The June 28th concert at the New Jersey PAC in Newark marked my first concert of the tour, and the performance quality was really extraordinary! According to the ticket, the show was scheduled to start at 7:30 PM. After sitting through a few hours of Route 17 rush-hour traffic I reached the venue about a half hour early, and got my hands on a tour program, and t-shirt. (Which were rather expensive.) The seating at the NJ PAC is one of the finest I think. I was all the way up in third tier, first row, dead center- but had a great view of the stage and the nice light show. When Mark looked up at our section, it looked as if he was starring straight at me, very cool! To my surprise, Bap Kennedy didn't appear until 7:30. His set was rather nice, a sort of mirage of Irish folk/blues, marred only by his slight attempt at humor which no one seemed to like. Kennedy finished at around 8 PM, and the famous "island" intro music came on about five minutes past so I knew Mark would be appearing shortly (but late I think). Thereafter, to my expectations the band appeared to a warm set of applause by the crowd. The concert itself was very powerful. Danny Cummings' drumming definitely adds something to the songs. I think the person who mentioned a while ago that he is more of a "rock and roll" drummer hit it right on. Song for Sonny Liston took on a very different, more powerful feel because of his playing. The sound at the NJ PAC was pretty good, sometimes a little too loud though in my opinion, where the volume ruined the clarity. The crowd was responsive, but could have been a little more energetic I think. There was a guy in the very first row in a green shirt who was really into it! So the highlights, in my opinion, were Sultans of Swing, and Song for Sonny Liston. But that really isn't fair to the rest of the songs that achieved an equal amount of musical worth. All the band members were really "in the zone" for the entire set. These shows are truly a sign that Mark and the crew have not lost an ounce of their musical talent. In fact I think they have improved to a great degree. Mark is STILL finding new things in his music, very apparent from this entire tour. The set list is below. You'll notice that they skipped Donegan's Gone, and woefully ended the show with So Far Away, with no Our Shangri-La or Wild Theme. (I feel a little cheated you know ;)))) Perhaps there is some venue curfew I am not aware of. Setlist: Why Aye Man Walk of Life What it is Sailing to Philadelphia Romeo & Juliet Sultans of Swing Band Introductions Done with Bonaparte Song for Sonny Liston Rudiger Boom, Like That Speedway at Nazareth Telegraph Road Encores: Brothers in Arms Money for Nothing So Far Away I did make a recording of the event with my Sony Walkman tape recorder. I had a good mic (Sony ECM-719), which handled the high volume parts quite well to my surprise. (NO distortion) Originally, I was only going to record this as a souvenir for myself. But since the recording is very enjoyable at length, and contains the entire set list, I think I will now run it through my computer, and burn it to some CD-Rs. If anyone wants a copy, let me know. (dmolda@gmail.com) All the Best, Dan Molda

A virtually packed house definitely showed its appreciation for the musicianship of MK and his band. He plays right into the heart of the crowd in this smaller venue; each song was thoroughly enjoyed by all. I was surprised, but perhaps I shouldn't have been, at the average age of the audience. MK is pulling in a significant number of fans from his Dire Straits days. And they responded especially to the Dire Straits pieces wildly! As far as I can remember the set list was identical to the Wolf Trap (Virginia) concert. A terrific set but I would have hoped for more from the Shangri-La CD; this is the Shangri-La tour after all. But with so much material from which to select I cannot fault the set selections too much. The only universally acceptable solution would be to extend the show from its current 1h 45m to over two hours. Nobody but the band would complain about that!! (Tis a grueling schedule, I give them highest marks for endurance.) As the previous reviewer stated, Sultans absolutely brought the house down; several (older) audience members were actually bowing in homage! There was simply NOT a poorly done song; this band was NOT just going through the motions. Everyone played with intensity and it certainly looked like they were having fun playing. It's difficult to pick out one band member that went above and beyond last night but I would have to say the bassist Glenn Worf absolutely kicked ass. He played, in addition to standard issue electric basses, a full upright double bass. I won't even venture a guess about the kind of electronic used to amp it but the sound...ahhhh, the sound of that upright was so sweet...you know, I can still hear it! My favorite song of the night was one from Mark's latest CD that I would say is not on my list of favorite CD cuts. It was "Song for Sonny Liston". Mark sat down (perhaps for the first time that night) and pulled a guitar onto his lap. Only two other band members joined him, the aforementioned Glenn Worf and Dan Cummings. Dan cracked out an enchanting drum edge (literally; a la Buddy Rich!) melodic rhythm while Mark picked out wholly satisfying chord/melody fills. They song was fleshed out with Glenn's great bass lines. I sat there in jaw-dropped wonder. If this performance doesn't make the live tour CD I can't imagine what would best it. I don't want to give short shrift to Rich Bennett and Guy Fletcher; they were great. But there was one more performance that stood out in my mind, Matt Cummings. Excellent piano and organ work, but it was the accordion he played on Bonaparte that really sat me up straight. He put all of us in France with that performance. The song was done wonderfully but the accordion part was so tasty and it so perfectly set the mood...Ah ma Cherie, I can smell the croissants and the lavender en ce moment... As you can tell, I had a great time. Everybody around me had a great time...we all wanted more (ya hear that Mark! Guy! Rich!, anyone reading from the band or crew, give us more!!) ;) Well, it was a grand night. I wish I could thank the band personally. P.S. Bap Kennedy and his mate with the electric guitar(sorry, even though Bap announced his name twice, I forgot it, grrrr) were great. On one or two song (like Ocean Alcohol) I feel they could have used a percussionist to really get the song to the next level. But for two guitars and 1.5(!) vocals I was impressed. Good job.

Great show by Mark and the boys! They were in top form in a great venue. "Sultans" brought the house to its feet early. It was a short version, but blistering nonetheless. "Speedway", my personal favorite, was great, but could have used a third guitar. "Telegraph Road" was soaring. The crowd really got into the encores and was pleading for more by the time "So Far Away" was over. Looking forward to Radio City!