Boom, Like Charlotte

KNOPFLER ROCKS THE QUEEN CITY

FITSNews – July 28, 2008 – Is it just us or does guitar legend Mark Knopfler look an awful lot like former S.C. Gov. Jim Hodges? Seriously, people, it’s uncanny – kind of like our current governor and Dustin Hoffman.

Anyway, the “Money for Nothin’, Chicks for Free” frontman of Dire Straits fame (not Hodges) took his Americana-laced solo act to Charlotte, N.C. last night, where our concert reviewer “Fresh McMeat” had sixth-row tickets on the aisle. Here’s an excerpt from his report:

His band was made up of mostly musicians turned record producers turned back into musicians, and they clearly put a lot of work in on the arrangements, because even the old stuff came across as new — and everything was absolutely perfect. “Sultans (of Swing),” for example, was a lot smoother and jazzier than the original. Ditto “So Far Away.”

But the key ingredient was this bald, nebbish, 25-year-old phenom from Scotland someplace (who) played violin, sitar, and an over-sized Irish flute … (and) just blew everybody away. (He) took a relative nothing song like “Marbletown” and literally made people cry with his violin/twelve-string acoustic duets with (Knopfler).

If you get a chance to catch him before the tour is over, it is well worth the cabbage.

As owners of Knopfler’s latest two solo albums, we’re definitely going to take McMeat up on his recommendation. Knopfler is clearly one of the best songwriters and most talented guitar players in the business, and his penchant for dissecting American culture and ability to weave those intricate story lines into his music (like the tale of how the fast-food chain McDonalds got its start in the video above) lends an intellectual sophistication to his vaunted tune-smithing and inimitable guitar tone.