‘When The Police played in Mumbai in 1980, I was there'

Last Friday American musician Stewart Copeland shared a throwback photo of himself with his former The Police bandmates Sting and Andy Summers playing at a fundraiser in Mumbai then Bombay in 1980 at the iconic Rang Bhavan with the hashtag onthisdayThe tweet reads ldquoOnthisday Our only India concert was in 1980 hosted by the ladies of the Time and Talent Club at the Rang Bhavan Bombay aka Mumbai And the folks sang YO just like in Milwaukeerdquo Copeland was the drummer of the threemember British band with Sting as lead vocalist and bass guitarist and Andy Summers as guitaristOnthisday Our only India concert was in 1980 hosted by the ladies of the Time and Talent Club at the Rang Bhavan Bombay aka Mumbai And the folks sang YO just like in Milwaukee pictwittercom6qxrgqqCeMmdash Stewart Copeland copelandmusic March 26 2021Melwyn Dominics a hardcore rock fan from Kalina vividly remembers the concert ldquoIt was a huge crowd but almost 60 per cent of them were musicians who either played in the Bombay bands or at weddings the city wasnrsquot much exposed to rock music then I remember lsquomaskaofyingrsquo mummy and daddy because the tickets were for Rs 25 and Rs 50 and we used to get only Rs 10 as pocket money ndashso I made an lsquoadjustmentrsquo with the next monthrsquos pocket money to be able to buy the tickets So only the people who could afford them were able to gordquo says the 61yearold who was studying for his BA in Economics from KC College at the time Melwyn DominicsldquoI clearly remember a small detail ndash the poster said lsquoThe Police are comingrsquo but had a picture of a Mumbai policeman in their blue uniform and it was so funnyrdquo says Dominics While 63yearold citybased musician Ashley Quinney did not attend the StingCopelandSummers concert he remembers meeting The Police trio at Rhythm House which like Rang Bhavan helped shape Mumbairsquos music scene but has also now shut down during their visit ldquoI used to work nearby at Commerce House then and had heard that The Police were nearby Even though I wasnrsquot a fan I wanted to see them for myself so I stopped by and saw a lot of fans who getting autographs from them on their cassettes It was a good experiencerdquo Quinney saysThe Police rock concert took place on March 26 in 1980 but it was unlike any other concert the city had witnessed simply because of how it came to be It was organised by the The Time amp Talents Club The club was founded by Gool Shavaksha in 1934 and predominantly comprised Parsi women according to a Scroll report It was these women who decided to host a fundraiser and since they had heard of the popularity of the British rock band decided that they would reach out to The Police to play at this concertThe club got in touch with a wellknown Mumbai agency which in turn got in touch with Stingrsquos agent according to a Homegrown reportIt did not take long for the news of the British rock band playing in India and at Mumbairsquos Rang Bhavan to spread like wildfire Soon enough people from all over the country and the world wanted to attend Ticket sales even crossed the 5000strong capacity of the openair amphitheatre as people wanted to be there at what was being billed as Mumbairsquos first foreign rock concert according to the Homegrown reportThe band raised pound5000 for sick children through the event during which they played lsquoNext To Yoursquo lsquoSo Lonelyrsquo lsquoWalking On The Moonrsquo and lsquoMessage In A Bottlersquo among other songs according to a piece by Jon Blake for The London Evening News which featured on stingcomAll those who wanted tickets to the concert but could not get a hold of them decided to lsquoattendrsquo from the neighbouring Elphinstone Technical School the rear of which faced Rang Bhavan According to what seems to be a firstperson account of the concert on the YouTube video user Nix Nack commented ldquoHoly crap This was at the Rang Bhavan The first live concert I ever saw a couple of weeks before my 17th birthday I reached there early afternoon hoping to get a ticket but no such luck Finally talking to a few others who were also desperate for tickets figured we might be able to see them from the Elphinstone Technical School the back of which faces Rang Bhavan There on the 1st floor going from classroom to classroom finally found a room which was facing the cafeteria Looked out the window and noticed a drainage pipe Promptly proceeded to climb down the pipe and I was in Rang Bhavan straight into the hands of a havaldaar The constable tried to pull me off to a side hoping to extract some money With a straight face I told him lsquoAre you nuts If I had money you think I would come in this wayrsquo That bewildered him long enough for me to just run and lose myself in the crowd Even though I missed about 1520 minutes what a concertrdquoIn another experience Reddit user JediKnut in a thread called lsquoThe Police ndash Live In Bombay ndash 1980rsquo said his dad managed to bump into the members of the British band and took photographs of them Later he met them at The Oberoi Hotel where they were staying in Nariman Point to show them the photos which their manager loved and took along with themJediKnut says ldquoLoved them so much in fact that he asked dad to ride with the band on a ghodagaadi and then accompany them for the gig He got to stand in the wings and take a few photos of the band Unfortunately the photos during the horseride I never got to see He had told me the manager insisted on taking the originals Canrsquot imagine why Dad didnrsquot keep copies for himself Of the concert itself I have 34 photos scanned Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago and he never saw this video on YouTube if he had maybe hersquod have been able to point himself out to me I keep wondering if hersquos one of the guys there with the camerardquoHere are some of the other reactions to the Onthisday post by Stewart CopelandSigh Rang Bhavan I miss you Some fab musical memories Was away at boarding school when this show happened alas httpstcoSW2L1gbsbamdash Hari Menon runbikehurry March 27 2021Therersquos a great shot of this same tour from Japan Summers the short man in the middle goes against a sumo who picks him up by belt with one hand and twirls him about After bout Sting asks how it went Summers ldquoI held my own No actually he held my ownrdquo httpstco9JkPDRkFVXmdash Aakar Patel Aakar__Patel March 27 2021A video of the performance