The many thousands of fans who took the trouble to make their way to the MMRDA grounds in Mumbai were treated to the most amazing two hours of music they'd ever have experienced. After not so surprisingly bumping into all sorts of acquaintances and after waiting two hours after the gate was opened, everybody finally faced the stage. Everyone was preparing them selves to make the loudest vocal gesture of any kind to acknowledge the entrance onto stage of the man himself. It was definitely a dream come true watching the ex Dire Straits front man belt out his unique, and soulfully melodic signature guitar licks that do so much more than just accompany his husky voice.

Although he isn't an extravagant showman, there's something about this songwriter's simplicity and modesty that seems to capture people's imagination. Musicians and music lovers of all ages simply love what Mark Knopfler has churned out over the years and they were all there to, well, have a blast! The crowd really got going at full swing when the band took off on "Walk of Life" (with bass player Glen Worf using the double bass), which is the most popular "Dire Straits" track. Knopfler's set until the encores predominantly comprised his solo material. The selection ranged from "sailing to Philadelphia's" title track to my favorite from that album, "What it is", to his latest album's skittle tune called "Donegan's gone". In between his solo material, he threw in two tunes that probably everyone in the crowd could sing along to, namely, the wonderful balled "Romeo and Juliet" played on his famous silver acoustic guitar and the song that first brought recognition to Dire Straits, "Sultans of Swing". Knopfler took on two extended solos on the song (much to the delight of all his 'guitar fans'), adding years of mastery and maturity as a guitarist to the already existing classic guitar work on the original recording.

The most memorable passage of music for me would be the brilliant performance of "Telegraph Road", the classic from the album "Love over gold" where Mark Knopfler again demonstrated brilliant musicianship. Knopfler's more than able Band included Matt Rollins (Piano, Accordion), Glen Worf (Bass), Chad Cromwell (Drums), Richard Bennett (Guitar) and ex Dire Straits member Guy Fletcher (Piano).

An hour and a half into the show, the band retired backstage, only to appear five minutes later to deliver the encores in the form of the Rock Riffer in "Money for nothing", and the beautiful title track of their most popular album, "Brothers in Arms". Knopfler brought the proceedings to an end with the instrumental soundtrack of the "Local hero".

It's great that India's finally catching up where the concert scene is concerned. Sting and Mark Knopfler, in the space of a month, WOW, who'd have guessed?!! For all those who missed this great experience, I hope you're already in Bangalore or on your way there!

Aditya Nain
stonejaded@yahoo.com
www.drummingworld.com