Enfin une bonne place 5e rang, c'est la première fois que vois Mark d'aussi proche, en 1996 à Berne ou en 2001 à Zurich j'étais très loin... Très bonne intro avec why a man, concert super et un fabuleux telegraph road.

It’s gonna be long...sory... Well, it’s not easy to talk about this concert. It’s the fifth time I see MK... In 92 in Lausanne, after that in Bern (Golden Heart), in Zurich (STP), in London (MK & Friends), and saturday in Basel... I’ll not be as critical as the others... Ok, that was not the best live ever... The fact is the set list is not really original. I wonder why they calling this tour «Shangri-la Tour» there was only two songs from this album (Boom like that and Song for Sonny Liston). I regret they didn’t played 5:15am, the trawlerman song, and lot more of this album (the best Mark ever did, but it’s my opinion). But when I asked Guy by mail about the set list (Why don’t you play more of the last album), he answered: «Cos we don’t feel like it and we have a good set now. Guy». So... For me, the main problem was that it was not original... Always walk of life in second place and always local hero theme at the end... But the band was great! They seemed to have fun! I was at the fourth row, I did a good recording and good pictures (I took my Nikon D70 with me!!!) Well about the live! Drum...MK stays in front of the stage, a hand to cover his eyes from the light... then intro.... «Everybody allright?... Cool» First song (the same from the begining of the tour) Why aye man, A good intro for the live. Walk of life... slow, too slow. Mark seem to be bored playing that... (so play something else!) small solo in the middle..., good... no surprise. What it is, really good... Sailing to Philadelphia. Good too, but I prefer the one I recorded in Zurich... Then a surprise... a beautiful intro from Matt with the piano... for Romeo and Juliet... Beautifu sound of Mark’s National Steel Guitar! «Thank youuuuu» Then Sultans of Swing, beautiful sharp sound of the Fender MK serie, the ending solo was... particuliar... But a good return to 1979, they only four to play cool! (euh... almost 20 years they play Romeo and Sultans in this order...) «Thank you, merci, thank you» (and he introduce the band for Done with Bonaparte), and the same old joke (the fourth time I hear that)... «Richard it’s you and me, everybody else, good luck!), no surprise... (He asks again if everybody is still ok, there’s no noise in the audience), Then a surprise, Mark sit on a nice chair, a technician bring him a cup of tea... Cheers mate! (I got a good pic!) The best surprise of the night, only MK, DC, GW are playing Sonny Liston, very very good!!! (Why didn’t they play all the set like that!), Richard join them with a cup of tea too (I missed the shot, I was changing my card!) MK: «We’re gonna attempt Rudiger» Always a good song! Sounded Good! Boom Like That, it really booms like that! Powerfull song! Really good! Good sounds, guitars ans drum! And the best part of the night: Speedway... ouah! It starts cool and finish f... loud! Incredible! Danny is simply perfect! Telegraph Road starts directly after... Always loved this song... sounded good. (Mark’s voice little broken and crunchy, it sounds perfect for this song! At the end completly broken...) Break Brothers in arms: my favourite... Well played, but not as good as Zurich... Follows money for nothing... Mark plays alone, Richard doesn’t play the guitar... Cool, no surprise... Small break, the band is chatting on stage, they laughting, it’s good sign! So far away... cool too but nothing exceptionnal, and two pieces from local hero at the end Mist covered mountain (Matt is perfect with the acordeon) and Wild Theme. Both perfect! Finally, there’s was not a lot of surprises but «Good Job Mark», next time try to follow the audiance with their whishes and play the songs they want to hear... Ask Guy to make a page on internet and make statistics for example... But if he comes again, I’ll be there again... Yann

très bon concert de mark, telegraph road à été le sommet de cette soirée et que dire de sultans magnifique, bonne salle en general, et que dire de danny un très très grand batteur et dieu qu'il tape fort beaucoup plus que chad mais par contre una ambiance pas terrible du tout lorque que mark est apparu sur scene il y avait que moi qui c'est mis debout ! et je me susi mis vite assis après car je pense que la securité ne voulait personne debout (je ne comprend rien à l'allemand !) mais vers la fin pour les 3 dernieres titres des jeunes en generale se sont levées et on approché de la scene ce qui à forcé les autres assis de se lever! mais c'etait la fin il vaut dire qu'il n'y avait pas de fosse ! et c'est ce que je redoutais le plus un manque d'ambiance à cause d'un manque de fosse ! mais à bercy je serais dans la fosse pour rattraper cette mauvaise ambiance !

