What is your all time favourite MK live concert?

[Guitarman1972]

What is your favourite MK/DS live concert of all time?  And which one is the runner up? And why do you put them on number one and two?

It can be official releases like Alchemy or On The Night, Sticks, Bootlegs (audience/soundboard recording)

Mine are:
1. Get Lucky Tour - Live in Paris - 09.06.2010
2. Alchemy

[dmg]

1.  San Francisco 13.09.85

2.  Seattle 20.09.85

I could really choose any number of shows from this period but I'd love to have a time machine and a million pounds to follow the band around the world on this tour!  The North American leg and 2nd European leg are highlight shows, but the 1st European leg has lots of different playing in it, SFA instead of OW and TMTS in the set, so has much to recommend it too.  The Australasian leg seems curiously sparse of bootlegs so I'll reserve judgement but the December '85 UK shows were very nice indeed.

[herlock]

Tough question, as I don't think DS and even MK in solo ever produced a bad concert. It all depends on my mood of the day... after listening to all eras from 1978 to 2013, I don't think we can say one era is superior to another. Mark liked things to be different from tour to tour. Different does not mean better, does not mean worse, just different...

If I follow my mood of the say, see my topic on Wiesbaden 1981. A few years back I would never have thought that such an early show would be my favourite... but now.... wov. The most brillant setlist ever, the best blend of old and new, still songs from the 2 first albums (Lions, DTTW, News, WDYTYG,..which sadely would be dropped in the LOG tour for less fantastic things, like TBTP or TWL...); but already a look ahead with the first version of Telegraph Road... great energy, great interaction with the audience,still fresh yet already a new sound... I just fell in love. Just listen to "News" from this era and tell me that this so-called little tune is not a masterpiece !
So, my top 5 of the day:

1-Wiesdbaden 81 (I also love Dormund'80, a bit less good but... there is video !).
2-Wembley 85 (this video is just the pinacle of skills from Mark, it is just mind-blowing, TOL is the best ever, even if the overdriven-to-death drums and guitar, plus overused '80s keyboards, are a bit too much...)
3-Alchemy ('enough said, fantastic show, just before the above mentionned over-the-top stuff, maybe the best compromise ever)
4-Vaison'96 (just love the energy, TR and Going Home are best ever)
4-Beaulieu 2002 (I just love this DS + NHB reunions, best versions of Setting me Up, Why Aye Man and What it is)
5-Saint-Julien 2013 (because I was there ! such great renwed energy !)

[dmg]

I love threads like this!

Nothing from 2001 then Herlock?

Of course I have different moods too and listen to other eras but when putting on my critics hat I can't help but always turn to the BIA tour as being Mark at the peak of his powers.  Maybe he has matured as a guitarist in some ways but the energy was never the same and overall his playing was best IMO.  He never played Sultans or TOL with the same power, skill, accuracy or feeling night after night ever again.

[herlock]

Nothing from 2001 because I had to choose my top 5, but of course I love them all, there are some gems from 2001 as well !

I have mixed feelings about the BIA tour...

On the one hand, I tend to agree with you with the excellence of Mark's skills during this tour. Indeed I tend to watch Wembley'85 most, with the same excitement every time. Yes, Sultans from this era is great (I have Live Aid on official video ! a bit less good than Wembley but still great). Some people hate the overused keyboards from the 80S, well, I tend to love them, they add some depth... and yes, TOL is absolutely fantastic in 85. It was great too in 83, maybe a bit simpler, which some prefer... matter of taste. And BIA, the song... I think it was never done better than in 85 - I like the Hammond organ, the rocking ending... even Mandela is less good to me ! On the Night version is good, but I still prefer '85 versions... just like PI or MFN... Awesome. Well, Montserrat'97 is awesome too... so many good shows...

On the other hand, the BIA tour was the beginning of the end: too much commercialized, too pop-oriented, Walk of Life, Bombastic over-the-top synthetizer, 80s style overdrive-to-death guitar and drums, too big, too... much In the LOG tour intimate interaction was still possible, in the stadium-era BIA... well, maybe they did it a bit too much.

That's why, although I love Wembley, really, that I like sometimes to return to basics, and listen to the less polished shows from 80/81 or even 78/79... "Live at the BBC" is charming As I said, it all depends on my mood, no bad show !! even 2008/2010 have their strong points !

[LoveExpresso]

I'm not a "bootleg man" at all and I know I don't like the Dire Straits era anymore, so my answer is quite simple:

Locarno 2010 -  if you mean "all time favourite MK live concert to listen to"   

London 2013 First Night - if you mean "all time favourite Mk live concert you attended", and that night was even better than the show I would have listed before the Privateering tour, because before 2013, it would have been
Hamburg 1996 June 8th

LE

[Pottel]

london 2013 first night. best i ever went to.
werchter 81
vaison
Glasgow 1990
Brussels 2006
Dubai 2005 or perth...
nothing from 2008
milan 81
Kassel 83
uniondale and brussels (2nd european leg) 85
Dublin first show 1991

[LoveExpresso]

Oh, Vaison... you are right... really AWESOME and GREAT concert... did listen to it for ages.. will do immediately..

