Customer Reviews

Dire Straits: On the Night

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really liked this DVD. It took a long time to get it upon its release (almost two months), but it is more than worth the wait.

The production value is very high. There is a nice opening sequence where the band and roadies arrive at the venue, and get ready to put on the show. The DVD uses this sequence to introduce the players, showing them getting off of busses, walking down corridors, and other mundane predatory actions. Knopfler walks out to a very enthusiastic crowd and after a few seconds of thunderous applause launches into the first song. I was very happy (as a guitar player myself) that many of his solos were shown in close-up detail. I like little things like that, seeing how he works to get that sound. I will not go over every song, but just be sure, there is not a single piece of filler here, although there would be a couple of songs that might be considered MIA. I could not imagine seeing B.B. King in concert without his performing "The Thrill is Gone", so seeing Dire Straits and not having them perform the break through "Sultans of Swing", the song that introduced them to the world is a bit strange. Oh well, you can't have everything. There is a good mix of rockers, softer more mellow songs and plenty of opportunity for Knopfler to let the other members of the band show off a bit. Overall, a great performance.

The one weakness that requires me to go with 4 stars rather than 5 is the fact that this is a medium that can offer so much more in terms of sound. That this is not offered in some form of 5.1 is a crime. I love concerts on DVD when you hear the crowds behind you and the music hits from many angles. If I gave this basic two-channel stereo rendering a 5 star rating, it would not be fair to the other DVDs out there that earned their 5s with terrific audio engineering. If this was a 1980s VHS tape, it would be a 5, but for a DVD introduced in the year 2005, two-channel stereo can't be given a perfect score for a concert performance.

This is the video of the last Dire Straits' tour in the early 1990s. It was not, I read, as wildly successful as their tour of the mid 1980s and after the tour the Straits faded into history.

About one-half of the songs on the DVD are from the Straits last CD, "On Every Street." There is a country sound on many tracks, emphasized by Paul Franklin's steel guitar. I quickly tired of the opening rock numbers, "Calling Elvis," "Walk of Life," and "Heavy Fuel," but the mellow songs that followed made up for it. Mark Knopfler's moody and exquisite songs "Romeo and Juliet" and "Brothers in Arms" are here, as are superb versions of little known tunes such as "Your Latest Trick" "On Every Street" and "You and Your Friend." The bluesy, country solo of Knopfler in "You and Your Friend" is one of his best ever-- and that is saying something. "Money for Nothing" rocks and "Private Investigations" has the great guitar explosions at the end (although PI and "Local Hero" are both better in the other Straits live album "Alchemy").

Dire Straits was a tuneful high-quality group of musicians and Knopfler is a wonder on guitar. There's not a whole lot of flashy showmanship. They stand up Strait and play outstanding music.

Smallchief

I had the privilege of seeing Dire Straits three times during their "On Every Street" tour, from which this DVD was taken. I have previously seen the VHS and cable broadcast versions of this concert, and while there is more material found elsewhere, the quality of the DVD production is substantially better, although it is a bit of a travesty to see a Dire Straits show without "Sultans of Swing," as others have pointed out.

It pains me to give any Dire Straits production less than five stars, but I gave this DVD four for a couple of reasons, the most obvious being the obviously questionable editing of the set list. My other reason is a bit more related to this particular tour: the band got away from their roots and became a mammoth production with up to nine people onstage in some of the numbers which, for me, tended to obscure the music in some places (I got particularly tired of the excessive pedal steel guitar work on many of the songs.) That's personal preference, of course, and others love the larger orchestrations.

Overall I think this is a good DVD, although it really doesn't capture the energy of Dire Straits in concert as well as some other productions, including the much earlier, and generally superior, "Alchemy," which will hopefully be released on DVD soon.

The video shows Dire Straits during two of their shows on the "on every street" tour. This captures the band at their very best. Mark Knopfler's guitar seems to be part of him, and it is through the instrument that he expresses himself. Played by nine of the best musicians in the world the songs move from the loud, angry sound of heavy fuel to the beautiful yet haunting Romeo and Juliet. Best moment of the video? Phil Palmer's guitar work on Romeo and Juliet and the guitar/drum exchanges between Mark and Chris Whitten in Brothers in Arms. Worth life itself.

Ok, i have to start by saying I really love Dire Straits and a few few of their songs are in my all time top 10 favourites.
I recently received a couple of Pink Floyd DVDs and wanted the same with Dire Straits...
What a disappointment! The sound quality is awful. It is not regular and volume changes several times in the same song, as if the sound was sometimes "muffled"... And this is with very very good video and sound equipment. I would say 5 stars for the music and between 0 and 1 star for the DVD.
My advice: Buy the CD instead. The DVD only brings frustration and anger about such fantastic music being wasted.
Oh, how much I wish we had something from them in Blu Ray...

Dire Straits (aka Mark Knopfler) at the height of their/his power and professional polish and brilliant performances. It's uncanny that live performances can be so polished (if you believe their 'no overdub rule' - which I do). It seems that whether in the studio or on stage they create magic and weave stories that draw you into them with an emotionalism that is uncanny. The upper songs make you happy and the sad songs can bring tears to your eyes. M.K. performs the songs with an intensity that belies the fact that he's done them 1000 times. I'm a new fan and I've bought all their videos (from Amazon) and I love them all.

This is a great show! I give it 4 stars because I want to see the show in its entirety released. I know they were promoting their current album on this tour, but I know for a fact that many songs were left off of this DVD, and since this is the last tour Dire Straits did, it would make sense to release a DVD with every song performed.

A great music concert video, but what really stands out is the interchange between Paul Franklin on pedal steel guitar and Mark Knopfler.

Having never seen the video, I was very happy with this DVD. It's Dire Straits live at their best. There is a spectacular version of Private Investigation that really makes the song memorable, thanks to Mark Knopfler's magical guitar work.
There are also great performances of Heavy Fuel and The Bug.

I enjoy this DVD very much. I have watched it a few times and it gets better each time.

I love DS and this concert includes all their great hits. I'm disappointed that the sound is only two channel however the concert was recorded back in the 90s and at least the quality is excellent. After a bit you get involved with the performance and the lack of surround doesn't seem to matter. Great performances, especially Knopfler, a huge guitar talent who doesen't seem to be all that involved with the performance at times however performs tremendously in spite. Percussion was also faultless. If you like DS you will like this DVD.