New DS Live Box Set, 3rd November 2023!

[dmg]

The more I listen to TOL Rotterdam 92, the more I love it. It is not as good as Munich 91 I feel, but sjtill excellent.

When we say that for TOL the BIA is better... Hum... That may me be true for 1985, with the fantastic long intro and break with multiple musical quotes, but not of the shorter version of 1986 IMHO. Lots of people are fond of the short version of Sydney 86, but playing wise, tone wise, I find this TOL 92 much better. Even at least we have a touching intro and a break, unlike 1986.

Am I the only one to feel that way?

For me 1985 are unbeatable. It’s a victory lap of TOL. Would love to hear a pro recording from every tour. 1988 version with TW, EC and Pensa would be very interesting. Kind of mix between BIA and OES.

Agree.  The 1985 versions are just so sweet sounding.  No fast playing, allowing the song to breathe and the build up has Mark at his melodic best.  Added to that you have a beautiful intro and excerpts from other songs, all played on that lovely Schecter Sunburst.

The OES version has, like most songs on that tour, too many instruments playing on it.  When it comes to the solo, rather like the TR solo from that tour it's all about speed in the build up and when it comes to the famous part the energy's gone.  The Pensa also doesn't have anywhere near sufficient sustain for the main part of that solo and he has to add extra notes making it sound too "busy" for me personally.

As usual, a lot of truth, and a bit of exaggeration, dmg 🙂

OK, I decided to listen again to main versions of TOL, and here is my ranking:

1) 1985. We all agree here, hands-down the winner. I chose San Antonio, since we now have a quasi-official quality bootleg (endorsed by the official YT channel). The sweet intro, the wonderful break with the piano conclusion, the smart built up, the bombastic ending, the Schecter tone sweeten by overdrive... Yeah, this is the clear winner!

2) 1992. Yes, I put it at the #2 spot! (I chose Rotterdam, the only soundboard we have). Ok, not as epic as 1985, but a very sweet and interesting take. Very romantic intro and break, impressive solo albeit a bit too fast, less progressive, but very emotional, the Pensa tone is not that bad, soft but very audible... I know most don't agree, but I find it to be a very nice alternate take.

3) 1983. I chose the obvious, Alchemy, which has some very unique selling points: the unique sweet sax intro (linked to the outro of Portbollo Belle), the lack of cheesy backing vocals with the slight change in melody ("neon burning up above") so that Mark can be alone singing it, is actually a plus, the straight to the point yet energetic end solo, makes it a reference version.

4) 1980. I chose the sweet OGWT version on the Alchemy blu-Ray, very clear sound. I love it when I am in a "stripped-down" rather than "badass" mood (yes, it happens). This one is simple yet touching, and, unique selling points, the great Pick Withers on drums! I believe only he got it right, for the drums solo in the middle...

5) 1986. I chose the famous Sydney version. I don't know why it gets some much love. I find that it fails to reproduce the greatness of the previous year. No intro, no break, a strange "plastic" guitar tone, and an end solo that I fail to feel for... Some phrases going to nowhere, slow buildup, too many added chords that gives me an impression of "show off"... Not my cup of tea, even if this is TOL, so still wonderful!

Okay, now shoot me

Agree 100%.  There's just something about the Sydney broadcast.  They sound tired and, as you say, the tone of the guitar isn't as nice as it was earlier in the tour.

[Chris W]

Chris, how was the process of choosing the setlist for the tour? Did Mark ever talk to you about it, did you have any input, or was that 100% up to Mark's will?
When you were listening to DS previous record, was there a song that stood out for its interesting drum parts? Or a song that you would have liked to perform live?

I'm pretty sure Mark decided the set list, maybe also discussing with John.
I always wanted to play 'So Far Away' - I think we played a couple of times and never again. I would have played 'When It Comes To You' at every show, but we rarely played it.
I like the groove songs from the last two albums, less the busier, tempo changing songs of the Pick era.

[Chris W]

There's just something about the Sydney broadcast.  They sound tired and, as you say, the tone of the guitar isn't as nice as it was earlier in the tour.

