I agree that it’s an odd choice to open with.
I always think you should open with something upbeat to get the crowd going.
Walk of Life would have been my choice in 85.
it has been only once for Mandela gig in 88
I like the way RATR opened the shows : ambient, almost mystery atmopshere... and then suddenly the guitar comes in
it was the same thing with Once upon a time : smooth melody on keyboard, ambient-cinematographic music, and then Mark cames in with his guitar
and it was the same thing with Waterline : calm pace, sounds of the flaghorn, and then... full band with energetic rhythm
well you can see that Mark liked that way to open the shows
He did the same with Border reiver : calm celtic music before the whole band came in
I like when music "build's up"
he did almost the same on the ANIL show with celtic instruments playing before the start of Darling Pretty, like on the album.
But on the rest of the tour, the song started imediately with Richard's acoustic guitar