I agree with he comments about the album, it is very mellow and not his best but I decided to go and see him on the tour anyway
It's nearly ten years since we saw him live so I was interested to see what it was like.
We went to the concert in Brighton last night at the same venue where we see Chris; the hall was nearly full, more than on Chris's last tour but not by much. The tickets for Mark were more expensive though! Just before the show there was an announcement asking people not to use cameras and phones because they have become a real distraction for the band. Things were a lot less strict when we saw Chris but I think it has got a bit out of hand.
The concert started with the flute intro to "Border Riever" and what followed was a mix of Dire Straits and all Mark's solo albums with only three songs from "Get Lucky". I had hoped he would play "Cleaning My Gun" but unfortunately he didn't. It was a very different concert than I have got used to from Chris, Mark's style is so laid back and of course not being able to move made this more noticeable. The sound was good although Mark's singing is difficult to follow if you are not familiar with the songs. He played slide on one song and one guitar had a video camera on the end of the neck that fed to the screen behind the stage which was cool. I couldn't help thinking how good that would work for Chris. Mark talked and joked with the audience but when he introduced the band he went on a bit too long listing their skills.
To sum up, a great night from a real pro but you never got the feeling he was stretching himself, the emotion and feeling that Chris puts into his playing seemed to be lacking. Having said that, I would recommend going to seem him if you get chance, you will see a great concert.
Regards,
Kev.