Lot's happening with The Straits...

[Love Expresso]

I just consider The Straits as a collateral thing around DS, as John Illsley, David Knopfler etc etc, its like an expanded universe in musical terms.

That is well described.

LE

[superval99]

A comment on Guy's forum:


Last night I've gone to see the concert of

[jbaent]

The exemption that confirm the rule 

(literal translation of a spanish expression that means that one negative opinion confirms all the positive ones  )

[Vesper]

On The Straits Facebook page:

Performing with Dire Straits accounted for quite a significant portion of my career. I had been working with Mark Knopfler on some film soundtracks and albums he

[foma]

Anyone can do anything, but... I hate those posters with DIRE STRAITS written with huge font. I hate those wristbands. I hate REAL Dire Straits photos in 'photography' section on official site. Who cares? It's like I'll post a photo of Earth and write 'This is my photo with Mark Knopfler, now GO TO MY CONCERT!'. I can go on and on.

C'mon, people. If they'd have a non DS related name, if lead singer mimicry was not so obvious and plain, if where was no all this pathetic statements like Alan's (There was a topic on it, lazy to find). If, if, if, if, if, if. So I really angry about The Straits.

In other hand, check out Beatles' tribute band 'Fab Four'. It's really cool. The best tribute-band ever, not the guys who pretend they a Beatls (sic) or something like that. Paul McCartney himself liked this band and was on their concert. It's just matter of promotion, statements and feeling, and for me feeling and atmosphere is very bad. I'll not argue with that, sorry to any real fans.

[junkiedoll]

Guy relatively clearly explains that - as I have assumed above - it is Mark who obviously doesn

[dmg]

Foma's post got me thinking (yes, that's what the noise is ) regarding The Beatles' tribute band and their name of The Fab Four.  Now that is a great name and I think that is important because that name of The Straits has caused a bit of a stir from the very start.  I know their marketing has been, shall we say less than great, but had they called themselves maybe Money For Nothing, Brothers In Arms or something similar (I think we already have Brothers In Band) then we would have warmed toward them a little better.

[LoveExpresso]

I never cared for any tribute band. The man who writes it, sings it, and plays his notes, I want to transform his creation into my heart/mind/body.  So that is a very personal interpretation. I like to listen to HIM and HIS fingers on HiS guitars, and the songs are what HE creates. Why anyone else should try to re-play them in front of an audience, is over me. I know of course songs are free and music is about interpretation, and I respect that people want to play stuff they admire, but I would never pay anything to go to someone who is not the original. Same goes for any other tribute band, party band, top 40 band etc...

Dire Straits was always Mark (for me), the band members had to do what he wants, that was clear. I hardly listen to Dire Straits stuff.

I know about the discussions, Alan Clark's (arguable) influence on Mark's music and the different opinions, but just wanted to contribute here my personal one.

LE

[superval99]

I never cared for any tribute band. The man who writes it, sings it, and plays his notes, I want to transform his creation into my heart/mind/body.  So that is a very personal interpretation. I like to listen to HIM and HIS fingers on HiS guitars, and the songs are what HE creates. Why anyone else should try to re-play them in front of an audience, is over me. I know of course songs are free and music is about interpretation, and I respect that people want to play stuff they admire, but I would never pay anything to go to someone who is not the original. Same goes for any other tribute band, party band, top 40 band etc...

Dire Straits was always Mark (for me), the band members had to do what he wants, that was clear. I hardly listen to Dire Straits stuff.

I know about the discussions, Alan Clark's (arguable) influence on Mark's music and the different opinions, but just wanted to contribute here my personal one.

LE

Exactly!     

[ds1984]

The only acceptable solution would have been Mark to go back with some DS reunion from time to time.  Dire Straits had jut become too huge to just say one day : it's forever over. Now many people miss them and the happen what happen when the main man refuse to answer the need.

[junkiedoll]

The only acceptable solution would have been Mark to go back with some DS reunion from time to time.  Dire Strait had jut become too huge to just say one day : it's forever over. Now many people miss them and the happen what happen when the main man refuse to answer the need.

I am sorry, but you must be kidding?! You say all these bizarre happenings are MKs own fault because he refused DS reunion?? I would really re-consider that. If you mean that serious, no words for it...

[Justme]

To me, the sad thing about it is, that MK and JI are (don't want to say were) quite close friends....

[superval99]

To me, the sad thing about it is, that MK and JI are (don't want to say were) quite close friends....

That's how I feel too, especially after seeing how close they seemed on Guitar Stories.   

[vgonis]

No, guys please don't go down that road. We should not question the ethics, practices or actions of anybody, supposing of how somebody else might be feeling. What if MK was alright with it? And to be perfectly honest, the fact that he has not Openly opposed might mean something more than being civil or keeping face. They are musicians that have devoted almost 20 years (their best) of their lives playing these songs. I bet some of them had small luck with their personal recordings, but due to the plethora of music there is out there, and not the quality. (OK, most of them are not as good as MK's) But they have to earn a living and since there is an audience I see no reason. And I tend to believe that they are good as jbeant says.

[jbaent]

To me, the sad thing about it is, that MK and JI are (don't want to say were) quite close friends....

The fact that you are forgetting its that its not the first time that John Illsley play with this "legends" band, nor the second, nor the third, or even more... Dont you remember some concerts in Italy, with John, Alan Clark, Chris White, Jack Sonni, Phil Palmer and sometimes Mel Collins and Danny Cummings?

That concerts were the origin of Alan Clark's idea to form The Straits, and were announced as Dire Straits Legends, in fact Alan said that in one of those concerts they were announced just as Dire Straits, and they were worried about the audience getting mad when discovering the promoters had lied in the promotion of that concert, as the frontman of all that concerts was Marco Caviglia.

After John had played that bunch of Legends concerts, he made the MK Guitar Stories.

So, if it wasnt a problem before, what had changed? If nobody was so indignated before, why now? Why so much noise now, and so much posts to Guy's forum, as searching for a "fight" between MK and John?

I dont understand it.