Tribute to signature sound of Sting and The Police
The Rozzers had Centenary Theatre, Berkhamsted jumping with their tribute to Sting and The Police on 9 May, from Walking On The Moon to Every Little Thing She Does is Magic to the ever-popular Roxanne. Lyn Drummond was in attendance.
The original Police’s signature sound was a masterful blend of rock, reggae, and punk, each genre contributing distinct elements that shaped the band’s identity.
The Rozzers produced an authentic show of those sounds with the musicianship and energy of one of Britain’s most influential groups.
Fronted by Owen James (pictured), the band covered both The Police and Sting’s solo careers. As Sting, Owen’s vocals and stage presence drew an uncanny resemblance to Sting himself.
Taking their name, The Rozzers, from an historic slang name for the police force*, they have been performing together as the UK’s number one Sting and Police tribute band since 2011.
Owen told Living: ‘We were a regular band long before The Rozzers, performing at events and weddings. One evening, we were asked to play the Police song Message in a Bottle. Without really trying, I ended up sounding like Sting and got a standing ovation. Because it was so well-received, we realised we had something special here.’
The Rozzers, Owen (lead vocals/bass), Andrew Whittaker (drums), Phil Dean (guitar) and Alan Moore (keys and percussion) are music teachers as well as musicians, who grew up together in Harrogate, Yorkshire.
Why choose a Sting tribute band? ‘Dad was a fan, and my elder brother took an interest too which filtered down to me,’ Owen explained.
In 1994, he watched Sting live from Oslo, on a VHS tape, and continued watching that tape through his childhood, the start of his musical devotion, he says, little knowing he would end up being Sting in a tribute band.
His favourite Police songs? ‘It can be challenging playing some of Sting’s material. Seven Days is technically difficult with its rhythms and coordination of singing while I am playing bass.
‘I love to get audience reaction, from up-tempo music like, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and of course Roxanne is the most famous one they are waiting for.’
He hopes the band will be back again to ‘fantastic venues and audiences like the Centenary Theatre, Berkhamsted.’
*Rozzers is a long-standing slang term for the police, which derives from the late 1800s. The term is highly likely to have been coined in the time of Sir Robert Peel, who established the first police force in the area of Rossendale, Lancashire (hence ROZZERS).
Image credit: F8 Creative