New DS Live Box Set, 3rd November 2023!

[dmg]

Also i have never liked the guitar sound from live at the bbc

A real bug bear of mine too.  Very unfortunate as it means I really don't listen to it due to this.

________________

Now my thoughts on the box set.  Something that hasn't been covered so far is the improvement to Mark's vocals in the OTN part of the box.  It now doesn't have that horrible over-processed sound and is more natural and organic.  TYL wasn't something I was particularly looking forward to but after hearing it it is a nice surprise.  OES has a good improvement.  ITILYTM, WICTY and FTB are great to have in soundboard at long last.  TOL and TR were never my favourite versions on this tour I'm afraid.  I had just longed for something from the BIA tour, but overall very happy.

[herlock]

Also i have never liked the guitar sound from live at the bbc

A real bug bear of mine too.  Very unfortunate as it means I really don't listen to it due to this.

________________

Now my thoughts on the box set.  Something that hasn't been covered so far is the improvement to Mark's vocals in the OTN part of the box.  It now doesn't have that horrible over-processed sound and is more natural and organic.  TYL wasn't something I was particularly looking forward to but after hearing it it is a nice surprise.  OES has a good improvement.  ITILYTM, WICTY and FTB are great to have in soundboard at long last.  TOL and TR were never my favourite versions on this tour I'm afraid.  I had just longed for something from the BIA tour, but overall very happy.

When you say OES, you mean the tour, not the song? I dont' think Guy touched the original OTN songs?

[Rolo]

Also i have never liked the guitar sound from live at the bbc

BBC has a HUGE tone. I love it.
A bit more saturated than the usual, but its ALIVE.

[Brunno Nunes]

Also i have never liked the guitar sound from live at the bbc

BBC has a HUGE tone. I love it.
A bit more saturated than the usual, but its ALIVE.

This sound is precious and lasted for a short period of time, between May and August 78, as Rolo knows, during that period the band still didn't use Musicmans, here they were Fender and Marshalls cabinets, this influenced the more saturated tone..

[Chris W]

NOT the way Sultans should have been played ?
Did you tell Mark during the tour or is it just a thought 30 years later ?

In the 90's I had a style that was based on the top American drummers of the time - Omar Hakim, Jeff Porcaro, Andy Newark. Simple, solid, confident.
My playing on Sultans was exacerbated by Mark telling me to play very hard during the show. Then after a few shows we brought in the small kit and I had to sit directly in front of Mark's guitar cabinets. So it was deafening.
Anyway - not '30 years later', when music tastes changed (late 90's) and a lot of popular music used drum loops from vintage vinyl, I discovered the value of playing much quieter, as many drummers had done in the 60's and 70's. That was when I thought I wished I had played Sultans lighter - like Pick. Pick came out of that lighter playing tradition of the 60's and 70's drummers.

[Chris W]

Mk has complained a lot with things getting too big. But they do not necessarily have to be that big on stage. A stage setup which, according to chris witten himself, had an impact on the way he heard things and the way he had to play. Was music the priority then ?

Yes, we rehearsed for three months solid before the first show. The show itself evolved over the months and was quite different in Europe 1992 than in Australia 1991.

[Dutchessy]

Also i have never liked the guitar sound from live at the bbc

You mean the bass sound? Too high in the mix... As if John had been doing the mix...

No, Marks guitar. Too distorted, on most tracks, even on Sultans. It sounds much cleaner on the Rainbow show, which i like.

[herlock]

Also i have never liked the guitar sound from live at the bbc

You mean the bass sound? Too high in the mix... As if John had been doing the mix...

No, Marks guitar. Too distorted, on most tracks, even on Sultans. It sounds much cleaner on the Rainbow show, which i like.

I agree that overall it sounds too angry. That does not fit all songs, but some are great:
-Lions end solo is the best ever - faster and rawer than Rockpalast and Rainbow
-What's the matter baby sounds angry and that's the way it should sound!
-Six Blade Knife is maybe not the definite version, but quite an interesting one, raw and angry, very different from both the album and other live versions
-Water of love sounds great
But for Sultans and DTTW it is too raw for my taste, agreed

[dmg]

Also i have never liked the guitar sound from live at the bbc

A real bug bear of mine too.  Very unfortunate as it means I really don't listen to it due to this.

________________

Now my thoughts on the box set.  Something that hasn't been covered so far is the improvement to Mark's vocals in the OTN part of the box.  It now doesn't have that horrible over-processed sound and is more natural and organic.  TYL wasn't something I was particularly looking forward to but after hearing it it is a nice surprise.  OES has a good improvement.  ITILYTM, WICTY and FTB are great to have in soundboard at long last.  TOL and TR were never my favourite versions on this tour I'm afraid.  I had just longed for something from the BIA tour, but overall very happy.

When you say OES, you mean the tour, not the song? I dont' think Guy touched the original OTN songs?

I agree with Chris W in that some sound a little different to others.  Songs like CE, The Bug and MFN seem the same but others like OES sound a little better to me, especially in regards to the clearer less processed vocal.

[ds1984]

It took time for me to like the sound of the tiny drum kit on SOS from the OES tour.

At first I though it sounded like sh.t (especially while attending the show) but after a while listening to the sbd recordings I found it sounding vintage, getting a 50's touch that was accurate to this "back to the 4 piece format".

That is great to finally hear what really happenned with the drumming and my view on Chris has changed.

Already getting the history of "Heavy Fuel" drums re recording by Many Katche, this just confirm what Mark was in search for very big sound and drums.

[Chris W]

I played an almost identical kit for the whole of the McCartney tour. No one ever questioned the sound.
If there was any problem with the SOS drums, especially at the gig, it's that I was on a movable riser, with limited mics, right in front of a crazily loud bank of speakers pumping out Mark's guitar, and just in front of Mark's monitors pumping out the whole band at high volume.

[dustyvalentino]

On stuff like Heavy Fuel you can really see how much effort you are putting in Chris, although it’s the same in this, one of my all time favourite TOTP performances, so it seems like you weren’t scared of giving it 100%!

https://youtu.be/7mPJvC_c6NY?si=uuEPDR05-Y2TqkX5

[JF]

Then after a few shows we brought in the small kit and I had to sit directly in front of Mark's guitar cabinets. So it was deafening.

I thought that during this tour, amps and cabinets were behind the stage ?

In fact, when Mark wanted to make larsen with his guitar, he had to to it with his "monitor cabinets" (don't know the right word in english, in french we call it "returns")

[JF]

Sixblade knife of the rainbow is slower and almost 2 minutes longer than the bbc version. (I see now its because of the talking haha)

Many songs during this period of the band were much more open to Jam, such as Six Blade Knife, In The Gallery, Wild West End have a longer introduction, as does Down to the Waterline.

yes indeed,

but the longest version of six blade knife I know is from 17th february 79 (the day after Rockpalast)

lot of improvisation during the solo which is by far the longest

https://www.mk-guitar.com/2009/01/19/two-interesting-live-clips-of-dire-straits-six-blade-knife/

[Chris W]

I thought that during this tour, amps and cabinets were behind the stage ?

Amp tops and FX were backstage, but cabinets and monitors were back and front. So Mark and John were immersed in very loud music during the show.