A Mark In Time
Previous Tours => 2019 Down The Road Wherever EU & NA tour => Topic started by: Neville Sherman on June 25, 2019, 10:07:03 AM
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It’s a shame really in my view. Here we are nearly half way into the long, five month touring schedule programme that MK and the gang have put together for us all and have done for over 20 years. If this is not the last tour, time indicates that it is not far off as Father Time catches up with us all. Many of us will sigh, cry and reminisce when the day finally comes that MK will no longer play his twiddly bits. Don’t get me wrong, I am a MK freak and have been for over 35 years and when I travel from Vietnam to Vancouver in September to see him and the gang again, my excitement will build from the moment from getting on the plane to hearing the last note of Going Home played. At that point I will sigh. If he swilled his gin and tonic and record it, I would buy the recording. Totally sad am I!
So, what is my point? Well, the man has such a legacy of material and I just think it is sad that here we are nearly 40 shows into the current tour and by and large the songs being played are more or less set . I have a Tracker stick from the last tour giving me 25 songs played but it does not look like we are going to get that number this time. Given the musicianship on the stage, probably at the highest and creative standard ever, I would have loved to have heard BOTDF or One Song at A Time and Heavy Up. Doesn’t look like we’ll ever hear River Towns or Basil or So Far from the Clyde. Fare Thee Well Northumberland due a tinkle? Today is Okay instead of the (albeit) catchy Corn Beef City that I think we have now all heard.I think it is great that Silver Town has been played and Once Upon A Time in the West or Heart Full of Holes are now in the set. Wonderful. I just think that if some of the man’s other works had materialized or played just a few times and dropped then I would have had a chance to buy the sticks and add to the songs to my track list and of course add to the man’s legacy. Like I say, a shame really. Who knows, perhaps half way in, we might be blown away with a few more diamonds from the man's past.
We'll see!
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Some very fair points. Incidentally, personally I think we haven’t given Guy nearly a hard enough time for not honouring his promise to leave the band if Dance Floor wasn’t played.
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Yes, it's a damn shame. Really.
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The set is created around what Mark is (still) able and feels comfortable to play. I think that is the main reason for choosing which song will be played and which not. Thoughts about a good mixture or a great dynamic in the set were probably more important at earlier tours. It's that easy really I guess. I guess Mark has more health and maybe mental issues than we might think and putting on a good show might be much more demanding to him than in let's say 2015. Playing the same set every night gives him comfort and safety while he maybe has lost some of these feelings in daily life. That might be the reason for him discovering that touring suits him and makes him re-think the announced tour stop. So the only shame really here is that even a man with a Heart of Oak like Mark Knopfler gets old.
LE
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The set is created around what Mark is (still) able and feels comfortable to play. I think that is the main reason for choosing which song will be played and which not. Thoughts about a good mixture or a great dynamic in the set were probably more important at earlier tours. It's that easy really I guess. I guess Mark has more health and maybe mental issues than we might think and putting on a good show might be much more demanding to him than in let's say 2015. Playing the same set every night gives him comfort and safety while he maybe has lost some of these feelings in daily life. That might be the reason for him discovering that touring suits him and makes him re-think the announced tour stop. So the only shame really here is that even a man with a Heart of Oak like Mark Knopfler gets old.
LE
I agree with you, Mark today is this.
Anyway his show is yet the best that you can find around the world
Mark is simply the best :thumbsup
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Some very fair points. Incidentally, personally I think we haven’t given Guy nearly a hard enough time for not honouring his promise to leave the band if Dance Floor wasn’t played.
Guy said they've played it, presumably meaning that they've tried it and it just didn't work.
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As ever, the set is designed for the majority, not the small percentage of "get a lifers" who check each set list.
The vast majority of the thousands who attend each concert (95%? Guess) will attend one show and not download multiple.
They will go away happy.
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As ever, the set is designed for the majority, not the small percentage of "get a lifers" who check each set list.
The vast majority of the thousands who attend each concert (95%? Guess) will attend one show and not download multiple.
They will go away happy.
I second that Dusty. The show is a great mixture of songs from the whole DS and MK era. Of course, attending 18 shows, I would love to have a different setlist every night. But that’s Impossible. MK wants to have it nothing less than perfect. So only the perfect songs will appear
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As ever, the set is designed for the majority, not the small percentage of "get a lifers" who check each set list.
The vast majority of the thousands who attend each concert (95%? Guess) will attend one show and not download multiple.
They will go away happy.
