What AMW said. There were those who thought Pryor was too loose a cannon to be trusted on live TV.

The word association skit also overshadowed a classic "Samurai Hotel".

Alan

The Straits, comprised of former Dire Straits members Alan Clark (keyboards) and Chris White (sax, vocals), plus world-class musicians Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty's drummer), Terence Reis (lead vocals, guitar), Mike Feat (bass), Adam Phillips (guitar) and Jamie Squire (keyboards, vocals), will be heading out on an 18-date European tour during March 2012.

Dubbed as The Sound of Dire Straits, The Straits kick off the European tour at Belfast's Ulster Hall on 5th March, with concerts in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, and The Netherlands, wrapping up with two UK dates at London's indigO2 on 29th March and Guernsey's Sir John Loveridge Hall on 1st April.

The Straits will perform songs from the classic albums Dire Straits (1978), Communiqué (1979), Making Movies (1980), Love Over Gold (1982), Brothers In Arms (1985) and On Every Street (1991). Expect to hear all the classics including Money For Nothing, Sultans of Swing, Walk of Life, Romeo and Juliet, Brothers in Arms, Private Investigations, Solid Rock, Tunnel of Love, and many more.

Belfast – Ulster Hall (March 5) Zurich - X-Tra (March 18)
Dublin - Olympia Theatre (March 6) Porto, Portugal - Hard Club (March 21)
Gothenburg - Brewhouse (March 9) Lisbon - Aula Magna (March 22)
Copenhagen - Amager Bio (March 10) Bilbao, Spain - Sala Santana 27 (March 24)
Aarhus, Denmark - Train (March 11) Gijon, Spain – Teatro Jovellanos (March 25)
Stuttgart - LKA (March 13) Paris, France – La Cigalen – March 27)
Prague - KC Vltavska (March 14) Tilburg, Holland – O13 (March 28)
Vienna - Gasometer (March 16) London, UK – Indig02 (March 29)
Munich - Muffathalle (March 17) Beau Sejour, Guernsey – Sir John Loveridge Hall (April 1)

If they came round these parts I'd see them if they were in the $0 - $20 range.

I would see them if they were to give me compensation in the $30-$40 range.

No Paul Rodgers, no purchase!

Don't you mean Mark Knopfler?

It was a joke.

Well, that's 'cause it's only never funny when Chris does it.

You know, I had actually PMed that post to Chris and said I only did it because he wasn't around. I should have just banned him.

Not too late for that, you know.

Next time he posts in this thread, definitely.

But do they have Ric Ocasek's blessings ??

I understand that Mark Knopfler has little interest in reforming his old band, but this sounds like "The New Cars" all over again (with even less connection to the original band)

Wow. To me, Knopfler IS the Dire Straits.

I see it as - People have to eat. If they can go out - without calling themselves Dire Straits - and some people want to pay a fair price for a night of music, no harm at all.

I'd pay $10 to see a Dire Straits tribute band in a bar.

I agree with Trevor. My first reaction was that this is about the lamest idea I've ever heard. But when you think about it, you pay to see covers bands all the time. Why not pay to see a covers band comprised of terrific musicians?

Sultans Of Swing is on the radio right now!
Tasty guitar!

I agree. There's no deceiving the public, and they are all good musicians who want the music heard again. Hell, they waited how long for Knopfler to change his mind? DS broke up in 1993. I can't understand why Knopfler wouldn't reform the band after the last few boring solo albums, but it's his right not to, just like these guys have thr right to put this together.
I'd pay no more than $10-$15 for it, (and even then I'd probably rather see a movie!) but I can't see it playing the US anyway.

I don't begrudge these guys being able to earn a living, but their stated reasoning sounds a little disingenuous to me. Like when Big Star's drummer vowed to keep touring a tribute act for the rest of his life "to keep the music out there" after all the other members of the band had passed away. The music is out there and can be heard for as long as the recordings are available. The music doesn't have to be toured in order to remain alive and in the culture, IMO, especially not by fractionalised versions of the original band.

I don't mind as much a tour like this, where these guys are making explicit a certain distance between this incarnation of the band and the "classic" incarnation of the band. Where I would get annoyed woulld be if Knopfler and these guys decided to wage some sort of public pissing contest in the media.

This kind of reminds me of Jeff Healey's club house band touring after Jeff died. The songs are good, the band is fantastic and the widow's given her blessing, but there's something about it that still makes you uneasy.

There is that. Even though my favorite band Thin Lizzy keep touring and it's with the blessing of Phil Lynott's mother, I always feel a bit uneasy about things like this. I'd rather them not be doing it, but at the same rate it keeps the music out there, and whether that's the real motivation or not I could care less because it's not like I could stop it either way.
One thing I can do is ignore it if I want to.
As for these guys doing what they're doing playing the music of Dire Straits, unless Knopfler decides to stop them (if he can), why not? Doesn't really interest me very much, and if the public rejects it, it will go away quickly. If they do accept it, then the guys can play for people who know what they're seeing.