Mark Knopfler at Fox Theatre, St. Louis, April 22; Yes, we were that close!

Last September, I shared a post about the release of Mark Knopfler’s latest cd and expressed my longstanding admiration for his abilities as a guitarist and songwriter.  I have followed Knopfler’s music from the old Dire Straits days, beginning in the late ’70s, and on through the next three decades as he ventured into solo projects, composed soundtracks for films, and collaborated with an amazingly diverse group of country, rock, blues, Celtic, and folk artists.

When we learned several months ago that Knopfler would be touring the U.S. this spring, Kim and I planned a brief trip around his concert appearance at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis on April 22.  It was a combination anniversary, birthday, musical, romantic getaway-type trip; only one night away from home, but plenty of additional “together time” on the six-hour drive there and back.  We got to see a few sights around town, including the Gateway Arch, but the main attraction was the concert on Thursday night.  My purchase of the tickets last fall through a fan site pre-sale landed us on the second row of the orchestra section, first two seats on the center aisle.  I’ve never had seats like that at a concert before, and it was definitely the right show to get them.  If you are interested in a professional review of the concert, you can read it here, but it got 5 Stars and an enthusiastic two thumbs up from the Pyles family. 

Below are a couple of video clips that demonstrate just a little bit of Knopfler’s seemingly effortless fingerpicking style on both electric and acoustic guitar.  The first is an extended instrumental at the end of a performance of “Sultans of Swing.”  The second clip features a duet with guitar legend Chet Atkins from 1987.  Knopfler and Atkins developed a very close personal and professional relationship and released an album together entitled Neck and Neck (quite clever!) in 1990 which won the pair a couple of Grammys. 

Enjoy the music!