Always hated this whole concert. In fact I thought it is the downpoint in the whole Dire Strait era.
I always wondered about these .. what.. 16 (?), shows in a row... is there any fan on the world that has seen all Sydney Entertainment shows in a row?
Are they all recorded? How were the differences? Were they all as "good" as the final one?
Never watched the complete show, can't stand it, sorry to say. I prefer Wembley 85 BY FAR!
LE
Yes, this concert is not my favourite, despite high praise for "The last OZ" everywhere.
The band is tired, the synth effects are too much, the clothing is ridiculous, and the music is not that great.
Take TOL, for instance - whereas the band could improve on the (already excellent) Alchemy version for the BIA tour (see Wembley'85), with more elaborated solo, backing vocals, break... here in Sydney'86 I don't like the guitar tone and the licks are too convoluted, to the point that I prefer Alchemy by far.
Take BIA, whereas in Wembley'85 the finale was very rocking, here it is quite a bore - to the point that I prefer the "On the night" version by far.
Still, these are the only versions of Ride Across the River and Industrial Deasease we have on video... nice ! and yes, the SFA version is the only and only one that is worth listening to