Mark Knopfler 25/5/15

The support act was The Ruth Moody Band who delivered a lovely Canadian Blue Grassy Folky set of songs with Ruth on vocals. Mostly original songs but also a cover of 'Dancing in the Dark' which is always good to hear when done by proper musicians. I shall buy an album on the strength of that set. Mark Knopfler came on with a very similar band to the last time I saw him (also at The Albert Hall a couple of years ago) and indeed the set was similar with some new songs added to the mix in place of the more recent back catalogue. The band included Michael McGoldrick and John McCusker to deliver the Celtic element of the sound and the excellent Jim Cox on keyboards as well as Guy Fletcher, Richard Bennet. Ian Thomas and Glen Worf. He kicked off 'Broken Bones' from the new album and then upped the tempo with the rocky 'Corned Beef City'. My highlight from the early part of the show was 'Hill Farmer Blues' which is anyway one of my favourite Knopler songs but which he played with perfect interwoven guitar. Knopfler is like that - when he gets into a particular song he can play guitar as well as anyone and I felt that was the first song he really let rip on. Ruth Moody (vocals) and Nigel Hitchcock (sax) guested at various points as we went through the show which included the Dire Straits songs 'Romeo and Juliet' followed by 'Sultans of Swing'. They were good but Knopfler had saved the best till near the end. The last two tracks before the encore were an exemplary version of 'Speedway at Nazareth' followed by an astonishing tour-de-force of guitar playing on 'Telegraph Road'. Back on for the encore we had another Dire Straits song 'So far away from me' followed by what was for me the fourth song of the evening that really hit home - 'Wherever I go' from the new album and featuring Ruth Moody and Nigel Hitchcock. You can say that Knopfler's vocals are not as good as they used to be and if you were picky you might criticise the similarity of the set lists over the last few years but every gig he delivers some astonishing guitar and some stand out tracks or musical moments that last in the memory. As long as he does that I'll keep coming.

Christy Moore 10/5/2015

I was amazed to find it was a full five years since we had seen Christy Moore but it only takes a minute or two before you feel straight back into the unique warm vibe that he creates on stage. He came with an extra couple of musicians apart from the usual guitar accompaniment of Declan Sinnot. They were a low-key percussionist and a backing vocalist. Christy basically picks songs that he likes and sings them in his inimitable style and he kicked off this gig by picking one of my favourite songs - Jackson Browne's 'Before the Deluge'. I could have gone home happy after one track but he followed that with another great song, 'Beeswing' so I decided to hang on and hear what else he was going to play. What he did for the two hour set was to make up the setlist as he went along interspersing his standards with requests he had received before the show and requests from the audience during the show. It makes for a great atmosphere not to mention some great songs being sung even if it does confuse Declan from time to time. I loved 'Motherland', 'Ride On', 'Does this train stop on Merseyside?', 'City of Chicago' and several others including one I don't recollect hearing before 'Nancy Spain' that had a beautiful wistfulness about it. The thing is that his gigs are unique and it is an intimate evening even if you are sitting in the Colston Hall. This was the perfect antidote to a depressing week.