Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler in the O2, October 6th

1306

Eeeek just found out today I'm going to this concert on Thursday ... I canny wait!! :D:D

delbertgrady

mars bar wrote: »

I love Kill To Get Crimson and Golden Heart myself. Get Lucky is good but not as good as those two. The Ragpicker's Dream is good also.

Shangri-La gets my vote as the best Knopfler album: 5:15 AM, Boom Like That, Sucker Row, The Trawlerman's Song, Don't Crash the Ambulance - all terrific songs. Mind you, while they're solid on the album, I prefer the "Live at Shangri-La Studios" versions of Song for Sonny Liston and Donegen's Gone, both available on The Trawlerman's Song EP.

Mars Bar

delbertgrady wrote: »

Shangri-La gets my vote as the best Knopfler album: 5:15 AM, Boom Like That, Sucker Row, The Trawlerman's Song, Don't Crash the Ambulance - all terrific songs. Mind you, while they're solid on the album, I prefer the "Live at Shangri-La Studios" versions of Song for Sonny Liston and Donegen's Gone, both available on The Trawlerman's Song EP.

I don't have that album so I'll look them up! Thank you delbert!

EyesClosed

Was anyone at this last night?? How was it? How long did they play for? Did they do anything together? I can't find anything on this online, none of the Dylan sites even mention a gig last night.

jaykay74

darryn wrote: »

Was anyone at this last night?? How was it? How long did they play for? Did they do anything together? I can't find anything on this online, none of the Dylan sites even mention a gig last night.

Isn't it on tonight ?

veetwin

darryn wrote: »

Was anyone at this last night?? How was it? How long did they play for? Did they do anything together? I can't find anything on this online, none of the Dylan sites even mention a gig last night.

Maybe that's because the gig is on tonight...

EyesClosed

veetwin wrote: »

Maybe that's because the gig is on tonight...

yeah I know I am going, but I could have sworn that there was originally two dates one of which was last night

delbertgrady

Michael Gray, the Dylan "expert" (and author of several books on the man), has just been on RTE Radio. Apparently, when asked if winning the Nobel Prize would mean anything to Dylan, he replied: "When he won a Grammy a while ago, he had it displayed on stage every night he played".

Some expert. :rolleyes:

EyesClosed

http://expectingrain.com/discussions/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=64296
it seems there was a date for last night that just never happened, ahh well roll on half 7

DylanJames

There was to be a 2nd date for last night but it didn't happen in the end, it'll be something extra special tonight though if Dylan wins the Noble prize for literature today

EyesClosed

DylanJames wrote: »

There was to be a 2nd date for last night but it didn't happen in the end, it'll be something extra special tonight though if Dylan wins the Noble prize for literature today

I hope he does get it, I would love a super happy in love with the world Dylan gig tonight, although the last few times I saw him he was on form and played great

CiaranK

A little bit annoying

http://www.markknopfler.com/news/news_items.aspx?PostID=36649

Bob & Mark tour: Important Notice - Photography & Recording
Thursday - 6th October 2011
On the current Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler Tour, photography or recording by any means will not be permitted. Please note, this policy applies to every venue on the tour up to an including Hammersmith on the 21st of November. Please respect Mark and Bob's wishes and enjoy the show.

GoldenTickets

CiaranK wrote: »

A little bit annoying

http://www.markknopfler.com/news/news_items.aspx?PostID=36649

Bob & Mark tour: Important Notice - Photography & Recording
Thursday - 6th October 2011
On the current Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler Tour, photography or recording by any means will not be permitted. Please note, this policy applies to every venue on the tour up to an including Hammersmith on the 21st of November. Please respect Mark and Bob's wishes and enjoy the show.

Sounds totally reasonable to me. And this way, those people who are going becasue they want to see the show and hear the music won't have their evening ruined by people who feel the need to video / photograph the entire event. Good stuff.

CiaranK

GoldenTickets wrote: »

Sounds totally reasonable to me. And this way, those people who are going becasue they want to see the show and hear the music won't have their evening ruined by people who feel the need to video / photograph the entire event. Good stuff.

I don't see the problem of taking a few photos to have as mementos of a great show. How good is it to be able to look back on a gig after it on youtube like below. The audio is great and it's a great reminder. I just think it's silly when everyone has a camera or a camera on their phone to be stopped taking photos. It's not like the are going to be sold or anything. I can understand a big SLR camera not aloud to be used cause they could be sold. But a little point and shoot is no problem I think. I don't want to start an argument here because I know people have different options on this issue but I also don't see how it could ruin an evening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZKoTGLR_sI

CiaranK

Just going to get myself together to head in. Enjoy all who are going, full reports tomorrow (Hopefully with some photos :P)

CiaranK

Wow, I was blown away by Dylan, not so much by Knopfler. More tomorrow, Really tired now.

miketv

Had a great time! Me a bit pissed now, what a great gig Such a cool entertainer.

kenny d

Just back home in the west of Ireland after attending this gig.Due to time restraints and not being too interested in Dylan I left 4 songs into his set.Did Mark reappear with Bob and did he do any Dire Straits stuff ?

