The Police drummer plays five cities with a 28-piece orchestra, his first shows here since the band’s 2008 reunion tour.
Stewart Copeland was in Australia only in January, telling stories from the stage in his spoken word show Have I Said Too Much?, but next year he’s coming back with a drum kit, a rock band and an orchestra. Police Deranged For Orchestra plays Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth across late August and early September 2027. They’ll be his first music shows in Australia since The Police’s reunion tour of 2007–2008.
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The show rearranges The Police’s catalogue for orchestra, or “deranges” it, in Copeland’s words. “Roxanne”, “Message in a Bottle”, “Don’t Stand So Close To Me”, “Every Breath You Take” and “Walking on the Moon” are all on the setlist. Copeland first staged the concert in 2021 and released a studio version through Shelter/BMG in 2023.
Each night pairs a 28-piece orchestra with a rock trio and three singers. Conductor Sarah-Grace Williams leads every date, and the orchestra changes from city to city: The Met Orchestra, Perth Symphony, Adelaide Symphony, Australian Pops Orchestra and Brisbane Symphony are all involved. Copeland’s rhythm section is made up of Toehider’s Mike Mills and Nick Delaney, with three international vocalists out front.
Rolling Stone ranked Copeland the tenth greatest drummer of all time, mostly for the busy hi-hat work and reggae-influenced grooves that drove The Police through the late ’70s and ’80s alongside Sting and Andy Summers. When the band split, he moved into composing. He wrote the Golden Globe-nominated Rumble Fish score and the music for Wall Street, operas based on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado, and the soundtrack to Spyro the Dragon. He now has seven Grammys and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Police Deranged For Orchestra 2027 Australian tour
- Saturday 28 August – Palais Theatre, Melbourne VIC
- Monday 30 August – Sydney Opera House, Sydney NSW
- Wednesday 1 September – QPAC, Brisbane QLD
- Friday 3 September – Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide SA
- Sunday 5 September – Regal Theatre, Perth WA
The artist pre-sale opens today at 10am local time, followed by the venue, ticketing and promoter pre-sale on Thursday 12 November and the general sale on Friday 13 November, both also at 10am local time.
Tickets are available through David Roy Williams
