What are your thoughts on MK & his band touring in the future ? (is it the end)

[dmg]

This info comes from a close source. Believe it or not, nobody knew, before he did it on stage, that he was going to announce his retirement from live performances, when he did it at Barcelona in 2019. There was a crisis committee soon after that.

Actually MK told in interviews previous to the tour that touring would be the first thing to be over, that he would continue writing and recording but touring would be over. When I heard that announcement in Barcelona, I took it as the next step to what MK said in those previous interviews.

After all this period of stand by because of the pandemic, I fear MK would stick to that "It's over" thought and last tour was it, I wish he would think about doing small RAH or O2 residencies, sort of what Clapton does, but probably he would want to do it with Richard, Glenn etc and that's an expensive band for a small period of concerts...

I'm a bit pesimistic here.

Why not do a tour like Clapton?? About 15 concerts in Europe and some RAH dates in 4/5 weeks... Have a short break and some concerts in the States.
If he really wants to do it than it is possible. It has nothing to do with money anymore. The concerts will sell out....

That's what he should've been doing since 2015 imho.  In saying that, it wasn't until the N American leg that he sounded "warmed up."

[hunter]

Looking back on Mark's solo career, I can't help feeling that, from a fan's point of view, there have been so many missed opportunities. Especially after STP. Collaborations, setlist variation, taking some risks musically, etc. And obviously now it's too late.

[Love Expresso]

Looking back on Mark's solo career, I can't help feeling that, from a fan's point of view, there have been so many missed opportunities. Especially after STP. Collaborations, setlist variation, taking some risks musically, etc. And obviously now it's too late.

Absolutely true. I would say it even harsher by using words like "wasted" but I will better not.

LE

[quizzaciously]

Looking back on Mark's solo career, I can't help feeling that, from a fan's point of view, there have been so many missed opportunities. Especially after STP. Collaborations, setlist variation, taking some risks musically, etc. And obviously now it's too late.

Absolutely true. I would say it even harsher by using words like "wasted" but I will better not.

LE

But, in the other hand, that would make Mark more popular and this, apparently, he doesn't want, so he just sticks with his usual stuff.

[dmg]

Looking back on Mark's solo career, I can't help feeling that, from a fan's point of view, there have been so many missed opportunities. Especially after STP. Collaborations, setlist variation, taking some risks musically, etc. And obviously now it's too late.

I've thought that many times too.  Some of which are related to his accident and the axed tour of 2003 and touring with Krusty. 

Others are back to the DS days and spending too much time touring with EC, playing/producing with Newman and doing little bit and pieces here and there for years when he could've been writing and making his own records.  Then when DS did release their final studio album it was another 5 years until the solo album.

So many wasted years from '86-'96.

[skydiver]

Looking back on Mark's solo career, I can't help feeling that, from a fan's point of view, there have been so many missed opportunities. Especially after STP. Collaborations, setlist variation, taking some risks musically, etc. And obviously now it's too late.

I've thought that many times too.  Some of which are related to his accident and the axed tour of 2003. 

Others are back to the DS days and spending too much time touring with EC, playing/producing with Newman and doing little bit and pieces here and there for years when he could've been writing and making his own records.  Then when DS did release their final studio album it was another 5 years until the solo album.

So many wasted years from '86-'96.

Agreed on the years from 86-01.
However after 2001 he did make up for it by writing, recording and touring in a way I could not have imagined it in my wildest dreams.
I remember him saying during the STP Tour "I don't want it to be so long till next time".

[qjamesfloyd]

It is interesting how people see things differently, I don't think Mark has wasted any time. his shortest solo album has 11 songs on it, that being Get Lucky, adding bonus songs take it to 16 Love Over Gold only had 5 songs!!! he has recorded far more songs and albums as a solo artist compared to Dire Straits. 4 more film soundtracks, 5 if you include Robbie the Reindeer. A duet album and tour with Emmylou, and a musical, and he is working on yet another album, hardly a waste in my view. Oh and don't forget he also had time to release a double album!!!

[Robson]

It is interesting how people see things differently, I don't think Mark has wasted any time. his shortest solo album has 11 songs on it, that being Get Lucky, adding bonus songs take it to 16 Love Over Gold only had 5 songs!!! he has recorded far more songs and albums as a solo artist compared to Dire Straits. 4 more film soundtracks, 5 if you include Robbie the Reindeer. A duet album and tour with Emmylou, and a musical, and he is working on yet another album, hardly a waste in my view. Oh and don't forget he also had time to release a double album!!!

Exactly!

"So many wasted years from '86-'96"

Really?

Let's not forget The Notting Hillbillies and Chet Atkins.

[NicoMK]

Looking back on Mark's solo career, I can't help feeling that, from a fan's point of view, there have been so many missed opportunities. Especially after STP. Collaborations, setlist variation, taking some risks musically, etc. And obviously now it's too late.

