Hello people: One more time, Mark KNOPFLER give to Toronto an unbelivable show with hot guitars. Mark's musicians are great too and it seems to me that those players begin to form a band (since 10 years now)... as well as Dire Straits before! The four solo songs Emmylou did was ok, but I prefered by far songs from "All The Roadrunning" or the Mark KNOPFLER or Dire Straits songs. You're right Pat... poutine is not the best meal we can find in Toronto. It should be better to try some fine food with great Canadian wines (i.e. Okanagan Valley or Niagara Peninsula). Tomorrow I will go to Boston (MA, USA) to see him one more time. I can't get enough of this magic sound and voice. I'm a poor Montreal guy because often same artists do better live concert in Toronto than in Montreal. For example J.J. CALE in 2004, Bob DYLAN in 2002 and Mark KNOPFLER in 2005. Lucky Toronto!

I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I thought the sound was a bit off at first - low muddy vocals from Mark - but was fine from song 3 or 4 on. Most odd moment was at the end for Why Worry. This was a 2nd encore so they had all gone off and then just MK and EH came back. I guess EH always says a few words then, and MK realized his monitor wasn't working. I don't even really know what that means but he was obviously concerned and did not want to play without it. He and crew spent about two minutes scrambling around (as EH blabbed away) but couldn't fix it. EH suggested he come over and share her mike. I think he was a bit reluctant but then did so. They both sing and play guitars simultaneously on much of this one, so it was more than a little cozy next to that mike. An awkward problem actually ended up being a nice moment for the fans seeing them singing even more together than expected. Thanks to MK/EH for being flexible on that one and not bailing out. But the funny part for me was the look on Mark's face - remember the song was Why Worry - I've never seen a more worried look. I am very much enjoying Richard's diary - but jeez there is way better food in TO than chain store grease! Although he did identify the local faves as opposed to the global chains. BTW the fries with gravy thing he refers to is historically a "dish" from Quebec and is called poutine (not moulline). Most folks here call it gross (sorry Montreal, we all know everything is better there, except you didn't get a show on this tour, did you?). The super-high-fat version is fries with gravy _and_ cheese curds. Also - he noted it was cool there in contrast to previous hot days here - actually it was hot here today too but this venue is right on the lakeshore and at this time of year it is normal for it to be about 7-8 degrees C (say 14 degrees F) cooler at the shore compared to even a short distance north. Vitamin G is now part of my vocabulary - already was part of my "diet". Would love to know what is their preferred gin of choice, I go for the Bombay sapphire. Why does every single Tom, Dick, Harry, and Sue need a friggin' cell-phone picture of MK??????? I would get pissed off having flashes going off at me virtually non-stop for two hours. Not sure how they endure that, and I find it distracting too as an audience member. Oh, and $45 is ridiculous for a t-shirt. Give me a break. Pat Hodgson Toronto

We got to our seats (in the 14th row) just after 8, expecting an opening act, but then faces I recognized came on stage - MK's band, followed by MK and EH. They launched straight into Right Now from the new album and went on for a good two hours. Speedway to Nazareth simply was simply awesome, as was Song for Sonny Liston. Best of all, it was great to hear so many tunes from Roadrunning live. I love the entire album and can't stop playing it. The sound was excellent and the band was relaxed and enjoying themselves. Emmylou Harris makes a great addition to this wonderful group. She has a warm stage presence and lovely voice - and makes one hope the collaboration could go on into another album. (Hint, hint...) Cool night by the lake (welcome after a sweltering weekend), warm and happy audience, fantastic playing - that just about sums it up.