A beautiful summer day in Chicago (not 75% humidity, thunderstorms or unseasonably cold) in itself is enough to make you love life but to end it with one of the best MK solo shows I've seen is sublime! Being somewhat of knopfler-suiere by now I think it's safe to say that MK and band were in top form and clearly enjoying themselves and the audience. The venue, the Chicago Theater is a beautiful place, one of those grand old urban theaters that fell into decline after it's early-mid 20th century heyday and has since been restored, not sure of the seating capacity, I would guess around 4,000 or so. We were in about the 10th row and it was easy to see the band interaction, Mark setting his solos off the fiddle and whistles of John McKusker and Richard's rhythms, great backing vocals by Guy and Matt. Mark's guitar work as always amazing seemed tonight to be, maybe (?) a little more inspired and slightly varied than usual, what I'm trying to say is, he seemed "into it". The set list was pretty much the same as other shows, no new additions, but we didn't get Shangri-La The crowd was standing after RJ, Sultans, Speedway, TR...well quite a few. The band seemed genuinely taken aback at the response of the audience after RJ, it was almost a show stopper, the standing ovation went on for what seemed like a couple of minutes and MK and band just stood there all smiles basking in the glow. One of the non-musical highlights was a well timed shout out from one of the female members audience, right as the crowd was settling down after Sultans, before song for Sonny, in the silence someone yells out: "you rock my soul sex man" to which MK replies...something like .."excuse my while I adjust my hearing aid" he then went on to remark (paraphrasing) .you know you're doing something right when the women are barking like dogs!....and that; "my bandmates are coiled and ready to spring into action at the sign of any stage invasion", then, turning around to say; "oh, I see they've all left me." If you can bond with thousands of people at one time he certainly did it. For me personally, it's our anniversary so the evening was even more special, and forgive my personal indulgences but, having my 14 year old daughter, a talented musician in her own right, really become an MK fan and enjoy the show just puts it over the top. Onward to Boston, we'll be there this weekend. To everyone who has a show upcoming, you're in for a treat.