Hi everyone,
Apologies if this is the wrong place to do this but I wanted to say hello. I have been looking at the forum for a good few years, especially during the tours and now felt it wasn't time to join.
I'm in my late twenties and live in South England. I have been listening to Mark for a long time and first heard them when my Dad played his Dire Straits CD. I immediately loved Sultans and it kind of went on from there.
I have seen Mark at the Royal Albert Hall on every solo tour since the KTGC tour. I only get to see one show a tour so am a complete amateur compared to most here! But I do think that if you only get to see one show, the RAH is pretty much the venue to go to.
As yet, I've never met Mark and have only made one serious attempt to do so, lurking outside the stage door the afternoon before I saw them during the Tracker tour. I saw all of the band go in, had a CD signed by a couple of the guys but as we all know, Mark doesn't go in that way. Ten minutes later I discovered exactly where Mark DOES go in but of course it was too late.
Have met Guy and Danni at Blues Club gigs and chatted at some length to Guy which was fantastic. Also gave him some tea bags of a kind he hasn't tried yet and he remembered me the next time I saw him.
One of the cool things about Mark is how many other artists I know because of him. Off the top of my head, I have CDs on my shelf of Guy Fletcher, Blues Club, Ruth Moody, Bap Kennedy and James Walbourne, all whom I've discovered through Mark.
I saw Mark on the second night at the RAH this year and enjoyed it. I didn't mind the horns but I did feel that at times, if they were playing the same licks as Mark, it kind of defeats the point seeing as they were louder. Why Aye Man for example.
I wouldn't consider myself a musician although I am the proud owner of a beautiful Taylor GS Mini acoustic, an Ozark mandolin and a two nice ukuleles. I play them as regularly as possible.
Look forward to discussing MK with you all.
Elliott
