Knopfler’s third solo visit to Ljubljana served up a superb mix of songs from his career, and Dire Straits fans got their fill too.
Location: Stožice hall/Ljubljana/Slovenia
Date: Saturday, June 29, 2019
It was 1977 when the Knopfler brothers, together with drummer Pick Withers and bassist John Illsley, founded the rock band Dire Straits. Their very first single ‘Sultans of Swing’ shot them straight to the top of the world charts, and the band became a true rock legend with a solid crop of evergreen hits. After the breakup in 1988 and a reunion in the first half of the nineties, the Dire Straits story was over. But where one chapter ends, another begins, and this one, along with the rich legacy, is carried forward more than successfully by the band’s mastermind, guitarist and singer Mark Knopfler.
Even though Mark officially kicked off his solo career only after Dire Straits finally split, he had already put out quite a few film score albums in the eighties, and the one that stands out for its popularity is ‘Going Home’ from the film ‘Local Hero’. Since 1995, when he finally went his own way for good, he has definitely not been resting. In twenty-two years the man has released one EP, nine studio albums and four more of film music, and on top of that he has guested on albums by other artists.
The walk to Stožice hall alone inspired the title of this report – countless cars with license plates from our neighbors, and sidewalks full of excited chatter in German, Italian, Croatian and, of course, Slovenian too. Chairs had been set up on the floor of the hall this time, which hinted at a more laid-back musical evening, but that wasn’t quite how it went. The start time slipped by fifteen minutes, since a huge number of people, instead of finding their seats, preferred to cool off in the shade of the pleasant summer evening around the hall. But the delay was obviously well thought out, because at the first notes of ‘Why Aye Man’ the buzz died down immediately.
Even during the first song there was a small incident; someone down on the floor was filming the show on their phone with the light on, which bothered Mark so much that he asked them to stop filming and switch the light off. Luckily it was an isolated moment and the gig carried on in the style and sound of Mark’s melodies and harmonies. An exceptionally well-mannered, if admittedly slightly older, crowd made for a superb sonic experience both during the songs and in the pauses between them. And even the proverbially bad sound of the Stožice hall was surprisingly good this time.
For this tour Mark gathered ten top-notch musicians around him: Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Richard Bennet (guitar), Jim Cox (piano), Mike McGoldrick (whistle and flute), John McCusker (violin and lute), Glenn Worf (bass guitar), Danny Cummings (percussion), Ian Thomas (drums), Grame Blevins (saxophone) and Tom Walsh (trumpet). Even though the tour is meant to promote Mark’s latest album ‘Down the Road Wherever’, he played just two songs from it – My Bacon Roll and Matchstick Man, which he also introduced with a funny anecdote from his youth. Of course, a Mark gig doesn’t skip the Dire Straits hits either, and this time they made up a full third of the setlist.
If most of the show went by in rather mellow tones, toward the end the crowd started to loosen up too – first swaying along to the Latin rhythms of ‘Postcards from Paraguay’, then going off completely during the last song of the main set, ‘Speedway at Nazareth’, when the floor got up and stormed to the front row, and the stands rose to their feet as well. The finish played out in the best possible scenario – first the rocking Dire Straits mega-hit ‘Money For Nothing’, followed by another of their hits, the ballad ‘So Far Away’, and they wrapped up with Mark’s magical instrumental ‘Going Home’.
The band more than deserved the standing ovation, and Mark, despite being almost seventy (the big round number hits in a little over a month), showed he’s nowhere near ready for the scrap heap, and with this gig he connected not only neighboring nations, but at least three generations of fans.
author: Sebastijan Videc
photos: Sebastijan Videc
Setlist:
1. Why Aye Man
2. Corned Beef City
3. Sailing to Philadelphia
4. Once Upon a Time in the West (Dire Straits)
5. Romeo and Juliet (Dire Straits)
6. My Bacon Roll
7. Matchstick Man
8. Done With Bonaparte
9. Heat Full of Holes
10. She’s Gone
11. Your Latest Trick (Dire Straits)
12. Postcards From Paraguay
13. On Every Street (Dire Straits)
14. Speedway at Nazareth
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15. Money For Nothing (Dire Straits)
16. So Far Away (Dire Straits)
17. Going Home
