WOW

What a concert. Took the Mrs. to see Mark Knopfler last night at Radio City. Nosebleed seats, but I figured I'd be able to hear, and $130 smackers was enough to pay for the concert.

Un-freakin'-believable.

I'm convinced there isn't another human being on the planet who can handle a guitar the way Knopfler can. Sure, he played a lot of the same old Dire Straits tunes that he always plays, but the things he can do with them. I gave up listening to Sultans of Swing, mainly because it was all the crappy radio stations would play and I got tired of it (of course, I got tired of listening to the radio, so I stopped that altogether). He plays the big name stuff because that's why half the people are there - they stopped buying his stuff with the Brothers in Arms album.

Happily, he played plenty of other things too, including Done with Bonaparte, one of my favorite tunes from Golden Heart. I love the fact that Knopfler clearly loves history, enough to write a dozen songs on different historical subjects (including Song for Sonny Liston and Boom Like That, about Ray Kroc, both of which he played last night). There's magic hearing stuff played live, and while Knopfler's not much of a showman (ala Mick Jagger, etc) and it's not a spectacle, it's fabulouse music, which is the whole point.

The band was tight and together, and a pleasure to listen to. Though keyboard player Guy Fletcher was wearing a blindingly pink shirt. I can't complain about Guy, really. He's got a website where he's posting regularly about the tour, and he's been incredibly gracious and accomodating with the fans, so obviously I kid because I love. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

If I had to pick one concert to be the first one I've attended in 12 years, this was the only one I'd choose. I'm still on a high, though we didn't get a lot of sleep.

Oh, and the steak beforehand was perfect.