Allthough the concert was great ( a bit shorter then usealy), the Mark Knopfler / Dire Straits numbers were far out the best. I missed my favourite songs Telegraph Road, Sultans of Swing, Golden Heart, Theme of the Local Hero etc Romeo & Juliet and Speedway at Nazareth where great Mark next time when you return to The Netherlands ( I hope next year) leave Emmylou at home, she's good for backing vocals but should not be at front for so long.

This is my second review I write here, my first one was a year ago when I went to the second Rotterdam concert from the Shangri-La Tour. I have to say that this concert was REALLY REALLY great! Can't find the best words for it. First, I drove together with my dad to Rotterdam and we were there around 17:15 pm. So, got something to eat and after that it was about an hour waiting before the doors from the Ahoy' opened. So, waiting and waiting in a growing queue. Aroudn 18:45 the doors opened, so we could get inside to claim your standingplace. And just to be sure your place wouldn't be stolen by some other hysterical fan, we sat on the floor for about an hour. I was about 2 or 3 meters from Mark & Emmylou! Nice atmosphere. Around 20:00 everybody got a little bit nervous. And than, suddenly, for nowhere, the synth-sounds from "Right Now" began. The band came on stage and we all applauded! 1. "Right Now"! A way longer version than on the album, however, the sound on this one was a bit poor, because the music was too loud for the voices. But, overall, it was a pleasure to hear this song. Great solos! 2. "Red Staggerwing"! Starting off with Danny's drumbeat. Richard played on a lapsteel here and there was a nice fiddle solo from Stuart Duncan. Very very nice version. But, just as the song before, the sound was a bit poor because of the too loud music. 3. "Michaelanglo"! The first song Emmylou did on here own. And I have to say: masterpiece! A really really lovely song, can't say it better. I really love it! 4. "I Dug up a Diamond"! Well, what can I say? The album version is already really great, but this live version was even BETTER! Richard and Mark where duetting the final solo! 5. "Born to Run"! A very very nice Emmylou song. And I thought it was this song where Guy Fletcher was singing the background voice! Very sweet! 6. "Red Dirt Girl"! Emmylou told a bit about where she got the idea for making this song. It was, again, a very sweet acoustic song from Emmylou! 7. "Done With Boneaparte"! Mark introduced the band to us and it was noticable that Mark enjoyed the show, because he was very very relaxed, made some jokes with Emmy and the rest. Very funny. After that the song started, just as beautiful as it always is. 8. "Romeo and Juliet"! Alright, we all know it, it's a wonderful song and there's just no concert from Mark without this one. Really wonderful and Mark did his final solo on a Pensa guitar! So, I think that says enough! 9. "Song for Sonny Liston"! I can remember this one from last year and to be honest it was like the same. But that doesn't matter, it was really great!! 10. "Belle Starr"! Starting off with rock'n'roll chords. I had the feeling that it was the beginning of the Dire Straits' song "Two Young Lovers", but this one was also great! Again, longer than on the album and nice solo's from Mark on his Telecaster! 11. "This is Us"! There wasn't even time to applaud to the band, because "This is us" was starting off as soon as Belle Starr ended. Also things song was great. Great voices, great solos and a great pianosolo at the end. Nice! 12. "Boulder to Birmingham"! Again an Emmylou song. Also very nice song and I thought that again Guy Fletcher was singing on this one, and I also saw Matt Rollings singing from behind his piano, but maybe he was just moving his mouth or so. But that's not important right now, it was just a great song. 13. "All the Roadrunning"! This is where I got stupid, because I recognized the song, but I totally forgot the name. Just after a minute I remembered the songtitle. However, it was a nice song with a fiddle and an 'chestorgan' included. 14. "Speedway at Nazareth"! If you only see the songtitle, it has to be enough. It's such a powerfull song. The usual violin intro was done by Stuart on his fiddle. So nice! Mark and Emmylou were duetting the voices and after the vocalpart Richard changed his Bazouki for a Gibson and so the song started to build up to the huge and LOUD ending part! The sound was even that loud, that I could fell it in my chest! What an experience! After "Speedway..." they went off stage. And I was just clapping, clapping etc. My hands turned red and after a while it started to hurt so I was glad that they came back on stage. Time for the encores. Encore 1 started here. 15. "If This is Goodbye"! The endingsong from the album and my dad thought it was the last song. So, I had to tell him that he wasn't right. But, to the song. It's a nice, slow song. Beautiful vocals and the solo at the end was just it, you know! 16. "So Far Away"! An oldies-goldie! The crowd started a bit of moving from here on. Just about time! :P Very sweet duetting with Emmylou. 17. "Our Shangri-La"! Second time I hear and see this live, I was one of the lucky ones who saw this one on the last tour. GREAT! Nice guitarsolo and the end! And Stuart did fiddle here! :D Again, they went off stage. But the crowd didn't want them to leave. So, lots of noise came out of the crowd and they came back, just the three of them: Mark, Emmy and Guy. Emmy even excuses to us that we don't have to look weird, because she's doing the intro to a Mark Knopfler song. 18. "Why Worry"! Great, sweet, nice, better than I could imagine! Just the perfect end of the concert!!! And that was it. It was very great and it couldn't been better than this. So, see you next time in Rotterdam!! :P

Its was a special and great night in Ahoy!! You can find my review in Dutch here http://mabru.web-log.nl/mabru/2006/06/fijnproeverij_i.html and my pics here http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v255/mabru/knopfler/

An okay show, though the sound wasn't too good. Brussels was better in my opinion, but mostly soundwise. The entire day was amazing though... the soundcheck and meet & greet :D

Another great show , same setlist as Verona , Mark and Emmylou where very relaxad at stage Setlist Rotterdam 05/06/06 1. Right Now 2. Red Staggerwing 3. Michelangelo (EH solo) 4. I Dug Up A Diamond 5. Born To Run 6. Red Dirt Girl (EH solo) 7. Done With Bonaparte 8. Romeo & Juliet (MK solo) 9. Song For Sonny Liston (MK solo) 10. Belle Starr 11. This Is Us 12. Boulder To Birmingham (EH solo) 13. All The Roadrunning 14. Speedway At Nazareth 15. If This Is Goodbye 16. So Far Away 17. Our Shangri-La 18. Why Worry See also my website : http://users.skynet.be/markknopfler/

It was a great show. I was in possitive way pleased from the voice of EH. And lots of numbers on a Les Pauls, Hammond Keys , piano, and accordeon. That makes my day. Some highlites: Michaelangelo, great vocal, Belle Star, This is Us.So far Away (great backing vocal EH), en Why Whorry was briljant