Mark Knopfler, Killing to Get Crimson at the Royal Albert Hall
June 10th 2008 08:57
On stage is a flashing wheel of lights, eerily reminiscent of the steely giant grids that whirled through outer space in Stanley Kubric’s vision for the future, 2001 A Space Odyssey. The darkness is cut by piercing beams which bounce off the mushroom sound buffers high in the dome and fall across the tiers of spellbound listeners below. The air is electric as Mark Knofler casts his magic out into the Royal Albert Hall.
Although greyer and balder, like most who had come to see him on that Monday night, Mark Knopfler has lost none of his artistry as a guitarist, none of his genius as a songwriter and none of his following. He can still bring his audience, even if many of them are paunchier and slower than they were when they first became devotees, screaming to their feet and running to dance in front of the stage.
In contrast to the futuristic, very 21st century and extraordinary set, lighting and sound, the repertoire of Mark Knopfler's 2008 World Tour, Kill to Get Crimson, which is based largely on his new CD of the same name, is deeply nostalgic, recalling the 20th century and the lives of ordinary people, their disappointments, fears and dreams.
The new Kill to Get Crimson songs include numbers about a disappointed 1930s artist (Kill to Get Crimson) clumsy schoolboys practising for the school Christmas party (Secondary Waltz) a battling wife (the Scaffolder’s Wife) and the classic 60s teen dream (We can get Wild). Among the old songs are those timeless favourites, like Romeo and Juliet and Brothers in Arms, which secured the fidelity of Knopfler’s first wave of fans and which were the theme songs of so many 70s and 80s youths.
The nostalgic themes of the songs are supported by a band which brings back old times. Alongside Mark Knopfler’s distinctive guitar, Danny Cummings’ drums, Richard Bennett’s keyboards and Glenn Worf’s bass are the traditional instruments of folk, with John McClusker on fiddle and mandolin and Matt Rollings on piano accordion
The concert program cover too, is a step back in time. Based on a 1958 painting of black girl looking longingly at a bright red scooter, it features the scooter and a man holding a bright red guitar.
Bob Kennedy, an Irish balladeer, was the support singer for that Monday night concert. He sang soft, somewhat mournful songs of slights and set-backs, with the aggrieved air of one in the shadow of the great star, despairing that his will ever rise. The choice of a support singer such as Bob might well be seen as a nod to Knopfler’s own start as a singer in the folk scene, before he could afford an electric guitar.
Halfway through the concert, Knopfler recalled his twang beginnings, when he brought one of his earliest electric guitar inspirations and greatest influences on stage to play.
In a final gesture to ordinary people and age-old causes, Mark Knopfler had dedicated his concert to Barnado’s children’s charity, with donations envelopes on every seat in the hall and time on the programme for a Barnardos speaker to appeal to the auience.
The Royal Albert Hall
Although greyer and balder, like most who had come to see him on that Monday night, Mark Knopfler has lost none of his artistry as a guitarist, none of his genius as a songwriter and none of his following. He can still bring his audience, even if many of them are paunchier and slower than they were when they first became devotees, screaming to their feet and running to dance in front of the stage.
In contrast to the futuristic, very 21st century and extraordinary set, lighting and sound, the repertoire of Mark Knopfler's 2008 World Tour, Kill to Get Crimson, which is based largely on his new CD of the same name, is deeply nostalgic, recalling the 20th century and the lives of ordinary people, their disappointments, fears and dreams.
The new Kill to Get Crimson songs include numbers about a disappointed 1930s artist (Kill to Get Crimson) clumsy schoolboys practising for the school Christmas party (Secondary Waltz) a battling wife (the Scaffolder’s Wife) and the classic 60s teen dream (We can get Wild). Among the old songs are those timeless favourites, like Romeo and Juliet and Brothers in Arms, which secured the fidelity of Knopfler’s first wave of fans and which were the theme songs of so many 70s and 80s youths.
The nostalgic themes of the songs are supported by a band which brings back old times. Alongside Mark Knopfler’s distinctive guitar, Danny Cummings’ drums, Richard Bennett’s keyboards and Glenn Worf’s bass are the traditional instruments of folk, with John McClusker on fiddle and mandolin and Matt Rollings on piano accordion
The concert program cover too, is a step back in time. Based on a 1958 painting of black girl looking longingly at a bright red scooter, it features the scooter and a man holding a bright red guitar.
Bob Kennedy, an Irish balladeer, was the support singer for that Monday night concert. He sang soft, somewhat mournful songs of slights and set-backs, with the aggrieved air of one in the shadow of the great star, despairing that his will ever rise. The choice of a support singer such as Bob might well be seen as a nod to Knopfler’s own start as a singer in the folk scene, before he could afford an electric guitar.
Halfway through the concert, Knopfler recalled his twang beginnings, when he brought one of his earliest electric guitar inspirations and greatest influences on stage to play.
In a final gesture to ordinary people and age-old causes, Mark Knopfler had dedicated his concert to Barnado’s children’s charity, with donations envelopes on every seat in the hall and time on the programme for a Barnardos speaker to appeal to the auience.
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