He didn't do 1 ds song in his hour long segment which I found a bit odd as I have been to see him loads of times since he has gone solo and he has always included a few fans' favourites.

In my opinion by far his best albums since dire straits are Golden Heart and All the Roadrunning.

jaykay74

Hmm, had been thinking of going to see this in Stockholm next month as thats where I am based. It would have been more to see Knopfler though, like Dylans music but no great wish to see it live. not familiar with any of Knopflers solo stuff so think I'II give it a miss. I would have hoped for a sprinkling of oldies amongst his solo stuff.

delbertgrady

Knopfler didn't reappear. I also thought his decision not to do any Dire Straits songs was a little strange, considering he still often does a few in his own shows, but he's as many solo albums than Dire Straits ones now, so the definition of "fans' favourites" is open to interpretation. Sure, fair-weather fans would only know Dire Straits tracks, but a lot of Knopfler followers would be very happy to hear a set solely comprised of solo material. Having said that, I thought he'd do at least one Dire Straits track to "placate the crowd", given the fact that it wasn't exclusively his audience last night.
Overall, I thought his set was a very strange selection. It was obvious that there were small pockets of the crowd that knew and appreciated things like Sailing to Philadelphia and Song for Sonny Liston (possibly the highlight for me), but considering he's not plugging a new album, and it's a shared bill, I thought he'd do the equivalent of a "festival", or "greatest hits" set, i.e. his best known solo songs.
Instead, the pace was very up and down, and concluding with Speedway at Nazareth, before shuffling offstage in the dark without any fanfare, was very anticlimactic. Not that the song itself was an anticlimax, but he should have introduced it as being their last song, just to mark his departure in advance.
The one thing I would say about Knopfler's set - regardless of whether people liked his performance or not - the sound was crystal clear, unlike Dylan's, which was murky and did him no favours.

Mark Knopfler's set list:
Why Aye Man - Cleaning My Gun - Sailing to Philadelphia - Hill Farmer's Blues - Privateering - Song for Sonny Liston - Done with Bonaparte - Marbletown - Speedway at Nazareth

gerarda

Really enjoyed Knopflers performance but had no interest in Dylan, couldn't make out a word he was singing either so left after 3 songs.

DylanJames

Thought Dylan was fantasic, slightly disappointing setlist but can't complain overall. Knopfler had one or two good songs but the rest of his set bored me to tears, just dragging songs out with needless solos.

Very good night. Only problem I had was how expensive tickets were for 2 half shows, with Knopfler on for 65mins and Dylan only on for 80mins. Not fond of this co-headline lark!

Battlejuice

delbertgrady wrote: »

Mark Knopfler's set list:
Why Aye Man - Cleaning My Gun - Sailing to Philadelphia - Hill Farmer's Blues - Privateering - Song for Sonny Liston - Done with Bonaparte - Marbletown - Speedway at Nazareth

Never heard that Privateering song before, really liked it. Do you know if it has been released?
Really enjoyed Knopfler despite the hecklers. Bob Dylan is a legend but every song was destroyed with his lazurus style vocals.

Mars Bar

Hm, not feeling as bad now that I didn't go. I'm a fan of Knopfler but only recognise one song there and that's Done With Bonaparte.

jaffacakesyum

I enjoyed last night but to sum up very quickly how the gig was: "good, but not great".

I agree that the sound was brilliant for Mark Knopfler, his voice is still great and I absolutely loved the guitar bits in it. I only knew a few of Knopfler's solo stuff (Sailing to Philadelphia was great) but I didn't mind and still enjoyed it. I was disappointed they didn't include at least one Dire Straits song and I thought the order of setlist was a bit odd - I agree with the poster who said it was anticlimatic.

The arrangements for Bob Dylan's songs were very good I thought - I've never seen him live before and never seen footage of him with such a big band so maybe those arrangements aren't exactly 'new' but they were from me, going only by original recordings. We all know how Dylan's singing voice is, so that's fine; but I just wish he had sticked to the melodies for the songs even just a little bit!!! Instead of just talking/growling the words. I thought his band was very good but thought at times, Dylan wasn't great on keyboards - should've had him doing rhythmn guitar/harmonica/singing only. He was brilliant on the harmonica!!

What really annoyed me was the crowds - strolling in half an hour late while knopfler was playing, disrupting everyone making us get up from our seats. Every 5 minutes somebody was then getting up to go get drinks during the performances. Really rude and ignorant. Why pay 90euro to see these two legends perform live if you're going to spend half the time getting up to buy drink???

delbertgrady

Battlejuice wrote: »

Never heard that Privateering song before, really liked it. Do you know if it has been released?

