Andy Summers of The Police fame is bringing An Evening with Andy Summers to the Auckland Town Hall on October 3, following shows in Wellington and Christchurch. Ahead of his visit to New Zealand, he spoke to Gold Afternoons presenter Tracey Donaldson in August, recalling the band’s first-ever gig in Paris and revealing what Kiwis can expect from his Auckland show. This interview has been edited and condensed.
Donaldson: You’re coming to New Zealand for three shows on The Cracked Lens + a Missing String tour - I assume the “missing string” is reference to your first guitar that your uncle gave you [when] you were 12, and it was missing a string. Summers: Yes, you’re absolutely right. I started with one string missing.
I tried once to find that little guitar. I think a cousin of mine had it, and she was very snotty about it. Said, “Oh, I don’t know.
Somebody else took it”, and so I never got it back. I did actually pursue the first guitar I ever had, but now I have about 200 sitting around..