Another excellent show. Luckily my third and possibly last of this tour. Standard set list with the new addition of 'All That matter's nice to get another song from Shangri-la played live. Its these small changes that help the fans who travel to different concerts appreciate the individual shows. Speedway and Telegraph Road are still magnificent live tracks and take these concerts to a Higher Plain. I read that another of the reviewers was also at the Clapton concert last year at the NEC. I echo their sentiments Mark left Eric behind in terms of variety, sound and sheer noise. Great stuff. Much appreciated and now we just pray for a 'Live Album and DVD' from this tour to be released

All I can do really is echo the great comments that have already been made byall who have been so kind to post their thoughts of the night on this site. However, the main reason for this message is to let you all know that I recorded the set last night and it has come out really well - including STP!! it will take me a while to transfer the concert to cd, however I am considering seeding the file as a torrent so everyone can share in it. the concert will ofcourse be available for cdr trading. check http://www.revival.ic24.net for more details which will be posted this coming thursday 9th July. Nice one, TOM

paul@alldrainsolutions.com Nice to see the "Main Man" back in Brum again, the Show was Fab and the memories will last forever, but please "All that Matters" The Show kicked off with "Why Aye Man", Mark eased his way through the song finishing with a great solo, then into a Revamped version of "Walk Of Life", which had us all on our feet for a short while until the fussy security made us all sit down. Perhaps it's time to put this song to bed now, but the crowd still loved it and Mark and the Boys appear to still like playing it. But "All That Matters" why not "Are we in trouble now"? Next up was "What it is" and "Sailing to Philadelphia" which were played well, especially "STP" which sounds incredible live (please tell me these concerts are being recorded for a future live CD Release) and then we were into the Old DS Favorite "Romeo & Juliet". Again this was performed to it's usual excellent standard, but it appeared as though Mark has bored of this song, no wonder he's be performing it for over 25 years, but the crowd gave it a standing ovation on completion, all was well, but "All that Matters" why not "You Don't Know your Born"? Then came one of the Highlights of the Night, "Sultans" down to a "Four Piece" Mark and the Boys were in "Guitar Heaven" the place erupted on completion, a truely Titanic Song! Mark slowed things down for the next section of the concert, relaxing in a Comfy Chair with a Mug of Tea after the Band had performed "Bonaparte" Glen, Danny & Mark performed the excellent "Song for Sony Liston" At this point of the Show i was hoping he would play "Shangria la" or even his new Single "The Trawlerman's Song" but unfortunately he still persists with the only average "Donegan's Gone". Then came a superb version of the haunting "Rudiger" before the Dreaded "All That Matters", why not "A Place where we used to Live"? Once rested and recharged, the band exploded into the Finale of the Main Set, starting of with a Rocking version of "Boom Like That" before the Highlight of the Show "Speedway to Nazareth", Mark and the Boy's at the Explosive Best, What a Noise!! The applause for the first bars of "Telegraph Road" were quite emotional, with some of the crowd close to tears, i don't think i'll ever tire of hearing this Masterpiece, what a truely immense Song! A Short Pause for a change of Shirt and a quick drink and then straight into the encores. Though i love all the DS Anthems, i was hoping to hear more of Mark's Solo Material on the this tour, especially as we had missed the "Ragpickers" Tour due to his unfortunate accident. But BIA, Money for Nothing, So Far Away and the Brilliant Going Home were all well received and all went home well pleased and buzzing. There is no doubt this incredible talent can "Rock the House" but "All That Matters" WHY!!!!!

WOW!!!WOW!!! WOW!!! Hear I am back at home with a sore throat and hands from the cheering and clapping, the music still ringing in my ears. I can only echo what everyone else has said. The man is a genius and he should be added to the Music Hall of Fame. Every song from start to finish had me and the rest of the audience captivated, always better to hear the music live and nobody but nobody plays better live than MK. The crowd both young and old, some not even born when MK started playing, was spell bound. The mixture of old and new was just right, the opening bars of Why aye man sent a shiver down my spine and I knew I was in for a very memorable night. Apart from having to go home at the end, I could have listened to MK play live all night, the only other downside was in my opinion that the stewards was a little over zelous when a few fans wanted to dance by the stage, they wasn't hurting anyone and was quickly ushered back to their seat.

