stuart williams
le 14/03/2005
what a blast.....an echo back to the purity of Dire Straits first two albums, a mellow approach to the songs, informal, almost ensemble delivery of many tracks, the quality, delivery and variety of the performance was fantastic. Started with Why Aye Man, finished with Telegraph Road, which was an absolute show stopper, I listened carefully for the little riffs that appear on the Album and those and many more were there in abundance. Closing my eyes, the wall of sound, the depth and precision of Mark's guitar playing were mind blowing. Coming down to the front of the stage to play "Lonnie's gone" and getting intimacy with a packed entertainment centre was fantastic. Delivery of "Romeo and Juliet" was actually very poingant, and harked back to the mid-80s when this was the love song of many an adolescent boy, and delivered almost with sadness. Hard to think of the 80's as a previous era..... The haunting qualities on "Sailing to Philadelphia" ('forests of the Iroquios'....with vocal emphasis in the Iroquois) and Brother's in Arms. I was remined of the 1980 (?) sydney concert, the same arm pumping movements, the same apparent uncertainty on how to end a song (crescendo after crescendo !!!, which was all good), Sultans of Swing was played without the (to me) annoying keyboards that can take over (Alchemie version), 3 guitars and a drum kit.....unbelievable....and Speedway at Nazareth, the long jam session went on and on, just filling the head with music.....That is what made the concert so good, Improvisation, lay the core of the song down and let loose with the guitar. Sure a lot of structure, but I want to hear Mark Knopfler in concert, not in the studio, the double ring on Sultan's of Swing.....yup, awesome flow to the music....you guys gathering this was a great concert ? :-D
The fine musicians Mark has gathered around himself, played flawlessly (to my humble ears), nothing overdone, everything honed tightly, far more tightly than I've heard before. No demonstrative stage stuff, no mind blowing optical effects to mask the lack of muscicanship, it was an awesome, well balanced and finely tuned performance from a fine, fine band. A very appreciative audience who knew the stuff and hooted and hollered for more.
2 encores, finished with Local Hero
Thanks Mark for taking the time to share your music with us down in Australia. Somewhere there is a touch of sadness that this may be the last time I get to see this kind of performance and I didn't take my 9yo son along. I'm an idiot.
as an afternote....I drove 5 hours to get to the show, drove 4 hours home and hit a 'roo just south of Keith......damage bill is quite large (and the 'roo didn't make it.....). The price eh ? :lol:
awesome, awesome, awesome.......