New book about Dire Straits (in french)

[JF]

Very interesting, is it available just in French?

as far as I know yes, but maybe later it will be translated ?....

[JF]

- the first "big" gig with the pensa shur is not Mandela, but the prince trust at RAH few days before : 5 & 6 june 88

Proof for nothing (and vid for free) :

It was actually the fourth because there were two warm-up gigs for the Mandela show after that as well!

well I was refering to Ingo's old page where he wrote that The first big gig he used it on was at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday in 1988.
http://ds.mk-guitar.com/pensa.htm

so I guess he didn't count the 2 warm-up gigs because they weren't "big", and indeed they were a little bit "private" gigs, so it was fair to not count them.

But the Prince trust was "public" and I guess a "big" gig (even not as big as the Mandela one) so I think we can say that it was the "first" public-popular-pro-brodcasted" gig with this guitar

[JF]

It is interesting, but I fail to determine whether the guy is just compiling information from the Web, TV shows, and well-know stories (which alone would still be interesting) or whether he actually lived the stuff.

yes I wonder the same.
there are several infos that seems come from web, forums etc... more than "real" itws.
howewer, he wrote some questions by mail to David and he answered him, so...

What I like with this book is to have all infos we know (and some more) compiled in one piece.
When reading the first chapter, I had the feeling to read again the diary from the neck-and neck site, compiled and well written in a book
And I hope that infos after 84 are on the same level as the ones in the Oldfield book.

[Marijo58]

I've just bought the book and read most of it.

It is interesting, but I fail to determine whether the guy is just compiling information from the Web, TV shows, and well-know stories (which alone would still be interesting) or whether he actually lived the stuff. I really hope that he actually attended Lyon 20/04/92 and that the setlist is correct... They are a few mistakes, like mixing "You and your friend" with "Me and my friend" (!) in the "On the Night" chapter. The guy is strongly opiniated about songs and live renditions, we got very personal opinions, like "You and your friend" is a pale copy of "Brothers in Arms" and "Planet of New Orleans" is dull and should not have been included on the OES album !! And the guy obviously HATE saxophone, especially in SoS and R&J...

Otherwisde, good and meaningly synthesis, well written, happy to have it for 17€

Same opinion here Herlock. Just finished to read it... Very strange book. Don't know exactly what to understand in this book???

Very interesting, is it available just in French?

as far as I know yes, but maybe later it will be translated ?....

Envoyé de mon Ultym 5.2 en utilisant Tapatalk

[ds1984]

- the first "big" gig with the pensa shur is not Mandela, but the prince trust at RAH few days before : 5 & 6 june 88

Proof for nothing (and vid for free) :

It was actually the fourth because there were two warm-up gigs for the Mandela show after that as well!

Nope, Mandela gig actually was the fifth public performance as both Princes Trust and Warm Up gigs were 2 performances (5&6 and 8&9 of june).
Note that all others free days from May 30 onward were used for rehearsal, June 4 for the Prince Trust gigs the others for the Mandela gig.

But considering the size of the venues (all below 5k attendance capacity)  it is correct to say that Wembley Stadium was the first "big" event, and moreover with a worldwide audience.

[dmg]

- the first "big" gig with the pensa shur is not Mandela, but the prince trust at RAH few days before : 5 & 6 june 88

Proof for nothing (and vid for free) :

It was actually the fourth because there were two warm-up gigs for the Mandela show after that as well!

Nope, Mandela gig actually was the fifth public performance as both Princes Trust and Warm Up gigs were 2 performances (5&6 and 8&9 of june).
Note that all others free days from May 30 onward were used for rehearsal, June 4 for the Prince Trust gigs the others for the Mandela gig.

But considering the size of the venues (all below 5k attendance capacity)  it is correct to say that Wembley Stadium was the first "big" event, and moreover with a worldwide audience.

I didn't realise the PT was played over two nights.  Surely Mark, as part of the "Eric Clapton All Stars" only appeared on the 2nd night as it closed the event?

[ds1984]

- the first "big" gig with the pensa shur is not Mandela, but the prince trust at RAH few days before : 5 & 6 june 88

Proof for nothing (and vid for free) :

It was actually the fourth because there were two warm-up gigs for the Mandela show after that as well!

Nope, Mandela gig actually was the fifth public performance as both Princes Trust and Warm Up gigs were 2 performances (5&6 and 8&9 of june).
Note that all others free days from May 30 onward were used for rehearsal, June 4 for the Prince Trust gigs the others for the Mandela gig.

But considering the size of the venues (all below 5k attendance capacity)  it is correct to say that Wembley Stadium was the first "big" event, and moreover with a worldwide audience.

