Opinions on Dire Straits coverbands?

[peterromer]

At least one of the musicians can claim to have created their own work of note.

Kind of bizarre that he was playing bass in a Dire Straits tribute band but there’s a good chance people will be listening to Trevor Horn’s records long after MK’s have been forgotten.

And why is that ?   Because you think TH is/was more popular ?
Personally I did not even know who Trevor Horn was before I read about the tribute band and him joining it.
I am danish not british :-)

Excerpt of Trevor Horns work:

1982: The Look of Love – ABC
1982: Leave It – Cinema/Yes
1983: Owner of a Lonely Heart – Yes
1983: Moments in Love – The Art of Noise
1983: Relax – Frankie Goes to Hollywood
1984: Dr. Mabuse – Propaganda
1984: Welcome to the Pleasuredome – Frankie Goes to Hollywood
1984: Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid
1984: The Power of Love – Frankie Goes to Hollywood
1985: Slave to the Rhythm – Grace Jones
1989: Belfast Child – Simple Minds
1990: Crazy – Seal

LE

Thanks LE. I guess he has been behind more hits to my youth than I was aware of 

[qjamesfloyd]

At least one of the musicians can claim to have created their own work of note.

Kind of bizarre that he was playing bass in a Dire Straits tribute band but there’s a good chance people will be listening to Trevor Horn’s records long after MK’s have been forgotten.

And why is that ?   Because you think TH is/was more popular ?
Personally I did not even know who Trevor Horn was before I read about the tribute band and him joining it.
I am danish not british :-)

Excerpt of Trevor Horns work:

1982: The Look of Love – ABC
1982: Leave It – Cinema/Yes
1983: Owner of a Lonely Heart – Yes
1983: Moments in Love – The Art of Noise
1983: Relax – Frankie Goes to Hollywood
1984: Dr. Mabuse – Propaganda
1984: Welcome to the Pleasuredome – Frankie Goes to Hollywood
1984: Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid
1984: The Power of Love – Frankie Goes to Hollywood
1985: Slave to the Rhythm – Grace Jones
1989: Belfast Child – Simple Minds
1990: Crazy – Seal

LE

1992: Tubular Bells 2 - Mike Oldfield

[Brunno Nunes]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDVsC7wvwmT/?igsh=MXdodDlpb2w0enl2Mg==

When I see these images, the first thing that comes to my mind is: what energy and power these songs have. I've been there before to see them up close, it's pure fun, it's possible to get emotional with these songs through musicians like Alan Clark, Mel Collins, Phil Palmer, especially when Jack Sonni was there. I would have had no doubt that I would have had fun there, as well as the other projects already mentioned here. For me, the most important dimension of these acts is the celebration of Dire Straits' songs, it's a fair exchange, everyone involved is profiting, the band, the audiences, and MK himself, who has his work preserved through the projects that exist today, DS has been deactivated for more than three decades, all we have are these songs, many of them were left aside in DS and MK shows, if they exist, why not celebrate them in this way?

My full support for all celebration of the work of DS and its various manifestations.

[qjamesfloyd]

Trevor Horn also released a cover of Brothers In Arms with Simple Minds in 2018 on his album, Trevor Horn Reimagines the Eighties.

[dustyvalentino]

Trevor Horn also released a cover of Brothers In Arms with Simple Minds in 2018 on his album, Trevor Horn Reimagines the Eighties.

Live Simple Minds/DS mash up with Danny on vocals

[Chris W]

Trevor Horn is one of the most important global record producers of the 1980's.
He has his place in history. Whatever he does recently is not on that level and presumably mostly driven by fun.
It's always funny that non-musicians think full time musicians should stop performing after a certain age....and shouldn't perform great songs if they din't write them themselves.
Odd.

[Love Expresso]

Trevor Horn is one of the most important global record producers of the 1980's.
He has his place in history. Whatever he does recently is not on that level and presumably mostly driven by fun.
It's always funny that non-musicians think full time musicians should stop performing after a certain age....and shouldn't perform great songs if they din't write them themselves.
Odd.

Who said something like that?

LE

[Chris W]

People on forums state it all the time.
I did touch on the point made in this thread that people should only perform original work, not someone else's. Like Frank Sinatra???
But aside from this particular discussion I'm just commenting on the point often made that musicians should stop playing live after a certain age....presumably as they aren't deemed to be as good as they were in their 20's.

[hunter v2.0]

People on forums state it all the time.
I did touch on the point made in this thread that people should only perform original work, not someone else's. Like Frank Sinatra???
But aside from this particular discussion I'm just commenting on the point often made that musicians should stop playing live after a certain age....presumably as they aren't deemed to be as good as they were in their 20's.

Don't know about their or your defintion of good, but it's obvious that one's technical abilities dwindle with age. For Mark that has been an issue because fleet-fingered guitar playing was part of the deal for such a long time. That aside, many older artists simply lose their creative spark and become a shadow of their former selves. At that point I think indeed it's time to call it a day. Others have their creative juices flowing till the very end. Cohen comes to mind. Paul Simon. Dylan.

[rmarques821]

People on forums state it all the time.
I did touch on the point made in this thread that people should only perform original work, not someone else's. Like Frank Sinatra???
But aside from this particular discussion I'm just commenting on the point often made that musicians should stop playing live after a certain age....presumably as they aren't deemed to be as good as they were in their 20's.

I really didn't want to come back to this thread but I read all the comments in it and not a single person said that people should only perform original work.

[Chris W]

Hmmm.
Lack of personal creativity and invention has been brought up multiple times..... by you!!!

My conclusion is that the guys involved in these tribute acts are not creative or talented enough to come up with their own material (or at the very least material that can pay their bills) so they resort to playing someone else's stuff to make a living.

