The Police Back on the Beat

Tonight was the debut of the return of The Police to the rock and roll world.

The long dormant band of the eighties played it's debut performance in Vancouver, with another planned for Wednesday night before they head off to Edmonton for a Saturday night show.

While we await the inevitable flood of YouTube entries from the 2007 tour, above is a sample of what the renewed Police might have sounded like, taken from their performance from this year's Grammy Awards.

The Police kick off reunion tour in Vancouver
Last Updated: Monday, May 28, 2007 | 2:14 PM ET
CBC Arts

The eagerly awaited Police reunion tour begins in Vancouver Monday night, more than 20 years after the chart-topping group disbanded.

Singer and bassist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland played a private concert for about 4,000 members of the band's fan club at GM Place Sunday night.

They will return to the venue for concerts on Monday and Wednesday nights before proceeding to an Edmonton gig on Saturday.

Other Canadian stops include two dates each in Toronto and Montreal in late July. The band will return to Toronto in November.

After reuniting in Los Angeles in February to open the Grammy Awards, the rock trio behind hits like Roxanne and Every Breath You Take confirmed the rumours that they were embarking on a tour.

Rock trio Fiction Plane, fronted by Sting's son Joe Sumner, will open for the Police on the North American portion of the tour.

The Police has also announced they will release a new, 30-track greatest hits album on June 11.

Tickets to see the reunited British rockers have sold out in many locations across North America and Europe, where the band will play in late summer through the fall. The tour is also expected to extend to other international locations.

After releasing a a string of hits in the early 1980s — including Message in a Bottle, Don't Stand So Close to Me and Every Little Thing She Does is Magic — the trio split in 1984, at the height of their popularity.

Each member's strong personality was blamed for the breakup and Copeland revealed in a recent interview that tension among the trio over their differing opinions and musical tastes continues today.

"We play nicely for two or three days, and then we start to get on each others' nerves," Copeland told Reuters.

"Then we have a screaming match, and then we hug and kiss, and then we play even better."