A COMFORTABLE SUMMERS AT PALACE

When former Police-man Andy Summers told the crowd at the Palace on Saturday that he felt good to be home, it seemed that the Englishman wasn’t just refering to Los Angeles (his frequent base of operations), but also to the relatively intimate surroundings of a moderate-size room as opposed to the stadium expanses that he often faced with the Police.

This apparent comfort was the key to the show’s success. Drawing predominantely on material from his recent solo debut album, “XYZ,” Summers, backed by three solid if unexciting musicians and a female singer, casually demonstrated both the range of his notable talents as a guitarist and the extent of his contributions to the Police. As a singer, he’s no Sting (though he’s absorbed his former band-mate’s vocal mannerisms, as well as his ability to work the crowd), but he has nothing to be ashamed of by any means.

Summers also seemed quite comfortable with his past, neither shunning nor over-relying on Police material--four of that trio’s numbers worked their way into the set, including supercharged encores of “So Lonely” and “Can’t Stand Losing You.”