Privateering is a new song, which will probably feature on Knopfler's next studio album, the mixing of which was interrupted by his involvement in this current tour.

CiaranK

Thought it was fantastic last night.

Knopfler - I really enjoyed his set, I was slightly disappointed that it was so short. I thought it would've been longer and included art least one Straits song. I knew most of the songs though. I thought that his playing was on fire. The band were great too. He was saying something just before he left. but his mic was turned down really low or off. I thought he would come back for a little encore with Sultans or something but most people poured out to the bar and it took them a few minutes to put the house lights back on, so I wonder was he going to but didn't? I agree with a post which said about annoying poeple sauntering in late and disrupting everyone.

Dylan - I can't fault him, He was great. I loved his dancing (I was not expecting it). I quite like his voice, Kinda a Tom Waitsy sound to it. I really enjoyed the arrangements. Band again were fantastic. The back drop projections were really cool. Overall a brilliant night

Sound was prefect for both I thought, I realised how great a venue the O2 is.

CiaranK

Oh did anyone buy what I think was the Bootleg of the gig outside? I dobn't know how they done it. They had loads of CDs and saying 'Get your concert CDs' Seemed pretty dodgy to me.

kenny d

delbertgrady wrote: »

Knopfler didn't reappear. I also thought his decision not to do any Dire Straits songs was a little strange, considering he still often does a few in his own shows, but he's as many solo albums than Dire Straits ones now, so the definition of "fans' favourites" is open to interpretation. Sure, fair-weather fans would only know Dire Straits tracks, but a lot of Knopfler followers would be very happy to hear a set solely comprised of solo material. Having said that, I thought he'd do at least one Dire Straits track to "placate the crowd", given the fact that it wasn't exclusively his audience last night.
Overall, I thought his set was a very strange selection. It was obvious that there were small pockets of the crowd that knew and appreciated things like Sailing to Philadelphia and Song for Sonny Liston (possibly the highlight for me), but considering he's not plugging a new album, and it's a shared bill, I thought he'd do the equivalent of a "festival", or "greatest hits" set, i.e. his best known solo songs.
Instead, the pace was very up and down, and concluding with Speedway at Nazareth, before shuffling offstage in the dark without any fanfare, was very anticlimactic. Not that the song itself was an anticlimax, but he should have introduced it as being their last song, just to mark his departure in advance.
The one thing I would say about Knopfler's set - regardless of whether people liked his performance or not - the sound was crystal clear, unlike Dylan's, which was murky and did him no favours.

Mark Knopfler's set list:
Why Aye Man - Cleaning My Gun - Sailing to Philadelphia - Hill Farmer's Blues - Privateering - Song for Sonny Liston - Done with Bonaparte - Marbletown - Speedway at Nazareth

Not sure if you are calling me a fair weather fan so apologies if it ain't the case.I have been to see Mark in his various guises over the years from the Straits to the Notting Hillbillies,with Emmy Lou Harris and loads of solo shows.
I have been to his shows in intimate venues like Shepherds Bush,the more upmarket Royal Albert Hall to the 80,000 capacity Woburn Abbey.Last night was the 24th time that I have saw him live so I think I can give a viewpoint.Last night was honestly the first time that I left a show of his thinking I didn't get value for money.
I like most of his solo stuff but I thought his selection last night was poor.I was familiar with all the songs bar the new one obviously but with such a back catalog he could have played far better songs.
For the record I agree 100% about the late comers.

delbertgrady

kenny d wrote: »

Not sure if you are calling me a fair weather fan so apologies if it ain't the case.

No. I was just making the point that someone who has followed Knopfler's career would regard some of his popular solo songs as "fan favourites", whereas people who stopped following his career after Dire Straits wouldn't see it that way. They'd regard "fan favourites" as being solely Dire Straits and nothing else. They'd expect Brothers In Arms, Romeo and Juliet et al. In fact, a man sitting near me repeatedly shouted for Sultans of Swing, which I thought was very wishful thinking on his part.

As I said in my original post, fans more familiar with Knopfler's solo material would probably have had no problem whatsoever with a set of exclusively solo material (once it was chosen well), but some of the songs played were strange choices, and it was very surprising that he didn't include even one Dire Straits song, especially when it wasn't his own audience. Those who went last night primarily to see Dylan may have felt hard done by when they didn't recognise any of Knopfler's songs, a problem accentuated by his decision to do no Dire Straits material, which, to be fair, everyone would have known.

Knopfler was obviously your main draw, and from your post, I suspect you think (as I do) that the song choice was ultimately poor and that he didn't maximise his time slot to the best degree.