New album release autumn

[Robson]

Thanks Pottel, I think it's insulting these days to mention that MK gets worse.

LE

I think Mark is like wine.

[hunter]

I just wished he would take the same efforts in re-thinking his touring habits. Lesser shows, Smaller venues, longer breaks etc..

It's a tricky balancing act for him because there are so many casual fans who expect to hear the classics. I feel sorry for him in a sense too, because it's obvious he plays several of those songs simply out of duty. I also think a lot of his newer material would work better in smaller venues, but he still draws large crowds, so what can he do? Having more show dates at smaller venues is not an option as the tours are long enough. Plus it would not be financially viable. But it would be good if he would experiment more with the show format and the setlist, though.

[superval99]

That's the good thing about it. The album is the "real deal". I appreciate very much the effort he takes in producing them, "craft them" as he once called it himself. And I once called his albums children and you love all your children and when they are born they are with you your whole life.

I just wished he would take the same efforts in re-thinking his touring habits. Lesser shows, Smaller venues, longer breaks etc..

LE

I agree with you with all of that, LE and I would really love some smaller venues as we had for Golden Heart. 

[Love Expresso]

How funny and easy it was for him to do the Boothbay gig, or all those NHB shows with those many obscure songs... I dream of having him in a smaller venue, smaller band, seldomly played gems from 1978 - 2018... that would be something. And it will never happen.

LE

[jbaent]

That's the good thing about it. The album is the "real deal". I appreciate very much the effort he takes in producing them, "craft them" as he once called it himself. And I once called his albums children and you love all your children and when they are born they are with you your whole life.

I just wished he would take the same efforts in re-thinking his touring habits. Lesser shows, Smaller venues, longer breaks etc..

LE

I agree with you with all of that, LE and I would really love some smaller venues as we had for Golden Heart.

I had a good laugh watching the GH video press kit when MK tells he sees himself in ten years playing in small pubs or something like that... If he had known that in ten years he would be playing with a 8 members band in bigger venues than he was to play in the GH tour

[hunter]

Boothbay was a one-off occasion, and the NHB gigs had a very different premise. An MK solo tour is a much larger undertaking and the potential for earning a lot of money is very big.

[superval99]

That's the good thing about it. The album is the "real deal". I appreciate very much the effort he takes in producing them, "craft them" as he once called it himself. And I once called his albums children and you love all your children and when they are born they are with you your whole life.

I just wished he would take the same efforts in re-thinking his touring habits. Lesser shows, Smaller venues, longer breaks etc..

LE

I agree with you with all of that, LE and I would really love some smaller venues as we had for Golden Heart.

I had a good laugh watching the GH video press kit when MK tells he sees himself in ten years playing in small pubs or something like that... If he had known that in ten years he would be playing with a 8 members band in bigger venues than he was to play in the GH tour

Who knows, it may yet happen!   

[jbaent]

Not in ten years since 1996, lol

[hunter]

What seems rather contradicting, though, is how it is important for Mark to "please himself" yet he goes on these long, big tours where it always seems he gets bored with the whole thing rather quickly. So why not do things differently? A conundrum.

[superval99]

Not in ten years since 1996, lol

22 years!       

[Stanko]

we are all skydivers after all, so do Mark is 
and yes, not a single one to skip over in my book, neither in the Dire Straits era nor in solo stuff. you don't want to miss any of those 

[Love Expresso]

What seems rather contradicting, though, is how it is important for Mark to "please himself" yet he goes on these long, big tours where it always seems he gets bored with the whole thing rather quickly. So why not do things differently? A conundrum.

Not sure if he really gets bored. To be fair and in spite of what I wrote two hours ago or so, his playing DOES get better and tighter when the tour commences. But it also leads to shorter sets with lesser songs than in the first few weeks. Which to me is prove that he indeed is not rehearsing much on the guitar anymore and gets better naturally by playing two hours every day for three months when touring.

LE

[Robson]

Mark wants to play long concerts and does it. If he was bored, the tour would be shorter. Is he bored? In my opinion no. At the end of tour he is certainly tired, but he is almost 70 years old. Sometimes it seems to me that some people want him to play like in times aLCHEMY.

[superval99]

What seems rather contradicting, though, is how it is important for Mark to "please himself" yet he goes on these long, big tours where it always seems he gets bored with the whole thing rather quickly. So why not do things differently? A conundrum.

Not sure if he really gets bored. To be fair and in spite of what I wrote two hours ago or so, his playing DOES get better and tighter when the tour commences. But it also leads to shorter sets with lesser songs than in the first few weeks. Which to me is prove that he indeed is not rehearsing much on the guitar anymore and gets better naturally by playing two hours every day for three months when touring.

LE

Except that the Manchester Tracker show was the second show of the tour and the best of those I attended, which came later.

[border_reiver]

I seem to be outnumbered here but I like both Tracker and Privateering very much.

I'll back you up. Except for Basil which is boring as ph...k.