LE

[dmg]

On the other hand, the BIA tour was the beginning of the end: too much commercialized, too pop-oriented, Walk of Life, Bombastic over-the-top synthetizer, 80s style overdrive-to-death guitar and drums, too big, too... much In the LOG tour intimate interaction was still possible, in the stadium-era BIA... well, maybe they did it a bit too much.

I'm not so sure - the OES tour was the really big tour with big stadiums but the BIA tour wasn't really big venues.  They played a lot of theatres in the US and UK (December).  Most of the other venues in Europe are the same or similar sized ones he plays now.  Only in Australia/NZ did they play some really big gigs.  It was the OES tour that they played in football stadiums and huge open air gigs.

[Knopflerfan]

Again like LE, no DS for me as I've moved on from those days so without doubt my favourite 'MK' concert of all time (1995-2013) has to be the first night of the RAH 27th May 2013 as Mark and band absolutely stormed that night - and no the stick does not do any justice to the best night of MK bar none!! The look, sound and feel from both band and AMITers present shall always be remembered!!

2nd I have to go with the first time that I saw Mark play Bournemouth way back in May 1996 on the 'Golden Heart' tour. Never had the BIC rocked so much!!

[Hoops McCann]

My top pick is easy - Rome 2005 (2005-06-03). Flawless versions of all songs. I saw basically the same show a few weeks later when the tour hit the US and that was the best MK show I attended. Nothing else after that even compared.

My runner up would be something from the StP tour. Perhaps, Nimes or Hamburg.

[herlock]

On the other hand, the BIA tour was the beginning of the end: too much commercialized, too pop-oriented, Walk of Life, Bombastic over-the-top synthetizer, 80s style overdrive-to-death guitar and drums, too big, too... much In the LOG tour intimate interaction was still possible, in the stadium-era BIA... well, maybe they did it a bit too much.

I'm not so sure - the OES tour was the really big tour with big stadiums but the BIA tour wasn't really big venues.  They played a lot of theatres in the US and UK (December).  Most of the other venues in Europe are the same or similar sized ones he plays now.  Only in Australia/NZ did they play some really big gigs.  It was the OES tour that they played in football stadiums and huge open air gigs.

I can agree about the size of venues, but this was not my main point, which was the sound...
Actually the OES tour "corrected" some "flaws" of the BIA tour that were heavily critized in 85/86: in 91/92, no more prominent keyboards (in fact, they were too quiet !), no more overdriven drums, much less overdrive to the guitar... the complexity of the sound came from the addition of pedal steel.
I still prefer the BIA sound (I LOVE keyboards ! ), but I reckon this is not for the majority of people... given today's "clean and minimalist" trend, most people today would find the BIA tour too "80s"...
But hey, the 80s were so cool

[superval99]

Manchester 2010 is my favourite concert to listen to - everything beautifully played with such energy, especially Speedway and TR - and I was there on the front row right in front of MK!  I listen to this concert more than any other!  Fantastic audience!

First night RAH 2013 is probably the most exciting concert I ever attended, especially because of the venue and friends from AMIT and I still get great pleasure listening.  The audience was great too!

Leeds '96 - Golden Heart Tour at The Town & Country - an amazing concert and so long too - over three hours of beautiful music and a great set list covering many albums.  (No recording available, so it is only still in my head) 

Wembley '85 - I'm not really a DS fan so much these days, but this is an amazing concert with so many great versions.

Alchemy because it was so iconic and I still remember vividly the first time I saw it and was bowled over by MK!

Basel '92 - I watched this on Christmas Eve '92 and probably watched it every day for months afterwards - I was just so besotted with MK and his guitar!

Special nods also to Carcassonne 2013 and Liverpool 2013 - they were both very special.

[Knopflerfan]

Basel '92 - I watched this on Christmas Eve '92 and probably watched it every day for months afterwards - I was just so besotted with MK and his guitar!

Cant agree with you enough Val, this concert was televised for us brits on Channel 4 and my word it blew my mind! Remember my music hating father at the time saying 'who is that playing guitar?'

The rest is history!!

Have got a lovely copy of this on DVD which I incidentally play through my Blu-Ray player in glorious 3D!!! WOW!!

[dmg]

Basel '92 - I watched this on Christmas Eve '92 and probably watched it every day for months afterwards - I was just so besotted with MK and his guitar!

Cant agree with you enough Val, this concert was televised for us brits on Channel 4 and my word it blew my mind! Remember my music hating father at the time saying 'who is that playing guitar?'

The rest is history!!

Have got a lovely copy of this on DVD which I incidentally play through my Blu-Ray player in glorious 3D!!! WOW!!

I remember watching this on C4 too and was so annoyed by the fact that they had edited it.  I had a copy on VHS until fairly recently and watched gobsmacked at how they cut the percussion and final MK solo from CE - poor Danny!  It finished so abruptly did they really think they'd get away with it?  No TR either!

It's never been one of my favourite concerts though.  There are great versions but a few slip-ups like in YLT, BIA and WT.  Very minor but the Woburn Abbey gig a week prior to this is much better IMO.