There is an interesting contrast on this 94-minute double-disc live album (recorded at London’s Hammersmith Odeon in July 1983) between the music, much of which is slow and moody, with Mark Knopfler’s muttered vocals and large helpings of his fingerpicking on what sounds like an amplified Spanish guitar, and the audience response. The arena-size crowd cheers wildly, and claps and sings along when given half a chance, as though each song were an up-tempo rocker. When they do have a song of even medium speed, such as “Sultans of Swing” or “Solid Rock,” they are in ecstasy. That Dire Straits’ introspective music loses much of its detail in a live setting matters less than that it gains presence and a sense of anticipation. Alan Clark’s keyboards help to fill out the sound and give Knopfler’s spare melodies a certain majesty, but Dire Straits remains an overgrown bar band with a Bob Dylan fixation, and that’s exactly how the crowd likes it. [The CD version of the album contains one extra track, “Love Over Gold,” which adds a needed change of pace to the otherwise slow-moving first disc.]
Disc 1
1 Once Upon a Time in the West Knopfler 13:01
2 Expresso Love Knopfler 5:45
3 Romeo and Juliet Knopfler 8:17
4 Love Over Gold Knopfler 3:27
5 Private Investigations Knopfler 7:34
6 Sultans of Swing Knopfler 10:54Disc 2
1 Two Young Lovers Intro: The Carousel Waltz Knopfler 4:49
2 Tunnel of Love Knopfler 14:29
3 Telegraph Road Knopfler 13:37
4 Solid Rock Knopfler 6:01
5 Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero Knopfler 6:05