Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Vila Manin / Codroipo (Udine) / Italy
Concert date: June 8, 2008
Attendance: 5,000
Mark Knopfler is a name that really needs no introduction. As the driving force behind the legendary Dire Straits, the elder statesman of rock and one of the giants of guitar playing has secured himself a permanent spot among the most revered icons of rock & roll! Today the 58-year-old, visibly content with the status that comes with his now fully polished dome, picks his weapons carefully, then unleashes them in waves on an audience starving for musical greatness. Ever since the breakup of Dire Straits, that music has drifted more and more into country waters, and Mark masterfully steers his strength through their currents.
Saturday’s show in the fantastic setting of Vila Manin, not far from Udine, was part of Knopfler’s European tour, which on the short hop from Italy to Zagreb once again carefully dodged Slovenia. Which, of course, surprises nobody anymore. The reaction from our macaroni-loving neighbors was brilliant, if not downright thrilling, and in any case incomparably better than anything the Slovenian crowd ever musters. Maybe Knopfler just lacks a bit more of that sub-Alpine rural flavor that would bring him closer to the good folk of Slovenia through music education programs like Na zdravje, but that’s a story for deeper musical analysis. The long lines of hot-blooded chatterboxes snaking through the narrow entrance to the grounds filled the air with a special anticipation and energy, in short, the kind of charge you only find at open-air venues caught in the heat of summer, this time interrupted every now and then by a landing party of a raindrop or two.
Mark appeared on stage at exactly half past eight in the evening. No pomp, none of the showman tricks that so many of his colleagues use to pose a legendary musician in the spotlight like some otherworldly wonder, for a hefty tip. Mark is simply “too old” for that stuff, and probably, above all, too smart! Surrounded by an interesting crew of versatile musicians, Knopfler gives off a sense of incredible focus and dominance at first glance. The man takes what he does very seriously. He approached slowly, provoked by the roaring crowd, then calmly plugged in his Strat and sailed off into the evening with Cannibals, a song from his debut, which is by now a dozen years old. The magic of the Mark Knopfler band exploded in all its shades in the blink of an eye. An exceptionally tight ensemble of violin, sitar, organ and double bass, commanded with confidence by the eminence on guitar, delivers a killer effect! An immense share of that goes to the excellent sound setup, where even the tiniest twitch of any individual player came through crystal clear. What It Is, one of the most “Straits-like” arrangements of Knopfler’s post-Dire Straits era, poured even more oil on the fire, stunning with its combination of vocal and instrumental forces. Mark is simply incredible, so slyly subtle and yet so majestic. His voice, despite the roughness the years have brought, remains a balm for the soul, and his signature fender pick is a heart-piercing weapon!
Sailing To Philadelphia continued in a calmer vein. An already rather ambient song, it got even more so with the mysterious sound of the flute solo, which added a good dose of melancholy to the performance. With the slightly younger True Love Will Never Fade, Knopfler carried on in the intimate style of its more famous predecessor, all the way to the impressively stretched-out The Fish and the Bird, which, right before our eyes, in true grandmaster fashion, grew from a shy young girl into a bombastically rounded-off finale in just under ten minutes!
Mark Knopfler of course struggles with the same problem as many musicians of his stature, at least when it comes to Sultans Of Swing. The old Dire Straits evergreen understandably remains a must in every one of Mark’s sets, even a full thirty years after it was written. To a degree even a necessary evil, at least for a musician who has spent long years of solo work trying to stay out of the grip of his past triumphs. But Mark doesn’t let such trifles bother him. In true master style, he “drove” the song in a surprisingly lighter manner than the original, routine and laid-back, almost too polished, but with that signature spicy touch, which at the end of the song naturally erupted into a series of supernatural melodic variations. One barely noticeable movement of the fingers is enough for Mark Knopfler, and the awestruck crowd is eating out of his hand without a second thought. Mark is a true mentor, a strong character who demands a hefty share of attention, whether in the middle of fiery guitar dribbling or through soothing “pianissimo” addresses, during which the stunned crowd can only watch the stage in silence. Mark added to the Dire Straits wreath with the standards Romeo & Juliet, Telegrapf Road, and then at the close Brothers In Arms and the charmingly laid-back classic from the album of the same name, So Far Away. And of course, an evening with Mark Knopfler wouldn’t be complete without the famous Local Hero theme, which, despite the absence of the saxophone, put the cherry on top of this unforgettable evening that we had the honor of spending in the company of an exceptional musician.
With Saturday’s concert, Mark Knopfler proved that after a full three decades in music, the competition still has a hard time matching him. The ever cheerful Mark showed himself to be a musician in top form, full of drive to create music and love for performing, which is best seen, after all, in the man’s relaxed relationship with his crew, as well as in the banter the master keeps up with the audience. And for that we can be grateful to him forever!
Text: Daniel Pavlica
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist
1.Cannibals
2.Why Aye Man
3.What It Is
4.Sailing to Philadelphia
5.True Love Will Never Fade
6.The Fish and the Bird
7.Hill Farmer’s Blues
8.Romeo & Juliet
9.Sultans of Swing
10.Marbletown
11.Speedway At Nazareth
12.Telegraph Road
—encore—
13.Brothers in Arms
14.Our Shangri-La
15.So Far Away
16. Going Home (Local Hero)
Photo gallery
