dire straits redux
This past Sunday I drove up to Charlotte to see Mark Knopfler in concert. Although the band he assembled, sang, played guitar, and wrote for broke up following the tour for their last cd, On Every Street, (have you heard of DIre Straits?), Mark Knopfler has continued to write some of the best music to which I’ve had the pleasure of listening.
The warm up act was interesting, and it turned out she’s quite good as well. I’d never really heard of Jesca Hoop (pronounced like Jessica) before, but she can sing, and write, and play guitar. I suppose she’s heard this on more than one occasion, but her voice is a dead ringer for Suzanne Vega, and her playing style is quite similar to Suzanne’s as well. In fact, a couple of times I would have swore she had lifted something from Suzanne’s music, the resemblance was so uncanny, though I’m sure she didn’t. I haven’t gotten her cd Kismet yet, but I’ll be doing that in the near future.
Mark’s performance, as usual, was nothing short of incredible. Though his energy has gone down a little since I last saw him 7 years ago on the Sailing to Philadelphia tour, the 59 year old guy can still bring it, and still plays like the virtuoso he is. His set, which lasted 2 hours without a break, was filled with the best mix of his newer music along with Dire Straits era classics like Romeo and Juliet, Sultans of Swing, So Far Away from Me, Brothers in Arms, and my personal all time favorite Mark Knopfler song, the 14:30 minute epic Telegraph Road.
At 59, I can’t help but wonder if this was his last tour. I can think of few rock acts that have continued to tour at that age, let alone continued to record new music. Whether he continues to tour or not, I hope he continues making cds, or whatever form of musical release is to come. Though he doesn’t have the wild energy of youth, it’s evident he still has the gift of writing, and playing tremendous music.