Opinions on Dire Straits coverbands?

[dustyvalentino]

Just marketing at the end of the day, lol

The Rolling Stones have been calling themselves The Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the World for over 50 years

[Chris W]

Touché... I never knew they went so far.

You're both talking about DSL. I don't think DSE market themselves as the greatest at anything.

[Chris W]

Just curious.
@Chris: Do you know the reason why Chris White and also yourself are not part of the DSL band/lineup?

I can only speak for myself....
It's about a different vision. To me it seems like DSE are more aiming to replicate the Dire Straits live shows of 1985 and 1992.
The DSL stuff I've seen on YouTube seems like much more low energy. They have also incorporated original songs, covers of other bands (Yes etc).
I have no interest in that personally.
I'm not a fan of the Italian accented vocals either.

[Chris W]

It's just the fact that a bunch of guys are using someone else's work to sell themselves and catapult themselves to a status-quo that, if they weren't using that material in the first place, would be unreachable.

No, their status, selling out 3000 seater arenas, reflects the hard work they've put in. The success of the band is built on word of mouth, people coming back to see them every year when they come to town. When DSE started out they were playing very small provincial theatres. When I played with them we were doing out of the way places in Romania and Bulgaria.
Chris White absolutely deserves his place on the world stage, being a major part of the Straits sound from 1985 onwards. Are you saying he should stop playing live unless he plays solo...without the rest of the band.

[quizzaciously]

Just marketing at the end of the day, lol

The Rolling Stones have been calling themselves The Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the World for over 50 years

The problem here is that they are probably right Love them or not, but damn, they can play and have fun.

Tommy Emmanuel in his early years in Australia used to come on stage with a sign "The greatest Australian guitar player" or something.

Bernard Purdie used to hang a sign in the studio that read "You done it.", "You done hired the hit-maker, Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie."

Having huge balls is not bad, but saying you have big balls and actually having them are two different things...

[quizzaciously]

Touché... I never knew they went so far.

You're both talking about DSL. I don't think DSE market themselves as the greatest at anything.

Considering everything, especially your comments, it really does seem to me like DSE was much closer to a great official tribute band than the monstrosity DSL has become. Original songs, attempt at an album, covers of other artists, the Trevor Horn situation, and things like that... Seems like they don't know what they want to be.

[wayaman]

The Trevor Horn situation is just that both Alan Clark and Phil Palmer work on his productions very often, a bass player was needed for DSL so they asked Trevor and well, a paid gig is a paid gig

Actually Palmer and Cummings worked a lot with Horn from long ago so they are probably friends more than colleagues.

[quizzaciously]

The Trevor Horn situation is just that both Alan Clark and Phil Palmer work on his productions very often, a bass player was needed for DSL so they asked Trevor and well, a paid gig is a paid gig

Actually Palmer and Cummings worked a lot with Horn from long ago so they are probably friends more than colleagues.

He said in an interview he did it to keep his bass chops fresh, and he was never a fan of MK&DS but liked the music after being presented with it. Why I call it "the situation" is because it's still a renowned music producer playing in a tribute band with a foreign singer. Certainly not Bruce Springsteen's band like he wanted I don't think anyone will be able to convince me it's not strange. Vince Gill refused to join even the full-fledged Dire Straits with Mark Knopfler and all, and Trevor's like—I'm gonna do my friends a favour. Different people have different standards, it seems. But then again, he already had a cover band for years, playing stuff even from Russian bands like t.A.T.u., I just learned this fact myself and now have no questions for Mr Horn. If you like t.A.T.u., then yeah, no problem with playing bass in a Dire Straits tribute band with a foreign singer.

[Love Expresso]

I really see no problem. You said it, friends, fun, paid. Music is also about PLAYing, have fun. I don't know tatu's music but the list of his work shows a broad range of styles. So he seems to be an open minded chap, exploring this and that. I wished MK had shown more of this mindset during his solo years, keeping things fresh, working with different people from different spheres, different producers and so on. I also didn't get the Vince Gill connection.

LE

[quizzaciously]

I really see no problem. You said it, friends, fun, paid. Music is also about PLAYing, have fun. I don't know tatu's music but the list if his work shows a broad range of styles. So he seems to be an open minded chap, exploring this and that. I wished MK had shows more of this mindset during his solo years, keeping things fresh, working with different people from different spheres, different producers and so on. I also didn't get the Vince Gill connection.

LE

Tatu is like the poppest of pop, even in Russia, generally speaking, you won't find any serious music lovers here who like their stuff. It was popular in the early 2000s among 14-year-old girls, if even that old. And it was always about two supposedly open lesbian singers. Open-minded, you say, yeah... He'd better work with a heavy metal band or something other than this.

For Vince Gill, I meant he refused to join even real Dire Straits. What I meant was that you can always say no to all sorts of things, including playing in a tribute band or producing Tatu. Saying yes to everything doesn't mean that you're open-minded, it means you say yes to everything.

[Love Expresso]

I really see no problem. You said it, friends, fun, paid. Music is also about PLAYing, have fun. I don't know tatu's music but the list if his work shows a broad range of styles. So he seems to be an open minded chap, exploring this and that. I wished MK had shows more of this mindset during his solo years, keeping things fresh, working with different people from different spheres, different producers and so on. I also didn't get the Vince Gill connection.

LE

Tatu is like the poppest of pop, even in Russia, generally speaking, you won't find any serious music lovers here who like their stuff. It was popular in the early 2000s among 14-year-old girls, if even that old. And it was always about two supposedly open lesbian singers. Open-minded, you say, yeah... He'd better work with a heavy metal band or something other than this.

For Vince Gill, I meant he refused to join even real Dire Straits. What I meant was that you can always say no to all sorts of things, including playing in a tribute band or producing Tatu. Saying yes to everything doesn't mean that you're open-minded, it means you say yes to everything.

Thank you for explaining. I suggest we agree to disagree in this case as I still can't find anything wrong in this way of working.

LE

[dustyvalentino]

Fair play to Trevor for being open to different things, I might even note the contrast between MK who has more or less made the same album and played the same tour since 1996...

A couple of points:

All The Things She Said by Tatu is a classic pop banger.

Trevor Horn playing bass in his 60s/70s with a DS tribute act was a surprise, but it was is in no way comparable to Vince Gill declining an offer to join DS as sideman to pursue his solo career.

[Chris W]

People in an argument always reach for extremes. Tatu???

My understanding is that Trevor Horn is a long time friend of Alan Clark.
There is absolutely not one shred of doubt that Horn is one of the best and most important record producers of my generation. I personally think 'Slave To The Rhythm' is a masterpiece. Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Seal were both massive projects.
Horn is to record production what Knopfler is to song writing.

[dustyvalentino]

For a slightly more offbeat Trevor Horn production I recommend Dear Catastrophe Waitress by Belle & Sebastian, fantastic record.

[Banjo99uk]

Why did Trevor Horn and Simple Minds cover BIA. Possibly one of my favourite DS covers. Its really good.