Money for nothin'

Old Gordon went to the Mark Knopfler show at Fraze Pavilion last night.

In my limited music knowledge, there are but a handful of guitarists who's sound is so distinctive, you know who's playing without ever hearing the song before; Robert Cray, Duane Allman, Eric Clapton, Neil Young & Walter Becker are ones who come to mind for me. Knopfler's sound may be the most distinct.

Unfortunately, I really hadn't followed him much since Dire Straits so I wasn't really sure what to expect last night.

Knopfler must have had every string instrument on stage, ukulele, violin, mandolin, the old time bass, etc. The show was a great evening of string harmonics.

He did do some old Dire Straits; So far Away, Sultans of Swing, Romeo & Juliet and Brothers in Arms. He didn't play Money for Nothin'. The Sultans of Swing solo was awesome.

It was a good show but a show like Knopfler's is difficult to enjoy when you have packs of douche bags talking behind you all night. I moved twice to no avail.

My recommendation. Take the $40 you'd spend for a ticket and buy 4-5 CD's go out on your back deck after all the kids are down and fall asleep to the sounds. Trust me. You'll enjoy it more.

Other concert notes...

1) When are whale tails going out of style? It's getting about as sexy as plumber's crack.

2) Hey Riverbend, you might want to talk to the plumbers at Fraze. They must have invented some new plumbing technique to drain that inch of piss/water off the bathroom floor before the show even starts.

3) Hey Mark, we got your point. You don't want to be videoed. Really, you ought to be thankful that there are fans interested in actually taping the show.

4) How is it possible that Knoplfer/Dire Straits & Rush are not in the rock in roll hall of fame before Jackson Browne, The Police & Madonna?

5) T shirt of the night "Dead heads for Obama". I'd say that's about right.