You can buy 'Solid Rock - The Alan's Album Archives Guide To The Music Of...Dire Straits' by clicking here!
FIVE LANDMARK CONCERTS:
I don't know about you, dear reader, but
so far this book/website has seemed awfully studio-bound: yes there are the odd
live albums dotted round in the discographies but a touring life was usually as
important if not more so to our AAA artists. Even we can't go through every gig
they ever played however, so what we've decided to do instead is bring you five
particularly important gigs with a run-down of what was played, where and when
and why we consider these gigs so important, along with one particularly good
one that summed up the band's setlist during their live peak (or one of them,
anyway). Think of these as a sort of 'highlights' covering from first to (in
some cases) last, to whet your appetite and to avoid ignoring a band's live
work completely! Dire Straits had an interesting live career. They became very
big very quickly (well, after they got together and started using that name at
least) and went from being nobodies to becoming a headline act to filling
stadiums in less time than it takes most musicians to put on a head-band. This
is also one of those AAA bands who tended to keep to the same setlist
throughout a tour without any changes, either in songs or arrangements, so
although the band played around 880 gigs (a lot considering they were only an active
live unit for fourteen years) that and the fact they released two live albums
(a quarter of their entire back catalogue) that doesn't leave us a lot of space
for 'special' gigs this article around. So we've kept to the early years for
this list back when the band were the 'Sultans Of Swing' rather than the years
they were more 'Stadiums Of Bling'!
1) Where: Farrer House,
London When: July 9th 1977 Why: First
Gig? Setlist: Unknown
The first 'actual' Dire
Straits gig was an unglamorous affair, world apart from their final monster gig
in 1992 (see the end of this list!) Mark, David and John were still staying at
the Farrer Flats on the Crossfields Estate in Deptford and there was a tiny
courtyard at the back of their apartment block. Wanting to hear how they
sounded in the open air, they plugged the amplifiers into John's first-floor
flat, dangled the cable out the window and plugged in outside, hoping it
wouldn't rain. The setlist is unknown but probably consisted of a few jammed
oldies and some of the songs from the first Dire Straits album, hastily being
written by Mark at the time. Nobody complained (amazingly) so they decided to
try it again for 'real' at the end of the month with the first 'proper' Dire
Straits show taking place at the nearby Albany Theatre on July 28th that year.
Who, either taking part or watching this impromptu show, would have guessed
that almost a year to the day after this first 'gig' Dire Straits would release
one of the highest-rated debut albums of their era?
2) Where: Roundhouse
Theatre, London When: January 29th 1978 Why: First Big Gig? Setlist: [5] Southbound Again [4] Six-Blade Knife [7] Eastbound Train [3] Down To The
Waterline [8] In The Gallery [1] Water Of Love [6] Setting Me Up 'Real Girl'
'Me and My Friends' [2] Sultans Of Swing [9] Wild West End
The 'real' cult following
for the band though took place after a six-month hiatus where the band took
time off to work up and perfect their setlist - which is also the period when
Radio London DJ Charlie Gillett plugged their demo tape on air. The band's
third gig was at Manchester University's Student Union on January 21st 1978
that went down well - and this gig barely a week later, when they finally hit
the big-time as the opening act for up and coming band Talking Heads at one of
London's bigger venues of the day. Amazingly audio of this gig still exists
(the earliest we have by far - it's thought a Talking Heads fan taped the
opening act to 'test' his tape!) and is
fabulous. Admittedly the band are rough around the edges, keep pausing to
re-adjust tempos and get back in synch with each other and are clearly nervous,
playing with a manic energy quite unlike their future more laidback selves. The
echoey venue is also not really built for their distinctive sound. Forget the
problems though: this gig is still fabulous with Mark sounding even crosser and
more bitter than he did on the 1977 demo tape. The band play a full eleven
songs in their set - impressive time for an opening act - and have already
written everything from their debut album, along with a couple of interesting
oddities. 'Real Girl' is a snarky, angry put-down never released on album, 'Me
and My Friends' is a rollicking 1950s throwback with some thunderous noisy
drumming from Pick Withers and 'Eastbound Train' a preview of the first Dire
Straits B-side. The highlight, however, is the (intended) finale 'Sultans Of
swing', extended to six minutes despite
being so much faster than the record and already getting whoops of recognition
from the keen local crowd. More than any other version of the track around,
this is how the song should sound - manic, exciting and full of life, the band
getting lost in the music for the sheer hell of it. The band went down a storm
- the more low-key Talking Heads were reportedly not that happy at being shown
up by these young upstart unknowns - so the band came back on try out a rough
version of what was then mark's newest song, the laidback 'Wild West End'.
