Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits: Tracing the Evolution of Their Live Setlists

[ds1984]

But interesting fact is Mark promoting the Tracker album with "Beryl" and drop it even before the first concert of the tour.

And on the next album filming a clip for Good On You Son and not performing it live at all only performed for promo shows...

I don't remember him doing this before.

[Rolo]

But interesting fact is Mark promoting the Tracker album with "Beryl" and drop it even before the first concert of the tour.

And on the next album filming a clip for Good On You Son and not perfiming it live at all...

I don't remember him doing this before.

Dancefloor, One Song At The Time and Good On You Son.
Good songs never played live (except on GOYS played at Abbey Road)

[Love Expresso]

MK hardly promoted his albums with touring. That was the case until let's say 2001. Since then, making albums was more or less an "alibi" or an official reason to go on tour again. Album sales declined more and more, touring got more and more relevant to earn money.

LE

[Mossguitar]

MK hardly promoted his albums with touring. That was the case until let's say 2001. Since then, making albums was more or less an "alibi" or an official reason to go on tour again. Album sales declined more and more, touring got more and more relevant to earn money.

LE

Yes, I think you are right about the promotion bit, but not about the money bit. I guess he after 2001 just went to studio to do what he loved the most, namely to play and record music. Then there was a tour, partly financed by record sales. But he didn’t have to earn money, so I guess it all was purely for the fun of it.

[Love Expresso]

Yes, he loved "the whole circle". 

LE

[ds1984]

I don't have the figure, and I don't read in Mark's mind.

So I don't know how the "money" factor was playing regarding album and touring.
But everybody noticed that despite being a kind of a "merco boy" he set a deal with VW to supply the the cars for a tour.

For sure Mark did take an "artistic" decision when disbanding the Dire Straits band and brand and gained more control over his records from TRD but I still ignore to what extend.

When talking about "promoting album" the term applies as Mark used a three steps routine  : writing - recording - touring.

And each tour featured multiple extracts from his latest album in date, and generally a bunch of them where dropped as soon as on the next tour.
Of course I remember that 2008 was a bit of an exception as he performed more tracks from TRD than KTGC itself.

Regarding album promotion itself, well the more the time went the more Mark went to miminal effort on promotion on TV and radio.

[superval99]

Of course I remember that 2008 was a bit of an exception as he performed more tracks from TRD than KTGC itself.

I remember meeting you for the first time at The Heineken, ds1984, and we both agreed that this was really TRD tour.   

[Robson]

Maybe because the TRD tour was cancelled.

[superval99]

Maybe because the TRD tour was cancelled.

Exactly!   

[ds1984]

And it was a pleasant surprise. Including Devil Baby 

[NicoMK]

Being a long time fan I did a long journey to witness the Privatering Tour as early as possible and I caught him in Turino, 5th or something show of the tour.

I was there on my seat and during that song I suddenly wondered why I was doing this and get him performing that kind of stuff?

Something had changed in me and it was a very bad feeling.

The very same happened to me when MK changed his drummer in 2011. I felt that all the energy that I liked in Mark's music vanished from that point, both live and on the records.

I went back to see them in 2019 because it was obviously the last tour and I wanted to give a proper goodbye to the man who, through his music, played such a big part in my life.

But yeah, same as ds1984, "something had changed in me and it was a very bad feeling". Today I barely listen to Mark's music, which is sad too considering the fact that I had been in love with it for decades. I hadn't came here for ages either, so hello to you, die hard fans!

The 1996 setlist was phenomenal, I don't think he had done better before and since. The 2006 was also exceptional, as the tour itself.

Considering MK's piece of work, it's a pity that all the other solo tours had such repetitive songs, especially during the second half of the show, they could've done sooo much better in my opinion. The DS tours were less repetitive, don't you think?

[iorch82]

Being a long time fan I did a long journey to witness the Privatering Tour as early as possible and I caught him in Turino, 5th or something show of the tour.

I was there on my seat and during that song I suddenly wondered why I was doing this and get him performing that kind of stuff?

Something had changed in me and it was a very bad feeling.

The very same happened to me when MK changed his drummer in 2011. I felt that all the energy that I liked in Mark's music vanished from that point, both live and on the records.

I went back to see them in 2019 because it was obviously the last tour and I wanted to give a proper goodbye to the man who, through his music, played such a big part in my life.

But yeah, same as ds1984, "something had changed in me and it was a very bad feeling". Today I barely listen to Mark's music, which is sad too considering the fact that I had been in love with it for decades. I hadn't came here for ages either, so hello to you, die hard fans!

The 1996 setlist was phenomenal, I don't think he had done better before and since. The 2006 was also exceptional, as the tour itself.

Considering MK's piece of work, it's a pity that all the other solo tours had such repetitive songs, especially during the second half of the show, they could've done sooo much better in my opinion. The DS tours were less repetitive, don't you think?

I think 2001 setlist is peak, just because STP, junkie doll and SaN, but 1996 in terms of guitar chops is totally peak for me.

[rmarques821]

Being a long time fan I did a long journey to witness the Privatering Tour as early as possible and I caught him in Turino, 5th or something show of the tour.

I was there on my seat and during that song I suddenly wondered why I was doing this and get him performing that kind of stuff?

Something had changed in me and it was a very bad feeling.

The very same happened to me when MK changed his drummer in 2011. I felt that all the energy that I liked in Mark's music vanished from that point, both live and on the records.

I went back to see them in 2019 because it was obviously the last tour and I wanted to give a proper goodbye to the man who, through his music, played such a big part in my life.

But yeah, same as ds1984, "something had changed in me and it was a very bad feeling". Today I barely listen to Mark's music, which is sad too considering the fact that I had been in love with it for decades. I hadn't came here for ages either, so hello to you, die hard fans!

The 1996 setlist was phenomenal, I don't think he had done better before and since. The 2006 was also exceptional, as the tour itself.

Considering MK's piece of work, it's a pity that all the other solo tours had such repetitive songs, especially during the second half of the show, they could've done sooo much better in my opinion. The DS tours were less repetitive, don't you think?

For me it was also the drummer change. Songs like Hill Farmer's Blues, R&J or Speedway lost power. Ianto is a great drummer, but he doesn't really fit with MK's music the same way Chad and Danny did.

On the other hand, while I keep listening to his solo stuff every day, I've pretty much stopped with DS music.

[dmg]

I think 2001 setlist is peak, just because STP, junkie doll and SaN, but 1996 in terms of guitar chops is totally peak for me.

+1

[Pottel]

For example on Set List.com they have 'Calling Elvis' performed fewer times than we played shows. Maybe some of the videos or audio don't start from the beginning of the show, or end before the last encore?

also, Setlist is based on user input as well, which is why oddities (others may call them mistakes) pop up in those DS shows, as they do with gazillions of other artists.