Location: Amfiteater Camerini / Piazzola sul Brenta (Padova) / Italy
Date: 08.07.2010
Last Friday, a gloriously high-spirited Rockline expedition once again set off for Italy. The location was already familiar: the central courtyard of the Camerini amphitheater, nestled in the tranquil heart of the little town of Piazzola sul Brenta, which really isn’t skimping on great concert events this year. The reason for another “Italian excursion” this time was a show by Mark Knopfler. The main driving force of the officially never-deceased Dire Straits had rolled down the hill to the Po Valley. We caught him alive and well, right behind the walls of the Camerini amphitheater.
Knopfler’s visit to Padua, unlike our last meeting with him in Udine, went down in a slightly more laid-back key. Mark’s mood was excellent, and he topped it off with a genuine connection to the crowd, whom he didn’t forget to treat at the very start of the evening to a few quick words of easygoing delight, something that traditionally comes over him on every visit to Italy. Who could blame him? The Camerini amphitheater is a gorgeous spot, actually tailor-made for the guitarist’s refined musical language. Knopfler spent most of the night sitting on a swivel stool (he joked that he can see much better when he sits). It’s well known that he’s been battling back problems for quite some time, so he was forced to cut his physical activity on stage down to a minimum. The stage crew helpfully lent a hand with the frequent guitar swaps (Mark trades one six-string companion for another after nearly every song).
The onstage sound of the former Dire Straits “mainman” is anything but a one-man show of a musical master these days. First and foremost it’s teamwork by an eight-piece band with clearly divided roles. On his latest album, “Get Lucky”, Mark Knopfler swapped the country leanings of recent years for a laid-back exploration of the charms of British Isles folk music, and he leans on the musical input of his backing band more than ever before. Shaping those folk motifs into a recognizable sound is a harmoniously orchestrated, colorful bunch of instruments, from violin, double bass and flute to the charmingly homey sound of the accordion. Leaning on the colorful sonic palette of the band, the guitarist kept provoking dialogues, leaving plenty of room for the wind section, for example, with whom he most liked to get tangled up in relaxed, drawn-out conversations. At the peaks of all this playfulness, Knopfler unfurled his trademark minimalism, which every time seems like an inexhaustible well of musical magic and intimate feeling. Given how charming his guitar playing is, we were ready to forgive even the at times rather distracting raspiness of his voice, which over the years has cheekily burrowed in among thick layers of melancholy and sorrow.
Mark Knopfler presented the highlights of his solo career to a crowd of several thousand, with a few glimpses of the current album and, of course, a bit of predictable digging through the Dire Straits legacy. Let’s stop on the latter for a moment first. Mark predictably reached for “Telegraph Road”, “Brothers In Arms”, “So Far Away” and of course “Sultans Of Swing”, which sounded by far the most reserved of the bunch. The rest turned into routine revival of nostalgic memories. What really impressed was the interpretation of the post-Dire Straits material. Alongside the usual “What It Is”, “Hill Farmer’s Blues” and “Sailing to Philadelphia”, Mark scattered his proverbial brilliance of guitar playing around, doggedly tinged with sentimentality.
The high points of Mark Knopfler’s concerts have long since stopped being found in reheating old stuff, no matter how much dust of enthusiasm and emotion it kicks up, and instead lie in fresh original approaches, which these days squeeze far more genuine life energy out of a musician on stage. The evening spent with the legend behind the walls of the main concert venue of the by-now-familiar Piazzola sul Brenta served up precisely that confirmation. Mark Knopfler concerts undoubtedly remain a guarantee of an excellent musical experience, one that every music gourmand should treat themselves to at least once a year.
author: Daniel Pavlica
photos: Mojca Perdih
Setlist:
1. Border Reiver
2. What It Is
3. Sailing to Philadelphia
4. Coyote
5. Prairie Wedding
6. Hill Farmer’s Blues
7. Romeo & Juliet
8. Sultans of Swing
9. Done With Bonaparte
10. Marbletown
11. Monteleone
12. Speedway at Nazareth
13. Telegraph Road
—encore—
14. Brothers in Arms
15. So Far Away
16. Piper to the End
