plant 1 million trees by 2017 -- will fund the planting of 10,000 trees across all five of New York City’s boroughs.Mayor Bloomberg commented: "We hope the donation by the Police will inspire many more people to get involved.... A lot of people make a lot of money, spend a little bit of it, and don’t give any of it away. So these guys are role models."In response to a question about whether the final Police show would take place in Central Park, Bloomberg responded, "The venue will probably be indoors, but that’s all I’m going to say."During the conference, the mayor presented each member of the Police with his own key to New York City, and Sting presented the mayor with an all-access backstage pass that he said could be used at "any Police concert."The Police began the final leg of their reunion tour May 1 in Ottawa, the first of about 50 shows taking place this summer in amphitheaters, arenas and stadiums primarily in North America and Europe. Most stops are in markets not played in 2007, when the Police was the top tour of the year at more than $212 million gross and nearly 2 million in attendance, according to Billboard Boxscore. Produced by Live Nation and RZO Productions, the Police reunion tour captured the Top Tour (gross) and Top Draw (attendance) awards at last November's Billboard Touring Conference in New York.Joining the Police this time around in North America are Elvis Costello &the Imposters. In between the 33 North American dates, the Police return to Europe for a number of major festivals. The tour is expected to be one of the top five highest-grossing tours of all time, with revenues topping $340 million.As of today, the last Police date on the books is Aug. 5 at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre in Wantagh, N.Y.--Additional reporting by Evie Nagy, N.Y.