I second that Dusty. The show is a great mixture of songs from the whole DS and MK era. Of course, attending 18 shows, I would love to have a different setlist every night. But that’s Impossible. MK wants to have it nothing less than perfect. So only the perfect songs will appear
I second that too. Nevertheless, the Barcelona show has created high hopes and expectations, next creating disapointment with very poor decisions. Granted, the first show is always longer to try what works and what does not work, and 2h05 min is a solid lenght, I understand that Mark cannot play 2h30 min every night for 5 months, but:
- Replacing a great opener (WAM) with great new arrangements (the powerful brass section is epic !) with the WTF "Nobody does that" the very next day, for 5 shows before realizing it was nonsense, is unprecedented;
- Dedicing to play the 18-year overdue Silvertown Blues was wonferful; deciding to drop it after playing it only 15 times is cruel. The overplayed DWB could have been dropped instead...
- Showing that Mightly TR is still playable in 2019, to give it only to Spain and Portugal, is cruel as well. Selfishly, since I attended Barcelona, I am glad that I heard it one last time, but that's painful for the others...
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As ever, the set is designed for the majority, not the small percentage of "get a lifers" who check each set list.
The vast majority of the thousands who attend each concert (95%? Guess) will attend one show and not download multiple.
They will go away happy.
I second that Dusty. The show is a great mixture of songs from the whole DS and MK era. Of course, attending 18 shows, I would love to have a different setlist every night. But that’s Impossible. MK wants to have it nothing less than perfect. So only the perfect songs will appear
I second that too. Nevertheless, the Barcelona show has created high hopes and expectations, next creating disapointment with very poor decisions. Granted, the first show is always longer to try what works and what does not work, and 2h05 min is a solid lenght, I understand that Mark cannot play 2h30 min every night for 5 months, but:
- Replacing a great opener (WAM) with great new arrangements (the powerful brass section is epic !) with the WTF "Nobody does that" the very next day, for 5 shows before realizing it was nonsense, is unprecedented;
- Dedicing to play the 18-year overdue Silvertown Blues was wonferful; deciding to drop it after playing it only 15 times is cruel. The overplayed DWB could have been dropped instead...
- Showing that Mightly TR is still playable in 2019, to give it only to Spain and Portugal, is cruel as well. Selfishly, since I attended Barcelona, I am glad that I heard it one last time, but that's painful for the others...
I second your second!
Gave up all TR hopes early, but hoped for Silvertown and BIA, got OES and PTTE.
Don't care anymore, it is what it is and the show was great still.
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1. Also, Guy insists on every show being better than all the previous ones and I feel psychologically upset that I got "just" the 5th one. Like I feel like I'm a guinea pig in this thing called "another tour attempt". I got to hear Telegraph Road though, what a luck :lol Can he just enjoy the whole thing and not compare anything, the best tour ever and all? :think
2. People say, that the setlist debate is fan's problem, because in the old days, nobody had a setlist, nobody had diaries and people just went to the show and that's it. But the artist can make an attempt in "modernising" his usual working schedule, same thing with all the streaming platforms and diminishing CD sales... Selling mp3's with exactly the same shows everywhere is a very good marketing idea indeed.
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Slightly different perspective for me having been to one show a tour since the get lucky album to get 8 songs i hadn't heard before live was fantastic and unexpected.
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i have to admit as well, I think the setlist works great! You don't make a setlist with obscure choices for die-hard fans but to make a great overall evening for people who loves Mark's music. If it was me, the DS songs would've only been from the first 3 albums, but hey, I get it that's not what the big crowd is waiting for.
But to have heard 6 DS songs performed live ( OUATIW, R&J, OES, BIA, MFN, YLT and Going Home), that's basically half (!) of On the Night, the record I grew up with, is more than I could've hoped for. And some of his solo songs that I really love ( Sailing, Heart full of Holes and against the sentiment here I guess, I love Bonaparte!) were there as well, so I'm more than happy with it.
Maybe if he goes on a lower live playing-profile we can see him do News, Wild West End, Water of Love, Hand in Hand, Love over Gold, The Man's too Strong and You and your friend in a theatre someday( yeah yeah, I know, wishful thinking' ;-)
But you certainly can't expect it in those big arena's, it just wouldn't work.
Bottom line, great setlist to me!
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i have to admit as well, I think the setlist works great! You don't make a setlist with obscure choices for die-hard fans but to make a great overall evening for people who loves Mark's music. If it was me, the DS songs would've only been from the first 3 albums, but hey, I get it that's not what the big crowd is waiting for.
But to have heard 6 DS songs performed live ( OUATIW, R&J, OES, BIA, MFN, YLT and Going Home), that's basically half (!) of On the Night, the record I grew up with, is more than I could've hoped for. And some of his solo songs that I really love ( Sailing, Heart full of Holes and against the sentiment here I guess, I love Bonaparte!) were there as well, so I'm more than happy with it.