Funny, 'cos I was given the Sydney show audio to learn before we started rehearsals in 1991. Talking to the guys, they have extremely fond memories of the Sydney Entertainment Centre and I think they pretty much all see the final show as a magical evening, the highlight of the BIA tour. I certainly detected major in the air when I listened to it.

[Silvertown]

There's just something about the Sydney broadcast.  They sound tired and, as you say, the tone of the guitar isn't as nice as it was earlier in the tour.

Funny, 'cos I was given the Sydney show audio to learn before we started rehearsals in 1991. Talking to the guys, they have extremely fond memories of the Sydney Entertainment Centre and I think they pretty much all see the final show as a magical evening, the highlight of the BIA tour. I certainly detected major in the air when I listened to it.

Now the interesting question is did you get the audio from the broadcast or another recording? Bescause I think that the sound of Mark's guitar possibly wasn't live similar what we can here on the broadcast.

[olazabalrok]

As regarding Mark's voice on On the Night: whatever they did on the original release, they managed to move his voice up front in a way that it is often not on the newly mixed tracks, where his voice is sometimes buried in the mix and almost inaudible. What he is singing in the "new" bridge on I Think I Love You Too Much, well don't ask me 

Just one of the problems. While it’s nice to have these new tracks the mix on them is so hideous it takes the joy out of listening to them. I’ll just keep on listening to bootlegs. Guy even says he didn’t use any compression on the mix! Beats me  Also the claim that the stage was very alive and he really couldn’t make the mix any drier, just listen to the On Every Planet bootleg, it’s pretty dry as can be. Also very good separation between instruments and the sources are great quality. It’s a live mix and mostly mono but still I’d much rather listen to it than the new mixes.

[Robson]

I'm not an expert but why wouldn't I believe GF? Apart Industrial Disease, everything sounds great to me.

[olazabalrok]

I'm not an expert but why wouldn't I believe GF? Apart Industrial Disease, everything sounds great to me.

What I mean is that with that source material one should get better results. Again this is my opinion and lucky for you guys if you can enjoy the results 

[iorch82]

Chris, how was the process of choosing the setlist for the tour? Did Mark ever talk to you about it, did you have any input, or was that 100% up to Mark's will?
When you were listening to DS previous record, was there a song that stood out for its interesting drum parts? Or a song that you would have liked to perform live?

I'm pretty sure Mark decided the set list, maybe also discussing with John.
I always wanted to play 'So Far Away' - I think we played a couple of times and never again. I would have played 'When It Comes To You' at every show, but we rarely played it.
I like the groove songs from the last two albums, less the busier, tempo changing songs of the Pick era.

That's super interesting! I'm curious to know which three songs from the set were your absolute favorites, and, on the flip side, which didn't quite resonate with you as much? Did the band share any comments like 'Wow, we really nailed this XXX song tonight' or 'Maybe we should consider removing this one from the setlist'? Planet Of New Orleans was a brilliant song that got dropped halfway to never be played again. Any insights on this you can share Chris?

By the way, it's such a dream to know directly from an actual member of that huge DS formation. 

[Matchstickman]

Chris, how was the process of choosing the setlist for the tour? Did Mark ever talk to you about it, did you have any input, or was that 100% up to Mark's will?
When you were listening to DS previous record, was there a song that stood out for its interesting drum parts? Or a song that you would have liked to perform live?

I'm pretty sure Mark decided the set list, maybe also discussing with John.
I always wanted to play 'So Far Away' - I think we played a couple of times and never again. I would have played 'When It Comes To You' at every show, but we rarely played it.
I like the groove songs from the last two albums, less the busier, tempo changing songs of the Pick era.

Both So Far Away and When it Comes to You were great songs on that tour and would have deserved more frequent playings. It's very nice to finally have the latter as part of the new box.

[Matchstickman]

Brunno, and others, as for the "Yeah, we're alright" line from Calling Elvis from On the Night, which seems to be from another night, it sounds very similar to the one from here: (52 seconds in)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ3BQuxj2KQ&list=PLC0G7CWTAlMq1xS8MIBi_Qx11I_T2BQGc&index=45

[KnopfleRick]

Hello fellow Knopfler fans, as I won't have a copy of this Live Box in my hands before Christmas, I am reading all of your posts, analysis and thoughts on this box with great interest and pleasure.
When it comes to DS or MK this is the best places to be! Thanks for making the wait worthwhile.   