I don't think either that there are so many missed opportunities. Whether you liked them or not, Mark has done a lot of things after the STP tour : albums, tours, collaborations, now a musical. He's been quite busy actually, and he's still working at 72.

I agree that you can blame him for a pretty conservative approach on some aspects as setlsts from one tour to another or changes in his band over the years, the ones that were made (and shouldn't have) and the ones that never happened (and should have).

[ds1984]

My only rant would be he never performed TOL when he was still able to.

[KnopfleRick]

It is interesting how people see things differently, I don't think Mark has wasted any time. his shortest solo album has 11 songs on it, that being Get Lucky, adding bonus songs take it to 16 Love Over Gold only had 5 songs!!! he has recorded far more songs and albums as a solo artist compared to Dire Straits. 4 more film soundtracks, 5 if you include Robbie the Reindeer. A duet album and tour with Emmylou, and a musical, and he is working on yet another album, hardly a waste in my view. Oh and don't forget he also had time to release a double album!!!

Exactly!

"So many wasted years from '86-'96"

Really?

Let's not forget The Notting Hillbillies and Chet Atkins.

I toally agree with you, qjamesfloyd and Robson! 


Please let me say this:

A man who quit his job 40 years ago to pursue his passion for music and still is burning for it and, despite all the fame and fortune, has managed to stay on the ground and keep his sanity deserves the highest respect from me.
We can't give him much in return for all the wonderful moments he has given us, other than appreciation and respect for all the many years of hard work.
Let's hope for good health that let him go on as long as he feels like it.

[Jules]

It is interesting how people see things differently, I don't think Mark has wasted any time. his shortest solo album has 11 songs on it, that being Get Lucky, adding bonus songs take it to 16 Love Over Gold only had 5 songs!!! he has recorded far more songs and albums as a solo artist compared to Dire Straits. 4 more film soundtracks, 5 if you include Robbie the Reindeer. A duet album and tour with Emmylou, and a musical, and he is working on yet another album, hardly a waste in my view. Oh and don't forget he also had time to release a double album!!!

When they did LOG they had a very limitated format like the LP, that between A and B side, usually had around 45 minutes of music. LOG had very long pieces so there were no way to have more, unless they did a double, that was not commercially viable in their opinion. Also arrangements have to be sorted to fill in that format. Think that the BIA record, in the LP version, had a very short intro to MFN, hadn't the trumpet intro in Your Latest Trick, hadn't the long instrumental ending in Why Worry, and had a shorter BIA than the cd version, because all that music didnt fit in the LP, that was still the standard in 1985. The cd was very new, and luckily they put all that extra music in the cd version.

If they had released LOG with the cd as a standard, they would had between 74' and 80' minutes of capacity, so probably LOG would had been longer in number of songs.

[JF]

Think that the BIA record, in the LP version, had a very short intro to MFN, hadn't the trumpet intro in Your Latest Trick, hadn't the long instrumental ending in Why Worry, and had a shorter BIA than the cd version, because all that music didnt fit in the LP, that was still the standard in 1985. The cd was very new, and luckily they put all that extra music in the cd version.

the SFA outro and the MFN outro are also shortened on the LP

[dmg]

It is interesting how people see things differently, I don't think Mark has wasted any time. his shortest solo album has 11 songs on it, that being Get Lucky, adding bonus songs take it to 16 Love Over Gold only had 5 songs!!! he has recorded far more songs and albums as a solo artist compared to Dire Straits. 4 more film soundtracks, 5 if you include Robbie the Reindeer. A duet album and tour with Emmylou, and a musical, and he is working on yet another album, hardly a waste in my view. Oh and don't forget he also had time to release a double album!!!

Exactly!

"So many wasted years from '86-'96"

Really?

Let's not forget The Notting Hillbillies and Chet Atkins.

A decade for two mini albums with two MK penned songs which could've been recorded over the weekend plus a mini UK tour. Wasted years.

[superval99]

It is interesting how people see things differently, I don't think Mark has wasted any time. his shortest solo album has 11 songs on it, that being Get Lucky, adding bonus songs take it to 16 Love Over Gold only had 5 songs!!! he has recorded far more songs and albums as a solo artist compared to Dire Straits. 4 more film soundtracks, 5 if you include Robbie the Reindeer. A duet album and tour with Emmylou, and a musical, and he is working on yet another album, hardly a waste in my view. Oh and don't forget he also had time to release a double album!!!

Exactly!

"So many wasted years from '86-'96"

Really?

Let's not forget The Notting Hillbillies and Chet Atkins.

A decade for two mini albums with two MK penned songs which could've been recorded over the weekend plus a mini UK tour. Wasted years.

Wasn't there the little matter of the OES album and tour in that decade?