ALCHEMY – DIRE STRAITS LIVE

By Carlos Zaldívar

 

"The music just tends to be a vehicle for that poetry"

MARK KNOPFLER


Dedicated to my brothers of “Sultans of Swing / Fraternity”

Guillermo, Mauricio, René & Ernesto

 


Knopfler shows up with a tape in hand, to a radio station, and the DJ programmed a song called "Sultans of Swing”. What followed is already a great story. It was Radio London with DJ Charlie Gillett.

And Charlie pressed "play" on Sultans of Swing, and music history changed.

And from there, they went to the recording studios to develop their first self-titled album the following year.

And the fact is that there are complete live albums that, after listening to them, cause a long journey through our lives, our minds, in just a few tracks, in moments that we will never forget. In addition, if the album is repeated, the thoughts are not repeated, they are always different, even if it is the same song, because the feelings flow and are transformed to the beat of the music in thousands of fragments of time.

So, we delightfully walk through each of the tracks on this huge live album, recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, U.K. in 1983. A true cerebral and hearing orgasm, beyond the sentimental and nostalgic that is.



We just put the needle on the turntable and the strings and snares began to play, along with the applause of the attendees, at the Odeon. Then Mark, after presenting his “Dire Straits” and a brief introduction with Tommy's keyboards, takes off with his guitar to start what is my second favourite song from this band: “Once Upon a Time in The West", and... come one, Mr. Knopfler! I just imagined myself in my classic Volkswagen, driving along the Panamericana Highway 57 from Mexico City to the border, at a good speed, without haste and enjoying the Straits.

After almost thirteen minutes of Once Upon, Mark continues with a masterful performance for “Expresso Love” and Tommy shines again with the introduction to the key commander. The Straits head their way to a chance encounter with a feminine beauty, so perfect they barely saw her and she was gone in no time. Of those beauties, who, when you look at them, even steal your breath. And I confirm, because of course it has happened to me, and in almost six minutes I can remember those moments of suffocation, in my soul.

After pleasant and lustful thoughts, it is also worth having those eyes, with liquid about to be spilled and that they run down the cheeks. Mark lets himself fall with slow notes, to the rhythm of a love tragedy, a classic of world literature. Of course, of those impossible loves, of those that when we meet, they tell you: "what you are thinking, will never happen" and then, that and much more happens. Those are words that, to the rhythm of the Straits, are pure reason: “and then, when we made love, we used to cry”.

After little more than eight minutes of “Romeo and Juliet”, the band presents us with a quiet ballad, to continue with the reminiscences of the heart and soul, to think and we really do what we want, if we value what we have and if we are happy with that. A tranquility invades us, precisely, so that after almost three and a half minutes...

And after much applause, the great “Private Investigations” will arrive, and Mark, giving a lecture on why he is one of the best guitarists in the world. Amen to also know how to compose and do it well. A song of more than seven minutes, and with just a short story about an investigation and no results, there is nothing more than simply accompanying them with a good whiskey... and more lies. Small lyrics, but with a lot of backstories, because music has more meaning than words. Right now, I remember that phrase of: "Do not look, because surely you will find." And this is not all, the clapping and ovations and that huge "Thank you" from Mark, it is just the great start and the great introduction to:

"Sultans of Swing", which is exactly the cherry, in the middle of the cake. The biggest and most iconic song of the band. The one that started the history of these “hungry” young people in 1977. Because only “an old guitar was what they could only afford”, and to this day they affirm: “We are the Sultans of Swing”. Enormous! A masterful work of art, and one of the most famous and perfect guitar solos in history, of course, by Mr. Knopfler. The almost eleven minutes are perfect to continue scratching in that deep well of memories and bring them afloat. Remembering those adventures again, and personally, on that fourteenth of November of nineteen ninety-eight, when the “Sultans of Swing” fraternity was founded, and that today, we continue at the “foot of the canyon” (mexican quote) and with a life full of pure, total and absolute Rock & Roll. Sultans of Swing is the perfect song by definition; It is the song that every band wants to cover; It is the story that we all want to live. To the rhythm of Jazz, Blues, Rock, Metal and whatever we please. Because music is in the blood, in the soul and is enjoyed, it is never to show off. Because Diego Mark is called like this, in honour of Mark Knopfler, whom I greet from these lines: Diego Mark, son of my brother Guillermo “MemoRock” Sandoval.



After a long guitar finale, of little more than thirty seconds, in Sultans of Swing, another short song of almost five minutes arrives, to delight us with a rich Rockabilly named “Two Young Lovers” to remember some summer, on vacation, and have that adventure of love, sex or both, and that we never had. An experience that, like many stories, true romance begins when summer ends.

And after a rich dance (albeit mental) and with another introduction on the keyboards, by Tommy, comes the longest song on the album (just over fourteen minutes” and one of the most significant of the band, and for me. “Tunnel of Love”, because we would all like to take a walk through that tunnel, of love, of surprises, of having a partner and not having a partner; of being and existing; of always being for you, and always being apart. We are both a couple of perfect strangers. Because for love, there is no condition, just tenderness and warmth (as Arturo Huízar would sing). Of course, this song has a very powerful drums, and Terry shines on these percussions. A fantastic composition and very pleasant interpretation. With this song, you always remember that famous scene, from the movie "An Officer and A Gentleman", where that couple, who love each other, and at that moment, in front of the jukebox, they know that they will be the perfect lovers, in the distance, another perfect Straits song; the perfect strangers.

And the fourteen minutes of the previous song weren't enough, so immediately “Telegraph Road” of little more than thirteen minutes was thrown, with a great story to conquer a place, a town, a city, a country… a love.

And this double album closes with a couple of songs, one in the hard rock style: “Solid Rock” and the other, farewell, in the style of the classic “Golondrinas” for a see you soon, a until the next concert, or simply, a pause to continue meditating, thinking and enjoying our anecdotes and experiences, with “Going Home”, of just six minutes each, approximately. "Going Home" is that nostalgic ballad to leave and return, because it is an advantage of the instrumental compositions, that we put the lyrics, the feeling and we add the right emotion to the moment that is lived. And just at this moment, I remember that couple of Knopfler concerts at the CDMX National Auditorium, which I attended, together with my brothers from the “Sultans of Swing Fraternity” and the emotion of seeing one of our idols, make him masterfully love his beloved guitar.

Wow! Going Home is a beauty of song, to close any cycle or to start a new one; to enjoy happiness or sadness; of love or lack of love; Of the whiskey that we drink and the whiskey that we will never drink. Simply a sublime song.

A couple of songs to close this huge album with a flourish.

 

Thanks so much for reading.

Carlos Zaldívar

  


ALBUM CREDITS

Mark Knopfler: guitar & vocals
John Illsley: bass
Alan Clark: keyboards
Hal Lindes: guitar
Terry Williams: drums

Additional musicians:
Tommy Mandel: additional keyboards
Mel Collins: saxophone
Joop de Korte: percussion

All songs written and produced by Mark Knopfler
Recorded by Mike McKenna, Rolling Stones Mobile, July 1983
Mixed at Air Studios, London, November 1983
Engineered by Nigel Walker, assisted by Jeremy Allom
Artwork by Brett Whitely, © adapted from Alchemy 1974
Design by C More Tone Studios

 

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