Well..it's over...the only concert I could visit during this tour. To summarize, it was not bad. The word "good" would be exaggerated. Above all the setlist was the only thing which was disappointing (as already pointed out by some concert visitors). Only two songs from Shangri-La...why does Mark call it "Shangri-La Tour"???? The rest was not bad...here are my impressions for the songs Why Aye Man: Great opener!! The soloing of Mark and Matt Rollins at the end is just outstanding! Walk of Life: Worst version I have ever heard...much too slow, no groove. I have the feeling this is one of the songs, Mark is really tired playing What it is: great version (no Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond - intro) Sailing to Philadelphia: very nice and very close the the album version (of course Mark sings both parts of the lyrics, Mason and Dixon) Romeo and Juliet: normal version, nothing special here exept Matt Rollins' piano playing which was great and in some moments very jazzy Sultans: good version comparable to that of the STP tour. Mark's solo was not so great, many repeating patterns and many false notes... Done with bonaparte: was ok, one could kick this song off... Song for Sonny Liston: this was the biggest surprise for me. I didn't like the song on the album, too much lyrics..but live the version is great if you consider that this is only a 3 piece (guitar, bass, drums) Rüdiger: nice version. In contrary to other fellows here on the list, I really liked Guy's synth playing. Poor guitar solo played by Mark Boom like that: maybe the best song of the concert. this tune rocks. The guitar Mark plays is neither a Teisco nor a Rickenbacher. It's a Silvertone guitar and it rocks!! Greatly different from the album version Speedway: well this is my second favourite...the end will just blow your ears!! The song with the most intense moments. Much better than the STP-tour version the band left the stage...and came back for Telegraph Road: a must-have!! and great! exept that mark shouted at Danny Cummings to play the middle part faster...I was at the second row and I could clearly hear Mark shouting to Danny "faster"! Brothers in Arms: very nice version..no synths, just Guy on the Hammond and Matt playing accordion. Sort of shorter version as usual due to lack of the intro. Money for nothing: well this is a must-have for the crowd. no great difference to other tours. but why the hell, richard plays tambourine and bells on this one?? He didn't play guitar on this tune..I found it ridicolous!! So far away: not bad, but to my humble opinion it is too much extended at the end, very loooooooooooong guitar solo at the and the mist covered mountains: this was great and sooo nice. Matt's accordion is so beautiful. And Guy's synth very atmospheric Going home: normal version, beautiful The concert lasted approx. 2h There are few weak points: the biggest one is Danny Cummings. It was a great disappointment, this guy is only able to bang on the drums, no dynamic, no feeling, just hammering, and a lot of mistakes good points: as a guitar player I must say, that Mark's guitar sound was much better than on the STP tour. The change to the Comet amps was a good decision! A very amazing point was the choice of the guitars. No Pensa at this concert!! He played his Fender Signature Strat for the outro of R&J, Sultans and for Telegraph Road. Maybe he has a contract with Fender to promote the guitar on this tour. A negative point about mark is, that he had very many mistakes on his solos. And to my opinion, he just played the concert and left the stage, very little communication with the audience! so Far.... greets Didier

Very relaxed and laid back show, in a way as well due to the seating in all the venue. After 4 long years Mark and the mates were finally back on stage, great. From the reviews of the previous shows here in Europe I was a bit afraid, that it will become more a Dire Straits show (still great) than an MK solo act. This became reality, to my disappointment. Anyway, superb MK guitar sound, athmospheric lightning and a band, that got its act together. Setlist goodies: Why aye men was penomenal with the Gibson, but way too short in the middle, he really could have stretched that one. Superb Sailing to Philadelphia with his signature Strat, a very rocking and outstanding Song for Sonny Liston, where the Gibson just suits great, Sultans razor sharp and a Telegraph Road bejond finding words. Boom Like That with his new Teisco is rocking great and MK's solos, goosebumbs! Greatly missed: Back to Tupelo, The Trawlerman Song, Shangri-La, Postcards from Paraguay, Water of Love, Je suis Desolé, Silvertown Blues, Prairie Wedding, Long Highway, The Bug, Baloney Again, You and Your Friend, Fade to Black, When it comes to you etc etc etc. Summary: Great MK guitar, crystal clear and rocking. A setlist that is close to a disappointment, with so many fantastic songs left aside. Just 2 songs from the new album doesn't merit the name "Shangri-La Tour 2005".

Sold out show with seating to suit the very laid back Swiss crowd, mostly foot-tappers and polite clappers. Mark asked a couple of times if everything was alright. I felt (almost)guilty standing up to cheer and shout a couple of times. Took until Money for Nothing to get the crowd standing. Anyway, the music was outstanding - especially nice to see Mark really jam on Why Aye Man (Les Paul) and What it is (Strat) early in the show, sometimes playing off the piano, always very fluid. He pretty much alternated between the two guitars, except for the slow songs (National Steel). He played a guitar I didn't recognize on Boom like That (Rickenbacker, maybe?) Anyway, his leads on that one were particularly juicy - wish he jammed like that on the CD! Sonny Liston was very cool with just the bass and drums, he only took a very short lead on that one, though. Contrary to prior reviewer, I thought that Mark's voice was a little weak on a few tunes, especially toward the end (Telegraph Rd, Bros in Arms). Not sure if he's still fighting with a throat ailment. I tend to agree that Guy Fletcher was a bit schmaltzy at times with the synths, but his backing vocals and harmonies with the other were very good (I want my I want my I want my MTV a la Sting). Drums were strong throughout. The Solos on Speedway to Nazareth and Telegraph Rd. were almost mind-altering. Stage set and lighting was very tasteful and added to these moments. I really hope they release a live recording/DVD from this tour. If you have tickets to an upcoming show, you're in for a real treat!

Just got home from the show in Basel, which was very good and a big disappointment all the same. Very good was Marks playing and singing. Actually, I've never heard him play and sing so well on any solo tour so far. He really seemed eager to play good solos, tried out a lot of new things even on classics like sultans or telegraph road, and everything worked perfectly. Totally disappointing, however, was the setlist. Just two songs from Shangri-La (Boom, like that and Song for Sonny). Indeed, you wouldn't have missed much if you saw him last time round. How can you possibly make an album so full of great songs and not play them live? Plus, someone should finally stop Guy Fletcher from ruining songs with his cheesy synth keyboards. The band is great, Matt Rollins was superb, and even Guy can be cool playing hammond (on Brothers in Arms). But what he does on Local Hero, Sailing To Philadelphia or Romeo&Juliet is just totally out of date and doesn't suit Mark's music at all. Why do they record an album with organ only (sounding great) and then add those 80's keyboards when playing live shows? Can someone understand? Still, Mark was in great shape, the stage and band looked as good as never before and I'm confident he will finally play that perfect show someday.