WOW!!!! The man just gets better and better.I was lucky enough to have seen Clapton at the same venue last year well i'm very sorry but step aside EC THIS MAN ROCKS!!Right from the first bars of Why aye man to the classic closing track Going Home the whole concert was a virtuoso performance,not just by Mark the whole band were simply superb especially Richard Bennett whose style seems to complement Mark's really well.I couldn't believe how good some of the newer tunes sounded live particularly those in the sit down middle part of the show.Song for Sonny Liston,Donegan's Gone and All that Matters sounded so much better live than i ever imagined they would.The highlight for me was pretty hard to call,but as i'd not heard it played live before i'd have to go for"Boom Like That" with Richard playing a Strat and sharing some of the solos with Mark and proving he can really rock as well as playing the slower and softer parts of the show.Telegraph Road was probably as good as i've ever heard it played live.Sultans was sublime and my ears have just about recovered from Speedway at Nazareth.Anyone who thinks Mark can't handle the faster rockier tunes is badly mistaken,i thought the roof was going to come off during Speedway.The encores included the classics from hid DS days,and sounded as fresh now as they did when they first appeared[is it really 20 years ago?Where has the time gone?]BIA and MFN were excellent as was the often underrated So Far Away.The only low spot of the gig.THE END!! I just wanted it to go on and on.i can only dream of how good Everybody Pays and the Trawlermans Song would have sounded live and i'm just a tiny bit disappointed we never heard Our Shangri-La but hey,you can't have everything.I'm really envious of those of you who still have the concerts to come.You really are in for a fantastic night.For those of you who haven't already got tickets,if there are any left,treat yourself the man's a legend.You won't regret it.

I went to see Mark Knopfler and his band last night and they were superb. Having seen Dire Straits twice in the 80's, I thought last night was even better than both of those, which takes some doing. I have seen Eric Clapton at the Albert Hall when he went through his full repetiore (rather than his rather dull blues playing!) and I think last night was even better than that, sorry EC !. The opening "Waye Eye Man" was excellent and I thought "Boom Like That" rivalled the "sultans of swing" saxophone duet of the 80's/90's.It was truelly brilliant. "Speedway at Nazareth" was also brilliant. It was always great to see a true genius perform live and I just sat there taking it all in. He really is becoming one of the true greats. He gives the fans what they want to hear, old and new, and has such a vast range of material he could have played for another two hours no problem. I would love to see him perform at the Albert Hall which is clearly a better nenue than the NEC Arena.

What can I say? Absolutely awesome! MK opened with Why Aye Man, and that guitar solo at the end was exceptional. Then Walk of Life came on and got the crowd going, and What It Is followed (which personally I thought needed the violin but still sounded good), and then Sailing to Philadelphia. Then came 2 of his DS Songs, to be honest I was just waiting for Romeo and Juliet to pass by so I could hear my favourite song ever, Sultans of Swing, which was excellent. But I was a little disappointed he put all the solos into one, as I like it where he does 1 solo then it goes quiet, and then he kind of brings the song back to life, and then the main solo, but was still superb all the same. Then came the quiet set where Mark sat down and played, and made a couple of jokes about tea lol. The songs were: Done with Bonarparte (I think that's how you spell it), Song for Sonny Listen, Donegan's gone, Ruddiger and All that Matters. He then announced that he was going to play more rock stuff, which excited the crowd. First he played Boom Like That, which in my opinion was the highlight of the night, the guitar solos and riffs were to perfection and sounded incredible. Speedway to Nazareth followed, where the guitar solo was excellent. Then he played Telegraph Road, and the crowd went mad, I didn't go mad, but he did it so good. He then went off to the crowds disappointment, but came on within 2 minutes to change his shirt. He played the 2 classics; Brothers in Arms and Money for Nothing, which I thought were great, which were followed by So Far Away. Then all the band went off apart from the keyboard player and Mark, and halfway through Local Hero, Knopfler just took the song away and played by himself brilliantly, a great send off! The concert was exceptional, with the real highlights: Why Aye Man, Sultans of Swing, Boom Like That, Speedway to Nazareth, Brothers in Arms, Money for Nothing and Local Hero, a great night!