I didn't realise the PT was played over two nights.  Surely Mark, as part of the "Eric Clapton All Stars" only appeared on the 2nd night as it closed the event?

No, MK performed with EC both PT

[dmg]

I didn't realise the PT was played over two nights.  Surely Mark, as part of the "Eric Clapton All Stars" only appeared on the 2nd night as it closed the event?

No, MK performed with EC both PT
[/quote]

Thanks, didn't know that.  The video gives the impression it was just a 2 hour show over 1 night.

[JF]

chapter 2 (about the 1st album recording) :
nothing special although I didn't know that the character "Harry" from In the Gallery was Steve Phillip's father, Harry phillips, a sculptor

apart from that, some inaccurate infos about guitars, guitar parts, etc...but just details

[JF]

I finished to read the book.

appart from the 1st chapter I didn't learn anything else important.
the author wrote several inexactitudes, even if they are only details (I know I am monomaniac).

What I like in this book is some critical point of view, but in a good way.

It's well written, and it sums up almost all infos we can find on our favorites sites, and particulary here.

at the end of the book, several "sources" are quoted, and among them, there is 2 AMIT threads :

http://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?topic=1967.15
it was the 1st thread where I posted, in august 2011.
It was about Mark's national guitars.
I remember I posted a long message detailing all albums and all songs featuring these guitars.
But my message is now cut and no longer avalaible...

the 2nd thread is this one :
http://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?topic=3260.15
it was about Tommy mandel, but the link leads you directly to the 2nd page where I am talking about the exact date when the DS name was created

among the "soucres" list there are : Jeroen's OEB, official MK site, Guy's site, etc...many others, ...and Ingo's site for 2 things :
- guitar player itws
- the gear database, on which I am proud to have contributed 

In my dreams, I hope that my humbles contributions helped the author to write his book. Friend if you read us 

[ArnaudTheDSwriter]

Hello guys,
I am the french writer who wrote "Dire Straits, l'Amérique fantasmée". I was doing some online researches when I found out this thread about the book. I'm a french journalist and the publisher Le mot et le reste (based in Marseille, south of France) is well known for his music-oriented books.
I must say I'm very pleased that some of you have read (or are reading) mine and I've really enjoyed reading all of your comments, as interesting as they are relevant. It's always a excitment for an author to "meet" his readers and listen to (read, as far as this thread is concerned !) what they have to say and what they feel about his writings.
As I understand, some of you have contributed to some DS-oriented websites where I've found some of the informations I've used to write the book. So, whoever they are, I thank them very very much.
Most of the things in the book come from existing sources as some of you have well guessed: tons and tons of interviews in papers and magazine, guitar-oriented website and so on. You can find every source at the end of the book. The very first part (before chapter 1) is an account of a 1992 gig I did attend (I was 18). Most of if comes from my...memory, really, and what I felt at the time. I was a very huge fan (not anymore) and it was may very first rock concert. So lots of things are sort of printed in my mind and it was very easy to tell the story even if it was... so long ago ! Well, I must have checked out one thing or two when the time came to write it down...
Anyway, I also tried to have something well written rather than just have a dull list of facts and details all of you know from beginning to end. I did want to tell a real story, with some kind of cliffhangers at the end of each chapter and some funny facts at the beginnings of them. Hope it works. And sorry for the inevitable mistakes you may have found. I'm sure you're all better Knopflermaniac than I am !
Enjoy and thank you all.
Arnaud

[herlock]

Thanks a lot Arnaud for this ! It seems that we have one thing in common: I was also 18 on 20.04.1992 and I attended the same concert as you did ! quick question, are you 100% sure of the setlist ? As I am not sure myself... Are you sure Solid Rock and Wild Theme were played (they are not listed on OEB for the concert the day after in the same venue) ? Are you sure no Portobello Belle ?
Thanks in advance and cheers

[ArnaudTheDSwriter]

Damn sure about Solid Rock and Wild Theme. Not sure about BIA but i don't remember having written it was played that day (I've not checked out my book). Sure as well about Telegraph Road but not in the same order as I wrote it down.
I guess you know the setlist.fm website, anyway...
Cheers

[herlock]

Thanks ! Yes I know this site but it is of no help as far as 20.04.92. Seems that only you me and JF were there, although it felt very crowded
Quite sure about BIA was played though.... Really hope so !

[ArnaudTheDSwriter]

I must say I attended another gig: september 1992, Lyon Halle Tony Garnier as well. More or less the same set list apart from one song as I remember. But my book isn't about setlist ;-)