That Ain't Workin' - My New Book

[Chris W]

Most rock and pop is played at one dynamic, or even at a very limited range between 'quiet' and loud. This is especially the case in the studio.
Rehearsing for the OES tour, the quiet was so quiet, you were barely touching your instrument. The loud, was extremely loud and hard hit.
Sometimes we'd go from full on loud to almost no sound in an instant.
Dire Straits is one of the few bands where tempos change in songs, intensity changes in very short instances.
Most bands start a song and it stays the same tempo throughout, and perhaps gradually gets louder towards the end, but basically a set dynamic.

[Ingrained]

I don’t know whether Mark had instinctively sensed that his playing had developed to such a point that DS needed some struggle added back in, somehow, hence pushing the drums harder and harder.

Mark just wanted me to play louder, which actually was not a good thing.
The way I tried to playoff Mark's guitar was more of an instinctive thing. My first pro gig was with fusion guitarist Gary Boyle. His jazz-rock guitar solos were long and evolved they went a long. It was my thing to match his intensity with my drumming.
Then in the 80's I played a lot of New Wave, which again meant playing business and louder as the song progressed.
So I took that to Dire Straits, rather than just sitting back and playing the grooves.
It did push myself to my limit many times during the show, but really that was my decision, based on the usual way I played.

Thanks Chris

That’s very insightful and makes more sense to me now. Although I also understand the stage design issues you’ve mentioned, I suppose it still surprised me that it would come down to such things as just “play louder” and so I was wondering if there was further reasoning behind it, which it seems there wasn’t.

Also, for getting such complex songs ready, as say Telegraph Road or Tunnel of Love, I’d maybe assumed that there would have been lengthly discussions and dialogue, but I get the feeling that it was almost that you had to “hit the ground running” in some respects?

Listening to Gary Boyle, I can see how that would have been a wealth of experience to draw upon for working with other guitarists. Thanks again.

[Chris W]

Hi,
There might have been lengthy discussions. I can't remember.
Most likely I was told ahead of time to learn the live version from a tape. I remember being given the Sydney 1985 show to watch and learn.
Mark essentially directed the rehearsals and had the final say in everything, but Alan and Guy acted as musical directors.
CW

[Ingrained]

Hi,
There might have been lengthy discussions. I can't remember.
Most likely I was told ahead of time to learn the live version from a tape. I remember being given the Sydney 1985 show to watch and learn.
Mark essentially directed the rehearsals and had the final say in everything, but Alan and Guy acted as musical directors.
CW

Thank you Chris, much appreciated.

[Rail King]

Chris, I was in Basel in 1992, front row, and couldn't believe how good the band was. That includes Mark (I mean, listen to You and Your Friend, one of your favourites -- was he EVER better than that?), and it includes you. I loved the drum solos in Calling Elvis and at the end of Money for Nothing, and I refuse to believe that Mark didn't, also. Why would he have turned to you and Danny every night, watching you like we, the fans, did? There would have been no need (and no okay) for that if he didn't think it was a good idea. He may have gone through a difficult time personally, and that may have affected the chemistry (or lack thereof) backstage, but no one can tell me that this wasn't a band at their musical peak, and very aware of it.

[Love Expresso]

Wishful thinking I guess. Of course it was a show , and all the smiles and body language was done to keep up the impression of a real band. But I guess Chris has stated more than once that there was practically no Interaction between him and Mark and if there were vibes, than bad ones. I guess 60.000 people cheering at him made it easier for Mark to mime a happy man.

LE

[Rail King]

I guess 60.000 people cheering at him made it easier for Mark to mime a happy man.

LE

Interestingly, when I recall this time (I "discovered" Dire Straits during this period; I was too little to know them before On Every Street), I never thought of Mark as a "happy man". I saw him as being extremely cool. Cool in the literal sense, not as in fashionable, but as in nonchalant, above it all. It seems that you don't have to be happy to put on a great show. In a strange way, maybe even the opposite can be true. A lot of Dire Strait's music wasn't happy, anyway, it often was about subdued anger, disappointment and sadness. A lot of it was full of irony. Maybe a totally happy man isn't in the best position to express that.

[JF]

about amps, I remember reading that they were "hidden" behind the stage, and when Mark wanted to make feedback (e.g. at the end of Calling Elvis) he made it with the "returns" cabinets in front of him.

I don't know if "returns" is the right word, but it's how we call it in French, and I guess you get the idea

[Chris W]

Wishful thinking I guess. Of course it was a show , and all the smiles and body language was done to keep up the impression of a real band.

I don't think it was that bad.
I smiled at Danny, PaulF and Chris White a lot. Obviously when you are on the road for months at a time, playing in front of large audiences, you just get on with it and don't dwell on the 'bad vibes'.

[ds1984]

about amps, I remember reading that they were "hidden" behind the stage, and when Mark wanted to make feedback (e.g. at the end of Calling Elvis) he made it with the "returns" cabinets in front of him.

I don't know if "returns" is the right word, but it's how we call it in French, and I guess you get the idea
[/quote

"Stage monitors" is I think the expression you are looking for 

[Pottel]

Chris, I was in Basel in 1992, front row, and couldn't believe how good the band was. That includes Mark (I mean, listen to You and Your Friend, one of your favourites -- was he EVER better than that?), and it includes you. I loved the drum solos in Calling Elvis and at the end of Money for Nothing, and I refuse to believe that Mark didn't, also. Why would he have turned to you and Danny every night, watching you like we, the fans, did? There would have been no need (and no okay) for that if he didn't think it was a good idea. He may have gone through a difficult time personally, and that may have affected the chemistry (or lack thereof) backstage, but no one can tell me that this wasn't a band at their musical peak, and very aware of it.

basel was 2 nights no? or am i mixing up with the Floyd 2 yrs later. anyways, were you aware of the filming?

[Chris W]

I thought Basel was 1 show.It was large, open air.
Yes, we all knew it was being filmed well in advance.

[JF]

about amps, I remember reading that they were "hidden" behind the stage, and when Mark wanted to make feedback (e.g. at the end of Calling Elvis) he made it with the "returns" cabinets in front of him.

I don't know if "returns" is the right word, but it's how we call it in French, and I guess you get the idea
[/quote

"Stage monitors" is I think the expression you are looking for 

thank you 

[flinn75]

I thought Basel was 1 show.It was large, open air.
Yes, we all knew it was being filmed well in advance.

Basel 1992 was definitely 2 shows. I myself was at St Jakobsstadion on the first day, where Think I love you too much and Tunnel of love were played, among others. The next day, the concert was broadcast on Swiss television and short scenes from the previous day's concert were shown during the intro. Sooo long ago but still unforgettable.

[Robson]

I forgot that it was also on June 27th in the same place. But on June 28th it was broadcast from start to finish to many countries in Europe.