Location: Codroipo (Udine) / Vila Manin / Italy
Date: 08.06.2008
Mark Knopfler is a name that obviously needs no special introduction. The elder statesman of rock and one of the giants of guitar playing, as the driving force of the legendary Dire Straits he secured himself a spot among the most revered icons of rock & roll for good! Today a 58-year-old gentleman, visibly pleased with the status carried by his by-now thoroughly polished headgear, he picks his weapons carefully, the ones he then uses to storm, in waves, an audience starved for musical greatness. Ever since Dire Straits fell apart, those weapons have been drifting more and more into country waters, and in their current Mark masterfully spreads the strength of his arsenal.
Saturday’s show in the fantastic setting of Vila Manin, not far from Udine, was part of Knopfler’s European tour, which on its short hop from Italy to Zagreb once again carefully dodged Slovenia. Which, of course, surprises nobody anymore. The reaction from our pasta-loving friends was brilliant, if not downright thrilling, and in any case incomparably better than any twitch of life from the Slovenian crowd. Maybe Knopfler just lacks a bit more sub-Alpine rural flavor that would bring him closer to the good old Slovenian soul through music-education programs like Na zdravje, but that’s a story for a deeper musical analysis. The long lines of hot-blooded chatterboxes snaking through the narrow entrance to the grounds filled the air with a special kind of anticipation and energy, in short, the charge you can only find at open-air venues caught in the heat of summer, this time interrupted every now and then by a sneak attack of a raindrop or two.
Mark stepped onto the stage at exactly half past eight in the evening. No pomp, none of the showmanship tricks that so many of his colleagues use, for a fat tip, to present themselves in the spotlight as some kind of otherworldly miracle. Mark is simply “too old” for that kind of stuff, and probably, above all, too smart! Surrounded by an interesting crew of versatile musicians, Knopfler gives off an impression of incredible focus and dominance at first glance. The man takes what he does very seriously. He approached slowly, provoked by the roaring cheers of the 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 Mark Knopfler’s band exploded in all its shades in the blink of an eye. An exceptionally tight combo of violin, sitar, organ and double bass, commanded with confidence by the eminence on guitar, delivers a killer effect! An immoderate share of that goes to the excellent sound setup too, where you could hear even the tiniest twitch of any individual player crystal clear. Oil on the fire was added by What It Is, one of the most “Straits-like” arranged songs of Knopfler’s post-Dire Straits era, which stunned with its combination of vocal and instrumental forces. Mark is simply incredible, so sly and subtle, yet still majestic. His voice, despite the raspiness the years have brought, remains a balm for the soul, and his trademark Fender picking a heart-wrenching weapon!
Sailing To Philadelphia carried on in a calmer style. A rather ambient song to begin with, it became 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 continued 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 a masterful fashion, grew from a shy girl into a bombastic, well-rounded finale in just under ten minutes!
Mark Knopfler of course struggles with the same problem as plenty of musicians of his stature, at least when it comes to Sultans Of Swing. The old Dire Straits evergreen understandably remains a must in any Mark setlist, 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 constantly trying to stay out of the clutches of past triumphs. But Mark doesn’t let such trifles bother him. In true great-master style he “rode” the song in a surprisingly lighter manner compared to the original, routine and laid-back, almost too polished, but with that characteristic spicy touch, which by the end of the song of course erupted into a series of supernatural melodic variations. One barely noticeable movement of the fingers is enough for Mark Knopfler, and the stunned crowd is already eating out of his hand. Mark is a real mentor, a strong character who demands a hefty dose of attention, whether during razor-sharp guitar dribbling or through soothing “pianissimo” addresses, during which the stunned crowd just watches the goings-on onstage in silence. Mark enriched the Dire Straits medley further with the standards Romeo & Juliet, then Telegrapf Road at the close, plus Brothers In Arms and the charmingly laid-back classic from the same album, So Far Away. And an evening with Mark Knopfler is of course not 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 show, Mark Knopfler proved that after a full three decades in music, the competition still has a hard time keeping up with him. Ever cheerful Mark showed himself to be a musician in top form, full of drive to create music and love for performing, which, after all, shows best in the man’s relaxed relationship with his crew, as well as in the communication the master keeps up with the audience. And for that we can be grateful to him forever!
author: 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)
