New York’s Finest Police Tribute at Arlene’s Grocery

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I’m the optimal age to have been a major fan of The Police. I wasn’t, not because I didn’t care for their music, it’s just one of those things. I never owned any of their CDs and never saw them perform. Through osmosis, I am obviously familiar with a number of their hits, but even some of those I don’t instantly associate with any particular band, including The Police.

So, you might wonder why we went to Arlene’s Grocery last night for a 10pm set by a Police tribute band.

Oscar Bautista is a superb NYC-based guitar player. We’d pretty much go see him in whatever project he was involved in, at least once. That’s what got us to Arlene’s last night.

New York’s Finest (Police tribute) is three incredibly talented guys who do a great job of faithfully reproducing the sound of The Police, vocally and instrumentally.

Mark Rinzel sang lead and played the electric bass. Aside from looking an awful lot like Sting, Mark sounds like him (at least when singing The Police songs). He’s excellent on the bass and is a showman with wonderful stage presence.

Alan Camlet on drums and vocals (sorry, no good individual musical link). Alan was excellent on the drums, ripping it up for the entire set. He also sang harmony on nearly every number.

Oscar Bautista on electric guitar and vocals. Oscar was fantastic on the guitar (validating our reason for attending in the first place!). In addition to straight up leads, Oscar utilized a slide and some serious effects (including looping the slide with a fuzz effect creating an enormous sound). He sang less than Alan, but when he did, the three-part harmonies worked extremely well.

Here’s the set list:

They have been playing a month-long residency at Arlene’s, with one show to go. If you want to verify any of the claims I made above, please get to Arlene’s next Tuesday, January 24th, at 10pm. If you are a fan of The Police, you’ll really thank me. If you’re not, but want to see three talented musicians execute an exceptional set, you’ll still thank me. Either way, win/win for you and me.

The three of them created a huge sound (as I bet The Police did live), making the energy in the room heart-pumping on every number. We were very glad we went, both for the music and for running into some of our favorite people, completely unexpected.