I've been patiently and exhaustively reading this thread as a guest for the last couple of weeks now, and having attended the gig at the RAH last night and one of the warm-ups last week, I can now comment on what I've seen, heard and read.
Firstly, it's only fair to point out that I am a friend of Terence's, having known him for the better part of a decade. I'm also a musician in his band. As a musician, actor and a man he is immensely talented. You must appreciate that in his own music, Terence constantly battles to stay out of the Knoplfer style and to avoid comparison, simply because Knoplfer did it first. However, he does not have to try very hard to achieve that sound because he grew up playing finger style guitar which is prevalent in Africa, and also exemplified by other players such as J.J. Cale etc. etc. - you've read all this already. His ability to achieve that Knoplfer sound is uncanny and easy; I've seen it up close and even jammed a couple of DS covers with him for the fun.
I was also a big fan of Dire Straits, though I am a little too young to have ever attended any live shows; I did however get to see Knopfler about two years ago which was pretty special.
I think on the subject of the name 'The Straits' and the marketing to which you all so object, I am sure you understand that in a venture this big the band have little to no input in these matters. Much like the hapless customer service rep you get through to when complaining to a utility company, the band are the public face but that does not mean they are responsible for the promotional material. Allessandro, they are not "showing their hand" - the video is from a concert attendee posting on YouTube.
As I said, I was a fan of the recorded material and had all the albums and the Alchemy double album to which I still return from time to time. I knew every word and was able to sing every lick and I loved the changes in arrangements the band made for the live show.
So, to The Straits live. Based on the above, with a little understandable bias but a healthy appreciation for the material, I loved the show. As a live show in its own right it shone but I can tell you the performance was also FRIGHTENINGLY accurate. I simply will not accept from a look at the YouTube clips that SOS was "clumsily played" nor were there "wrong notes everywhere". I was there; it wasn't and there weren't. Terence did not play the Knopler solos, for sure, but they were in style and they were great. As Jackal said, Terence was never going to try to imitate note-for-note. The band was exceptionally tight, too, and "more rocking" refers to something Alan Clark said - from within the band, this is as good as he's experienced it - a personal opinion you can't really argue with. My own personal experience was spine-tingling in the extreme.
I infer from the comments on the forum that some of you (not all) wanted the band and gig to be poor, and the constant comments that it misses Mark's voice or guitar playing only serve to reinforce that impression. We know Terence isn't Mark; neither he nor you want him to be. As it stands, the gig was well-received, successful and more importantly I found it to be an evocative representation of the music of Dire Straits. I am filled with pride to have seen Terence step into such big shoes and do such a commendable job with - and let me be very clear here - GENUINE humility.