[Chris W]

Don't know about their or your defintion of good, but it's obvious that one's technical abilities dwindle with age. For Mark that has been an issue because fleet-fingered guitar playing was part of the deal for such a long time.

For professional musicians performing it's much more about the songs than the technical ability.
Many great songs have been created by musicians with limited technical ability in the first place (in their 20's).
I just completed a world tour with a bunch of over 65 year olds and we sounded exactly the same as we did as 35 year olds. Same ability, same energy.
The problem is also people who aren't musicians stating certain musicians should retire. That's fine if you don't like it, don't buy a ticket, don't go to the shows. McCartney is still packing out 80,000 seater stadia. DSE just finished a sell out tour of Zenith's in France (average capacity 3,000).
If they aren't delivering you'd expect them to be playing pubs and clubs in front of 200 hardcore fans.

[peterromer]

Don't know about their or your defintion of good, but it's obvious that one's technical abilities dwindle with age. For Mark that has been an issue because fleet-fingered guitar playing was part of the deal for such a long time.

For professional musicians performing it's much more about the songs than the technical ability.
Many great songs have been created by musicians with limited technical ability in the first place (in their 20's).
I just completed a world tour with a bunch of over 65 year olds and we sounded exactly the same as we did as 35 year olds. Same ability, same energy.
The problem is also people who aren't musicians stating certain musicians should retire. That's fine if you don't like it, don't buy a ticket, don't go to the shows. McCartney is still packing out 80,000 seater stadia. DSE just finished a sell out tour of Zenith's in France (average capacity 3,000).
If they aren't delivering you'd expect them to be playing pubs and clubs in front of 200 hardcore fans.

Just curious.
@Chris: Do you know the reason why Chris White and also yourself are not part of the DSL band/lineup?
If you guys replaced the roles that are currently taken by others and both of you played there, it would be even more authentic. That would obviously include a great deal of the former layout.   
Anyway, I just placed a request on the DSE website to come to Denmark. I would go see both DSE and DSL if I got the chance.   

[rmarques821]

Hmmm.
Lack of personal creativity and invention has been brought up multiple times..... by you!!!

My conclusion is that the guys involved in these tribute acts are not creative or talented enough to come up with their own material (or at the very least material that can pay their bills) so they resort to playing someone else's stuff to make a living.

But that does not relate at all to what you said. You said there was a point made, in this thread, that "people should only play their own material". That is just not true, I didn't read a single comment saying this.

I don't really have a problem with amateur musicians or cover bands doing the odd performance (which is what you're trying to implicate in your statement) or teaching or even coming up with their own interpretations of the songs, I like that a lot.

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. Or maybe wouldn't be unreachable if they were talented or creative enough to come up with new songs/material/work that could engage the public or pay their bills, etc. With this in mind, myself, and probably quite a few others on this forum, find the modus operandi of bands like DSL very dubious and/or reprehensible.

"Marco Caviglia who is widely regarded as the world’s leading authority on Mark Knopfler’s unique guitar-playing style." DSL has this statement on their website. I mean, do these guys not feel self-conscious when selling themselves this way? Who even thinks this/says this? Regarded by who? Himself?

I hope what I'm saying is understandable this time and doesn't get diluted away.

[quizzaciously]

Hmmm.
Lack of personal creativity and invention has been brought up multiple times..... by you!!!

My conclusion is that the guys involved in these tribute acts are not creative or talented enough to come up with their own material (or at the very least material that can pay their bills) so they resort to playing someone else's stuff to make a living.

But that does not relate at all to what you said. You said there was a point made, in this thread, that "people should only play their own material". That is just not true, I didn't read a single comment saying this.

I don't really have a problem with amateur musicians or cover bands doing the odd performance (which is what you're trying to implicate in your statement) or teaching or even coming up with their own interpretations of the songs, I like that a lot.

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. Or maybe wouldn't be unreachable if they were talented or creative enough to come up with new songs/material/work that could engage the public or pay their bills, etc. With this in mind, myself, and probably quite a few others on this forum, find the modus operandi of bands like DSL very dubious and/or reprehensible.

"Marco Caviglia who is widely regarded as the world’s leading authority on Mark Knopfler’s unique guitar-playing style." DSL has this statement on their website. I mean, do these guys not feel self-conscious when selling themselves this way? Who even thinks this/says this? Regarded by who? Himself?

I hope what I'm saying is understandable this time and doesn't get diluted away.

Touché... I never knew they went so far. I know Guy said about Oscar's band it was like hearing themselves play, that's a genuine quote, and coming from Mark's left-hand man, it says a lot. But all this "world's leading expert" is a self-imposed construct every single time. Not to offend Italians (I will), but those guys are sometimes comically too in love with themselves. There's a great Italian YouTuber who breaks down The Beatles' music, but I can't stand his "world's leading expert" attitude. The funniest thing to me is to imagine when they edit the video, they put the word "expert" on the screen while looking at themselves. Damn... Rick Beato is also of Italian descent, which you don't even need to look up, just watch ANY of his videos. It's just funny to me. I love Italy, don't get me wrong.

What baffles me is the thought that these guys can't make mistakes and can't go wrong. Everybody makes mistakes. "Human" is a synonym for "Mistake". You absolutely CAN stay in the ring for too long, you can make stupid mistakes, you can be overly in love with yourself or overly confident, you can advertise yourself like the world's leading expert, and you can advertise your band as if it's the real thing. But by doing so, you need to accept the consequences and pay the price of a lot of people disliking your work, famous people writing diss songs about you, and people on the forums beating the crap out of you. I can't stand bullshit, and when I see one, I say it's bullshit. If I see something great, I say it's great. Like Great Straits.