Given the venue setting and the 'wild' performance that was a very apt choice
indeed! Admittedly the sound is very woolly as it stands (and the echoey hall
means it will never sound perfect) but if someone can spend some money cleaning
up this tape it would make for a great collector's release one day!
3) Where: Paradise Rock
Club, Boston When: February 23rd 1979 Why: First American Gig Setlist:
[3] Down To The Waterline [4] Six-Blade Knife [11] Once Upon A
Time In The West [14] Lady Writer [18] Single-Handed Sailor [9] Wild West End
[13] Where Do You Think You're Going [7] Eastbound Train [5] Southbound Again [16] Angel Of Mercy 'Nadine'
Here we are, just a year on,
but so much has changed. The debut album has been released to big success and
critical plaudits, a second album is halfway finished (with five songs in this
set list - none of them ever played on any future tour so particularly
interesting to hear) and Dire Straits are enough of a hit in Britain for
America to give them a go. This is the band's first gig Stateside, as the 'end
of the first third' of a year-long international tour (which starts in
Rotterdam and ends with the filmed gig at the Rockapalast in Germany at the end
of the year). Dire Straits played two shows in Boston, both of which went down
a storm, before playing two a night for most of the rest of the tour (one taped
in Philadelphia on March 6th exists on bootleg and is a fine - and fiery - performance). All the American dates were
sell-outs, just 13 months on from playing - literally - in their own backyard.
Most notable in the setlists in this era is the final encore 'Nadine', a Chuck
Berry song that the band never played on record but will turn up occasionally
in their shows through to 1989. Mark probably included it as a 'homage' to the
American songs he loved in his youth now that he was playing in the States
himself, a country he never dreamed he'd get to after a decade of performing
without much success in his homeland. Another gig played a week later in Los
Angeles is notable too - Bob Dylan is in the audience and is impressed enough
to ask Mark to work on his 'Slow Train Coming' LP.Dire Straits have arrived -
and how!
4) Where: Wembley Stadium,
London When: June 11th 1988 Why:
Memorable Gig Setlist: [39] Walk Of Life [2] Sultans Of Swing [22] Romeo and Juliet
[38] Money For Nothing [45] Brothers In Arms 'Wonderful Tonight' [26] Solid
Rock
Though it was a month early
(Nelson Mandela didn't turn 70 until July 18th that year) this birthday concert
broadcast all around the world has a major part to play in the history of the
world in general and South Africa in particular. Mandela had served 25 years in
prison for speaking out against the apartheid regime and generally being a
thorn in the side of the strict Government, locked up on Robben Island. To his
loyal supporters his calmness and humanity in the face of oppression made him a
noble figure and there was a movement growing across the 1980s to get him
released. This birthday concert was a major part of the plan to put pressure on
the Government to release Mandela and was broadcast around the world - though
heavily censored in some countries (including Fox's broadcast in America). As
one of the most politically conscious bands of their era Dire Straits were an
obvious group to ask and was the climax of a three-gig 'return' after some time
off post 'Brothers In Arms'. The band were joined by Eric Clapton as 'second
guitarist' and ended up backing him on one of his songs ('Wonderful Tonight',
written for Patti Boyd) as well as performing seven of their own which all
sounded subtly different with Mark and Eric trading solos (exuberant finale
'Solid Rock' sounding particularly good). This gig was one of the band's
biggest, thanks to being beamed around the world and was all in all a good
day's work - Mandela's release less than two years later was linked to the
pressures started by this show which raised Mandela's plight greatly in the
Western world's consciousness. Perhaps oddly, it's the only charity gig the
socially aware Dire Straits ever played, barring 'Live Aid' three years before.