Welcome to Chris Whitten! I'm glad to have you on board. 

[jf9081]

Today I listened to Alchemy on a high quality hi fi system, it seems to me that this remastering is the best in terms of audio compression, the volume in general is lower than all the other versions, the dynamic range (finally) benefits, great separation of the instruments, the medium high and very clean and bright, you can see that it has been polished! perhaps the bass is a little "light" I would have preferred an extra push... it seems a little empty overall... the Rainbow on the contrary has an exceptional mid-bass/bass section, I understand that it's another concert, another story but it seems to me that more could have been done below. What do you think? Have you compared it with the other versions?

[Robson]

"the volume in general is lower than all the other versions"

Yes! I wrote about this much earlier.

[Brunno Nunes]

Brunno, and others, as for the "Yeah, we're alright" line from Calling Elvis from On the Night, which seems to be from another night, it sounds very similar to the one from here: (52 seconds in)[url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ3BQuxj2KQ&list=PLC0G7CWTAlMq1xS8MIBi_Qx11I_T2BQGc&index=45]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ3BQuxj2KQ&list=PLC0G7CWTAlMq1xS8MIBi_Qx11I_T2BQGc&index=45 [/url]

Thank you very much for showing this link, I've known this video for a long time, I haven't seen it for a long time, but here he does exactly the same greeting that ended up on OTN and which doesn't correspond to any of the shows in Nimes or Rotterdam, so , being in Paris in April 1992 and we know that some of those nights were recorded in Paris, it is very likely that this is the origin of the greeting in CE on OTN. Furthermore, it is necessary to analyze the versions of CE from the nights in April 92, we can easily find certain licks that ended up in the "montage" of CE on OTN, which I now realize is a mix of excerpts in Paris, Nimes and Rotterdam.

I keep imagining the possibility of future releases of full shows that the band recorded in 1992, such as Paris, Nimes and Rotterdam, whether in audio, especially in video, which would be a true miracle, imagine being able to watch songs like When It Comes to on video You or Tunnel Of Love with that OTN video quality? What a luxury it would be...

[Jules]

Chris, how was the process of choosing the setlist for the tour? Did Mark ever talk to you about it, did you have any input, or was that 100% up to Mark's will?
When you were listening to DS previous record, was there a song that stood out for its interesting drum parts? Or a song that you would have liked to perform live?

I'm pretty sure Mark decided the set list, maybe also discussing with John.
I always wanted to play 'So Far Away' - I think we played a couple of times and never again. I would have played 'When It Comes To You' at every show, but we rarely played it.
I like the groove songs from the last two albums, less the busier, tempo changing songs of the Pick era.

As far as bootleg evidences, we know "so far away" was played one of the nights in Birmingham at the very start of the tour and in Halifax, Canada (this one in video), some.months later. I know someone who attended Sheffield, in the UK, also at the start of the tour that told me "so far away" was played at his show but we don't have any bootleg evidence.

There are many evidence of "when it comes to you" versions played live in both audio and video from the OTN tour, between the songs that were not in the usual setlist, it was one of the most regularly played songs of the tour probably with "you and your friend", I agree with Chris it would had been great to have it in more shows as it's a great song to play.

One of my favourite was "Planet of New Orleans", a pity that none of the nights Guy had to work with had a version of it.

According to setlist.fm statistics, which has data from concerts that the setlist is known: https://www.setlist.fm/stats/songs/dire-straits-4bd67bce.html

"Planet of New Orleans" was played 67 times

"When it comes to you" was played 22 times

"You and your friend" was played 20 times

"Fade to black" was played 31 times

"So far away" was played 2 times - https://www.setlist.fm/stats/songs/dire-straits-4bd67bce.html?songid=1bd761b4

Songs played by year:

1991: https://www.setlist.fm/stats/dire-straits-4bd67bce.html?year=1991

1992: https://www.setlist.fm/stats/dire-straits-4bd67bce.html?year=1992