Photo credit: Ojeda Photography
Mark Knopfler
It’s been almost 30 years since Mark Knopfler disbanded Dire Straits. Yet his two-hour performance at the Riverside Theater last weekend reinforced why he and his stellar 10-piece band are one of best groups recording and touring today.
Yes, there are the requisite colored lighting schemes and spotlights. But the entire focus is on the man and his varied songbook of music. And the sold-out crowd was treated to a diverse mix of old and new tunes with extended guitar solos showcasing Knopfler’s unassuming but creative talents.
The 10-minute opener, “Why Aye Man,” demonstrated how tightly knit the band plays together; all in lock step yet each musician exploring his own sounds, which was repeated throughout the evening. These are musicians who’ve played together a long time and it shows—beautifully.
The expanded live versions fit in perfectly on Straits’ classics like “Once Upon a Time in the West” and the night’s first encore, “Money for Nothing,” which gave drummer Ian Thomas and percussionists Danny Cummings a chance to trade off on the beats while keyboardist and musical director Guy Fletcher got to play “Sting” on the falsetto refrain, “I want my MTV.”
Now at 70, Knopfler’s vocals struggled at times to be heard above the mix of the band. The voice is frailer, the raspiness a bit more defined in the upper registers. But the quietness only added to the growing introspection of new songs like “Matchstick Man,” about his days as a young musician hitchhiking back home on Christmas Day, to another Straits classic, “Romeo and Juliet,” a highlight among many of the evening with a modern-day retelling of the tragic lovers tale.
But there were many highlights to be heard, from the countrified tension of “Speedway at Nazareth” (co-written with Emmylou Harris) to the salsa-fied party atmosphere of “Postcards from Paraguay.”
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And then there is Knopfler sitting on a stool, playing his guitar in a spotlight playing a gorgeous rendition of “Heart Full of Holes,” a look back at love and its lingering effects.
And that’s Mark Knopfler—a man and his music that remains timeless after all these years.