5) Where: Estadia De La
Romareda, Zaragoza, Spain When: October 9th
1992 Why: Last Gig Setlist: [46] Calling Elvis [39] Walk Of Life [52] Heavy Fuel [22] Romeo
and Juliet [50] The Bug [29] Private Investigations [2] Sultans Of Swing [40]
Your Latest Trick [47] On Every Street [35] Two Young Lovers [28] Telegraph
Road [38] Money For Nothing [45] Brothers In Arms 'Going Home - Theme From
Local Hero'
Released in part on last
official 'Dire Straits' release 'Night After Night' and in full on bootleg, by
1992 the band have travelled the world multiple times and come to the end of a
tiring tour that saw them play 229 shows on pretty much every continent except
Antarctica! By most accounts (and the aural evidence) this tour had become
sadly robotic by the end, with Mark and John the only founding members left in
the band and not much variation in the setlists, which consisted of old
favourites and four new songs from the 'On Every Street' album. Spain was an
odd choice for the band's last gig but was big news locally and the band ended
up playing to one of the biggest stadium audiences of their career with 43,000
fans attending and the concert selling out within hours of being announced. It
was a suitably big farewell gesture and the show ends with Mark's humble words:
'This is the last one so thankyou very much. On behalf of the band here I want
to thank very much everybody on ther crew, all the production people, all the
catering people and most of all you for coming out to see us!' With that and
the Spanish crowd going mad shouting 'ole!' at the tops of their voices, the
show plays out with a sad, slow, muted version of 'Going Home' - a fitting
choice in the circumstances, given that Mark will rarely play this far from
'home' again and certainly never in this kind of an extravaganza again!
THREE COVER VERSIONS:
Sometimes when artists pick up that musical baton they pay tribute
to their heroes by covering their favourite songs. Here are three covers that
we consider to be amongst the very best out of the ones we've heard (and no we
haven't heard them all - do you know how many AAA albums out there are out
there even without adding cover songs as well?!) Dire Straits have a strangely
small pile for such a high-selling prestigious band and perhaps not
surprisingly most of these covers date from the 1980s when the band's fame was
at its peak. As you'd expect there are quite a few covers of classic songs like
[2] 'Sultans Of Swing' [23] 'Romeo and Juliet' and [39] 'Money For Nothing' out
there, which between them fill out the lion's share of the Dire Straits covers
in the world. However we've plumped for three more obscure songs that are all
given their own distinctive twist by the musicians involved. Personally I'm
waiting for the day a band is brave enough to tackle a cover version of [29]
'Telegraph Road'!
1) Eric Clapton [7]
Setting Me Up ('Just One Night' 1980)
Captain Slowhands sounds oddly right tackling Mr Headband, even
though this song is hardly a natural fit for rock's biggest chameleon or a
'typical' Knopfler song. Slowed down slightly and given a softer rendition o
the riff, nevertheless the pain and hurt in this song still comes over loud and
proud and it sounds more like a blues song than ever. Eric, traditionally as
fluid a guitarist as they come, even has a good go at nailing Mark's Chet
Atkins style finger-picking - Albert Lee, of Ten Years After, fares less well
with the vocals mind. Still, this is a hot live cut from 1980, which comes
impressively early in the run of Dire Straits' career before many people really
knew who the band were (I may have missed a few somewhere, but I think this
date makes it the earliest Mark Knopfler cover I know of). Sad that so far Eric
and co have only ever performed a live version of it, but then I guess that's
why he called the record 'Just One Night'!
2) Fausto Pappetti [30]
Private Investigations ('My One and Only Love' 1982)
First up, full marks for
bravery I didn't think anyone would be
courageous enough to tackle this complex, unusually structured song but Italian
classical saxophonist Fausto has actually covered it twice on a song well
suited to his strengths (slow, atmospheric and with great uses of dynamic
tension). Personally, though, I think the saxophonist should have given the
credit to his un-named guitarist, who does a great job of nailing the tricky
flamenco flourishes of the original. I'm not sure the same atmosphere quite
comes off without the words to follow and the 1980s percussion is far more
laboured than Pick Withers' superb playing on the original, but if nothing else
this sleepy instrumental version shows off what a gorgeous melody is lurking on
this song. This was one of the last recordings made by Fausto before his
retirement and a surprisingly 'hip' choice for the times ([2] 'Sultans Of
Swing' is surely the more obvious song to choose) and his records (especially
the packaging) feel like they belong in a different age nowadays. For example,
fans who label all of Fausto's albums by the semi-nudes on the cover will know
this as the 'one with the blonde in the green bikini'. No private investigation
needed there - indeed, no cover up at all!