Maybe if he goes on a lower live playing-profile we can see him do News, Wild West End, Water of Love, Hand in Hand, Love over Gold, The Man's too Strong and You and your friend in a theatre someday( yeah yeah, I know, wishful thinking' ;-)
But you certainly can't expect it in those big arena's, it just wouldn't work.
Bottom line, great setlist to me!
It's easy to say that there are four or five (if Piper replaces BIA and GH is a solo soundtrack) so it must be a good set, and normally I would agree with that, however we should break that down:
OUATIW - novel at first but slow-paced and hasn't evolved into anything notable.
R&J - classic song spoiled due to the sound of the Beard and shortened final solo.
OES - a positive in my book, sounding much better than in 2015.
BIA - another positive missed at my shows.
MFN - probably the highlight of the show.
YLT - slow, dull, poor vocals, poor guitar - almost embarrassing.
So yes, although they are DS tracks, they aren't played to their best and things are in slow motion with at least four of them. Still, this is enough when you are attending the show until you reach Bacon Roll when you just put your feet up and wait until Postcards is over. :)
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i have to admit as well, I think the setlist works great! You don't make a setlist with obscure choices for die-hard fans but to make a great overall evening for people who loves Mark's music. If it was me, the DS songs would've only been from the first 3 albums, but hey, I get it that's not what the big crowd is waiting for.
But to have heard 6 DS songs performed live ( OUATIW, R&J, OES, BIA, MFN, YLT and Going Home), that's basically half (!) of On the Night, the record I grew up with, is more than I could've hoped for. And some of his solo songs that I really love ( Sailing, Heart full of Holes and against the sentiment here I guess, I love Bonaparte!) were there as well, so I'm more than happy with it.
Maybe if he goes on a lower live playing-profile we can see him do News, Wild West End, Water of Love, Hand in Hand, Love over Gold, The Man's too Strong and You and your friend in a theatre someday( yeah yeah, I know, wishful thinking' ;-)
But you certainly can't expect it in those big arena's, it just wouldn't work.
Bottom line, great setlist to me!
It's easy to say that there are four or five (if Piper replaces BIA and GH is a solo soundtrack) so it must be a good set, and normally I would agree with that, however we should break that down:
OUATIW - novel at first but slow-paced and hasn't evolved into anything notable.
R&J - classic song spoiled due to the sound of the Beard and shortened final solo.
OES - a positive in my book, sounding much better than in 2015.
BIA - another positive missed at my shows.
MFN - probably the highlight of the show.
YLT - slow, dull, poor vocals, poor guitar - almost embarrassing.
So yes, although they are DS tracks, they aren't played to their best and things are in slow motion with at least four of them. Still, this is enough when you are attending the show until you reach Bacon Roll when you just put your feet up and wait until Postcards is over. :)
It’s interesting and fun how different we see things :) For me, Romeo and Once Upon were the highlights of the show. Romeo was not at all spoiled by the sound of the wrong guitar, and both sounded closer to the original versions wich made them stand more out as individual songs, ulike Alchemy for instance, where all songs have the same «sound». I liked all about Your Latest Trick but the vokals of course. They were not good. But sound, pace, guitar and arrangement was great imo :)
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I'm happy with the set list too and I don't find the "quiet" section boring at all. I still look forward to My Bacon Roll, especially the outro and Matchstick Man is really beautiful - I notice that the audience seemed to like it a lot on my recording - there was a lot of applause! I have always liked Bonaparte and the present arrangement sounds fine. Heart Full of Holes is probably the weakest song on the set list for me, but it would be better if MK didn't roll his "r's" so much on "heart"! I never cared much for YLT on the album, but for some reason I liked it at the show, especially the sax.
Highlights from the rest of the show were Once Upon a Time, WAM, MFN and R&J.
Even though I'm happy with the set list, I hope I will be lucky and hear BIA and OES played when I get to Verona, instead of Piper and Silvertown, just for a change or, who knows, maybe even something new! :)
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I am yet to see the show but I know that I'll be happy with whatever setlist is played.
BUT
Come on Mark, One Song At A Time has been just asking if not screaming to be played live! And here I agree with the topic of this thread. It's a shame it will probably never be played for the audience.
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As ever, the set is designed for the majority, not the small percentage of "get a lifers" who check each set list.
The vast majority of the thousands who attend each concert (95%? Guess) will attend one show and not download multiple.
They will go away happy.
I second that Dusty. The show is a great mixture of songs from the whole DS and MK era. Of course, attending 18 shows, I would love to have a different setlist every night. But that’s Impossible. MK wants to have it nothing less than perfect. So only the perfect songs will appear
i second that too, "but" also consider this, if they could manage only but a single new song per show?
(that would mean no less than a 100 songs set list! :D )
Now, you're just about close to solve this only if you can call all of these 100 sheep by their names!
