What an evening! Mark Knopfler gave us the best he could fit in a
little over two hours of non-stop song after song performance. Yes,
popularity pundits will nitpick on the absence of hits such as "Heavy
Fuel", "Tunnel Of Love", "Calling Elvis" and some others, but then one
should realise it was a "Mark Knopfler" concert and not a "Dire
Straits" one. Even with this clear distinction, I think Mark belted
out a good many Straits numbers, which struck a satisfying chord with
the crowd.
His trademark singing style which often is a mix of mumbles and plain utterances seemed to revive old memories for many of his die-hard and old fans. His voice crisp as ever and not jaded a bit, surprisingly was the best package outside the realms of his guitar. As fans of Ian Anderson (I am a big one) would recollect, Ian was cracking up here and there the last time he regaled us with a mind-blowing performance. With a line up of more than 12 guitars, consisting of Fender Stratocasters, Les Pauls, Telecasters(I think), Pensas, National Style O(which he used on the Romeo&Juliet track) and with some of them capoed (at the 3rd fret, was it? Ah it pays to be at the second row!), and almost one for every song, the message was clear- the Mark Knopfler famed guitar tones would be ringing all around the grounds that night, and so it did.
It was difficult to recognize anyone by looking behind at the sea of faces, but as often as I tried to, I could see almost everyone happily swaying to numbers such as "Walk Of Life", "Sultans Of Swing", "Sailing to Philadelphia", "Romeo and Juliet", "So Far Away" and towards the end, completely in sync with the power chords of "Money For Nothing".
An unassuming and impressive line-up of musicians on piano, bass, drums and accordion, the band supported Mark on every note, even with his jovial 'best of luck guys", a friendly cue for his fellow musicians and entertaining the audience with his subtle humour as they waited with bated breath trying to figure out the next track.
What really made yesterday's show worth the money was the generous dose of improvisations in most of the tracks. From one of the most revered solos in Mark's repertoire, "Sultans Of Swing" to "Money For Nothing" and a slightly modified version of "Romeo and Juliet", the crowd could not have appreciated more, the effort on the part of the band to give the audience something more than what they were used to. Each note that twanged through the air was greeted with "woooohooo's" and "Mark we love you" all throughout, an open admission of love for the guitar maestro. Not many were familiar with some of Mark's solo efforts and songs from his latest album "Shangri-La", but I think Nokia took care of that by distributing lyrics to most of his songs (I'm assuming those that were to be played at the concert); an intelligent decision I think.
The lighting was average (anyway, this was not a Pink Floyd concert, so no point dreaming about lasers), but I believe the sound was pretty good. I believe, because since I was standing in the second row, and the giant speakers were positioned to spread out sound waves right up to the back, I couldn't hear the softer instruments such as the piano and accordion that well. But I was told after the concert that people at the back really could hear everything crystal clear.
Often, as the musicians seem to steal all the limelight, I'd like to take a moment to commend the organisers. I think (apart from a few last minute changes in parking facilities) the whole shoot was orchestrated perfectly. And in the history of such concerts, I think this one needs to be lauded especially for its respect to timings. The gates opened at about half an hour later than what was printed on the ticket and the show started about 15 minutes later than as was announced in the papers. There were about 3-4 entry points for both the ticket-lines (1000 and 2500), thus creating more entry-bandwidth.
This now brings me to the audience. What a great lot! Never have I seen such a well behaved crowd. Initially, I estimated being pushed around a bit as is happens in most rock concerts, but was amazed that there was always a good 1-foot distance between me and anybody surrounding me, all throughout. And this was not just an experience I felt, it was an 'everybody' phenomenon.
As is tradition, the band staged a false exit only to come back again and belt out a few more numbers. And then one more time as the audience really begged Mark to come back one last time. Even this was well managed, as the show got over precisely at a minute or two after 10. Incredible time management I must assert again.
After bidding their final goodbyes, the band went backstage leaving an awestruck audience still standing right where they were, some still hoping that an encore might bring the band back. As cars rolled out slowly from the parking lot, I could see hordes of people, some sitting in groups, some walking along the sides of roads leading up to the venue, all with a contended look, their animated faces testament to a great evening with great music. Respect seemed to pour out onto the streets.
Realising that another performance by the Sultan would now be so far away, I started looking forward to the next promise. And as I turned to my friend who was driving, with an almost similar expression on his face, he greeted me with a "U too?" And I said, yes, in all probability, maybe, hope so.
- Vijai Chandrasekharan