3) The Everly Brothers [42] Why Worry? ('Born
Yesterday' 1985)
As we've said already, Mark
wasn't one of those stuck-up, keep-to-himself kind of stars - he was thrilled
to meet and greet the people he admired from his childhood and teenage years
and eager to work with seemingly anyone who asked him. He was especially
pleased to be invited by 1950s stars The Everly Brothers to take part in a
re-recording of his lovely song from 'Brothers In Arms' (then a red-hot album
and a brand new release). Mark plays an almost identical guitar part
note-for-note again but sadly doesn't sing. Then again he doesn't need to - The
Everlys may have hated each other's guts when they made their two 'comeback'
albums in the mid-1980s but they still sing like telepathic angels and this is
one of their last great recordings. The arrangement is subtly different to Dire
Straits' too, less percussion-heavy and a little more 'countrified'. The song
ends with the same elongated synth riff but sadly cuts before Mark's guitar
cuts back into the song with fire and passion, determined to put things right.
The result isn't quite as uplifting as when Dire Straits take a positive out of
thin air, but it's still a great version and easily the best Dire Straits cover
version I've heard (the only one that comes close is Art Garfunkel's cover of
the exact same song - which we've missed out here for the sake of repetition
and because it gets its own entry in our forthcoming 'Simon and Garfunkel'
book).
Other Dire Straits related malarkey from this website can be found at:
A Now Complete List
Of Dire Straits Articles Available To Read At Alan’s Album Archives:
‘Dire Straits’ (1978) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/dire-straits-1978.html
'Communiqué' (1979) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/dire-straits-communique-1979.html
'Makin' Movies' (1981) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-5-dire.html
'Love Over Gold' (1983) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-82-dire-straits-love-over-gold.html
‘Brothers In Arms’ (1985) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/dire-straits-brothers-in-arms-1985.html
'On Every Street' (1993) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-79-dire.html
Surviving TV Appearances
(1978-1991) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/dire-straits-surviving-tv-appearances.html
Unreleased Recordings (1978-1991) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/dire-straits-unreleased-recordings.html
Non-Album Songs 1977-1991 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/dire-straits-non-album-songs-1977-1991.html
Live/Solo/Compilation/Film
Soundtrack Albums Part One (1977-1999) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/dire-straits-livesolocompilation-albums.html
Live/Solo/Compilation/Film
Soundtrack Albums Part Two (2000-2014) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/dire-straits-livesolocompilation-albums_25.html
Mark Knopfler’s Guest
Appearances https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/aaa-extra-mark-knopflers-guest.html
Essay: From ‘Dire Straits’
To ‘Mass Consumerism’ https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/dire-straits-essay-from-dire-straits-to.html
Five Landmark Concerts and
Three Key Cover Versions https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/dire-straits-five-landmark-concerts-and.html
Sometimes when artists pick up that musical baton they pay tribute
to their heroes by covering their favourite songs. Here are three covers that
we consider to be amongst the very best out of the ones we've heard (and no we
haven't heard them all - do you know how many AAA albums out there are out
there even without adding cover songs as well?!) Dire Straits have a strangely
small pile for such a high-selling prestigious band and perhaps not
surprisingly most of these covers date from the 1980s when the band's fame was
at its peak. As you'd expect there are quite a few covers of classic songs like
[2] 'Sultans Of Swing' [23] 'Romeo and Juliet' and [39] 'Money For Nothing' out
there, which between them fill out the lion's share of the Dire Straits covers
in the world. However we've plumped for three more obscure songs that are all
given their own distinctive twist by the musicians involved. Personally I'm
waiting for the day a band is brave enough to tackle a cover version of [29]
'Telegraph Road'!
1) Eric Clapton [7]
Setting Me Up ('Just One Night' 1980)
Captain Slowhands sounds oddly right tackling Mr Headband, even
though this song is hardly a natural fit for rock's biggest chameleon or a
'typical' Knopfler song. Slowed down slightly and given a softer rendition o
the riff, nevertheless the pain and hurt in this song still comes over loud and
proud and it sounds more like a blues song than ever. Eric, traditionally as
fluid a guitarist as they come, even has a good go at nailing Mark's Chet
Atkins style finger-picking - Albert Lee, of Ten Years After, fares less well
with the vocals mind. Still, this is a hot live cut from 1980, which comes
impressively early in the run of Dire Straits' career before many people really
knew who the band were (I may have missed a few somewhere, but I think this
date makes it the earliest Mark Knopfler cover I know of). Sad that so far Eric
and co have only ever performed a live version of it, but then I guess that's
why he called the record 'Just One Night'!