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Not to mention the text Nigel Hitchcock sent to Ianto about Hamburg gig ;D ;D :
http://guyfletcher.co.uk/25th-june-2019-hamburg/
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Not to mention the text Nigel Hitchcock sent to Ianto about Hamburg gig ;D ;D :
http://guyfletcher.co.uk/25th-june-2019-hamburg/
:lol :lol
I loved Nigel too. You could see a good relationship between him and Mark on stage which is missing with grim Graeme, good player though he is. The same kind of relationship he has with Danny. I kind of miss him.
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I don't get why, after releasing such a varied and "adventurous" disc, the set is so unchanging.
Ok there is OUATITW but I would be perfectly happy with a show consisting in his solo work only.
Silvertown should have been played at all the shows. Guy teased it in a diary entry with a picture and I thought this is it! It is in the show. I went to the Nimes show which ended up being one of the shortest, without Heart and Silvertown and missing an encore. So basicaly apart from the two song from the album and a few surprise arrangements that was it.
I tried to keep the setlist unspoilt but youtube propositions and guy diary spoiled the only few surprises I could have. I knew about OUATITW, Bacon , WAM, MFN, Sailing, silvertown
The only surprises were when Danny sang the Sailing duet (great in my opinion) , Bacon version that I really like, the Santana-style Postcard (a killer) the extended MFN. I don't care much for YLT and OES and knew they would be there anyway.
So I understand people can be a bit disillusioned and think it's a shame.
Guy keeps repeating they don't look back but they hardly play any new material. New arrangements are fine but they shouldn't be a justification.
For me a good show would be made of
5 or 6 new songs from the last disc
2 or 3 never or very rarely played from his solo work (here Silvertown and Heart were great)
4 or 5 usual songs from his solo album (speedway, Sailing, etc
4 or 5 DS songs (but I could live with just 1 or 2)
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"So I understand people can be a bit disillusioned and think it's a shame"
People disappointed? SHAME ? For whom... I do not understand. It's a fantastic tour
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I was refering to the poster.
I liked the show I went to but I can understand some people's feeling and disappointment
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I didn't meet people disappointed. That's why I was surprised.
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I didn't meet people disappointed. That's why I was surprised.
There can't be many people at the show disappointed; everyone's on a high. Only in retrospect can you give an honest review.
A guy in my street went to the show in Glasgow and I met him coming home from the station. He told me he enjoyed the show but was disappoint he didn't play BIA. It isn't perfect. :)
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I didn't meet people disappointed. That's why I was surprised.
There can't be many people at the show disappointed; everyone's on a high. Only in retrospect can you give an honest review.
A guy in my street went to the show in Glasgow and I met him coming home from the station. He told me he enjoyed the show but was disappoint he didn't play BIA. It isn't perfect. :)
Same feeling as I had then.. I immidiately realised they would not play it when Guy came out with acoustic guitar... :thumbsdown
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I didn't meet people disappointed. That's why I was surprised.
There can't be many people at the show disappointed; everyone's on a high. Only in retrospect can you give an honest review.
I agree. At the time I preferred Newcastle to Leeds, but when I heard the recordings I liked Leeds much more. The recording of Newcastle had quite a few greenies here and there and MK's voice sounded a bit rough in comparison with Leeds. One or two songs were better than Leeds, but, generally, both were very enjoyable concerts. I have almost worn out the Leeds recording, I like it so much! :)
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I didn't meet people disappointed. That's why I was surprised.
There can't be many people at the show disappointed; everyone's on a high. Only in retrospect can you give an honest review.
Exactly, right after the show I'm always glad I came, but the next day I looked at the past reviews and setlists, and this time I felt I had been cheated a bit.
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I've been on two concerts. Day by day. The set lists were the same. I didn't feel cheated. I think if the next day they played Brothers In Arms which I missed a bit and I would not be at this concert I would not feel cheated.
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This is a gamble, sometime you win, sometime you loose.
But the thing that really counts is about the one(s) you attended "was it a good show?" independently of the days before and the days after because they are another story.
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I've been to two concerts. Day by day. The set lists were the same. I didn't feel cheated. I think if the next day they played Brothers In Arms which I missed a bit and I would not be at this concert I would not feel cheated.
So you're a better man than I ;)
"cheated" is not the right word, disappointed maybe
When I realised silvertown had been played a few time in early shows I couldn't help but feel I had missed on something big. I have been waiting for this particular song to come up basicaly since 2001!
That and Heart Full of Holes not played + one less encore.
Ok I know the show tends to get shorter as the tour goes on but I remember in 1996 I went to Béziers, the show just before Vaison, so one of the very last of the tour, the show was still 2.30 hour-long (I don't ask for that king of length anymore) and MK played Water of Love and Gravy Train which were rare, so there was a will not to fall into a routine back then.
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You can't have everything ;)