2) Fausto Pappetti [30]
Private Investigations ('My One and Only Love' 1982)
First up, full marks for
bravery I didn't think anyone would be
courageous enough to tackle this complex, unusually structured song but Italian
classical saxophonist Fausto has actually covered it twice on a song well
suited to his strengths (slow, atmospheric and with great uses of dynamic
tension). Personally, though, I think the saxophonist should have given the
credit to his un-named guitarist, who does a great job of nailing the tricky
flamenco flourishes of the original. I'm not sure the same atmosphere quite
comes off without the words to follow and the 1980s percussion is far more
laboured than Pick Withers' superb playing on the original, but if nothing else
this sleepy instrumental version shows off what a gorgeous melody is lurking on
this song. This was one of the last recordings made by Fausto before his
retirement and a surprisingly 'hip' choice for the times ([2] 'Sultans Of
Swing' is surely the more obvious song to choose) and his records (especially
the packaging) feel like they belong in a different age nowadays. For example,
fans who label all of Fausto's albums by the semi-nudes on the cover will know
this as the 'one with the blonde in the green bikini'. No private investigation
needed there - indeed, no cover up at all!
3) The Everly Brothers [42] Why Worry? ('Born
Yesterday' 1985)
As we've said already, Mark
wasn't one of those stuck-up, keep-to-himself kind of stars - he was thrilled
to meet and greet the people he admired from his childhood and teenage years
and eager to work with seemingly anyone who asked him. He was especially
pleased to be invited by 1950s stars The Everly Brothers to take part in a
re-recording of his lovely song from 'Brothers In Arms' (then a red-hot album
and a brand new release). Mark plays an almost identical guitar part
note-for-note again but sadly doesn't sing. Then again he doesn't need to - The
Everlys may have hated each other's guts when they made their two 'comeback'
albums in the mid-1980s but they still sing like telepathic angels and this is
one of their last great recordings. The arrangement is subtly different to Dire
Straits' too, less percussion-heavy and a little more 'countrified'. The song
ends with the same elongated synth riff but sadly cuts before Mark's guitar
cuts back into the song with fire and passion, determined to put things right.
The result isn't quite as uplifting as when Dire Straits take a positive out of
thin air, but it's still a great version and easily the best Dire Straits cover
version I've heard (the only one that comes close is Art Garfunkel's cover of
the exact same song - which we've missed out here for the sake of repetition
and because it gets its own entry in our forthcoming 'Simon and Garfunkel'
book).
Other Dire Straits related malarkey from this website can be found at:
A Now Complete List
Of Dire Straits Articles Available To Read At Alan’s Album Archives:
‘Dire Straits’ (1978) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/dire-straits-1978.html
‘Dire Straits’ (1978) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/dire-straits-1978.html
'Communiqué' (1979) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/dire-straits-communique-1979.html
'Makin' Movies' (1981) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-5-dire.html
'Love Over Gold' (1983) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-82-dire-straits-love-over-gold.html
‘Brothers In Arms’ (1985) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/dire-straits-brothers-in-arms-1985.html
'On Every Street' (1993) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-79-dire.html
Surviving TV Appearances
(1978-1991) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/dire-straits-surviving-tv-appearances.html
Unreleased Recordings (1978-1991) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/dire-straits-unreleased-recordings.html
Unreleased Recordings (1978-1991) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/dire-straits-unreleased-recordings.html
Non-Album Songs 1977-1991 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/dire-straits-non-album-songs-1977-1991.html
Live/Solo/Compilation/Film
Soundtrack Albums Part One (1977-1999) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/dire-straits-livesolocompilation-albums.html
Live/Solo/Compilation/Film
Soundtrack Albums Part Two (2000-2014) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/dire-straits-livesolocompilation-albums_25.html
Mark Knopfler’s Guest
Appearances https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/aaa-extra-mark-knopflers-guest.html
Essay: From ‘Dire Straits’
To ‘Mass Consumerism’ https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/dire-straits-essay-from-dire-straits-to.html
Five Landmark Concerts and
Three Key Cover Versions https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/dire-straits-five-landmark-concerts-and.html
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