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Audience/Soundboard 8.6-9.0 - The majority of the set is very good, audience quality tapes that have a decent enough sound where you can take it easy and not strain yourself trying to hear George rip his leads. I would say the lone exception though might be the Amsterdam tape which is less clear, but even here it's not a trainwreck at all. The board tape from France is good to have, obviously Dokken is clearly the top of the heap when it comes to the 80's "hair" metal bands although I hate to classify them there because they were class musicians first.
Dokken The Important Years 1983-1988 ARCO Arena Sacramento, CA December 28, 1983 Breaking The Chains Tour Disc 1 01. Paris Is Burning 02. Going Down Under 03. Young Girls 04. In The Middle 05. Hit And Run 06. Nightrider 07. George Lynch Guitar Solo 08. Live To Rock, Rock To Live 09. Breaking The Chains Jaap Edenhal Amsterdam, Netherlands March 09, 1986 10. Unchain The Night 11. The Hunter 12. When Heaven Comes Down 13. It's Not Love 14. Into the Fire 15. Lightnin' Strikes Again Disc 2 Chapiteau Reims,France April 25, 1986 01. Unchain The Night 02. Tooth And Nail 03. Into the Fire 04. In My Dreams 05. It's Not Love 06. Alone Again 07. When Heaven Comes Down 08. Lightnin' Strikes Again 09. Just Got Lucky Disc 3 Civic Arena Pittsburgh, PA. June 15, 1988 01. Tooth And Nail 02. Just Got Lucky 03. Burning Like A Flame 04. Into The Fire 05. Heaven Sent 06. It's Not Love 07. George Lynch Solo 08. Mr. Scary 09. Standing In The Shadows 10. Alone Again -
Audience/SBRD 8.8/9.3 - This is the good stuff. Both shows excellent, the Osaka aud. tape is quite good, very lively and clear. The band is in their prime, they had loads of confidence and bravado and it shows. Dokken Osaka, Japan December 3, 1985 Disc 1 1. Unchain The Night 2. Tooth And Nail 3. When Heaven Comes Down 4. Bullets To Spare 5. Jaded Heart 6. Will The Sun Rise 7. In My Dreams 8. The Hunter 9. It's Not Love 10. Lightnin' Strikes Again 11. Alone Again 12. Into The Fire 13. Til The Livin' End Disc 2 Osaka cont'd 1. Breaking The Chains 2. Just Got Lucky 3. Guitar Solo 4. Paris Is Burning The Palladium Hollywood, CA February 15, 1985 5. Without Warning - Tooth & Nail 6. When Heaven Comes Down 7. Don't Close Your Eyes 8. Just Got Lucky 9. Alone Again 10. Bullets To Spare
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Audience 8.2 - This rare old tape shows signs of age, with the typical problems such as tape hiss and some dropouts occasionally but it is saved because there is music underneath it, I mean, you do hear the band reasonably well and it happens that, for whatever reason, there is no abundance of ’79 shows by this band. Plenty of 80’s, and some pre-’79 too but not a lot of 1979 gigs. Also, of note this gig was the one right before their appearance on Rockpalast.
DIRE STRAITS Stadthalle Stolberg, Germany 2/15/1979 1. -Down To The Waterline 2. -Six Blade Knife 3. -Once Upon A Time In The West 4. -Lady Writer 5. -Single Handed Sailor 6. -Water Of Love 7. -In The Gallery 8. -Follow Me Home 9. -News
1. -What's The Matter With You Baby 2. -Lions 3. -Sultans Of Swing 4. -Wild West End 5. -Where Do You Think You're Going 6. -Eastbound Train 7. -Southbound Again 8. -Nadine -
Soundboard 9.3 - A super clean, almost clinical board tape where you get detail on all the instruments. This is probably not how the show actually sounded, but it’s great if you want to hear the band playing in your living room. Dire Straits - San Antonio '85 Time: 43:07, 46:46 Date: August 16, 1985 Location: Majestic Theatre, San Antonio, Texas, USA DISC 1: 01 - Sultans Of Swing 11:45 02 - Why Worry 5:01 03 - Walk Of Life 4:02 04 - Two Young Lovers 4:45 05 - Brothers In Arms 8:14 06 - Solid Rock 4:44 07 - Going Home (Theme From Local Hero) 4:36 DISC 2: 01 - Ride Across The River 9:53 02 - Expresso Love 6:45 03 - One World 5:41 04 - Romeo & Juliet 8:46 05 - Money For Nothing 7:50 06 - Tunnel Of Love 7:51 Personnel: Mark Knopfler - Vocals, Guitar Hal Lindes - Guitar Alan Clarke - Keyboards John Illsley - Bass Terry Williams - Drums Tommy Mandel - Keyboards Mel Collins - Saxophone Joop De Korte - Percussion
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Audience 8.4 - The Roundhouse in London was not the ideal place to make a stealth recording, and this one barely wins the struggle between room and distance to present a surprising, clear picture of a very early Dire Straits show. Songs “Me And My Friends” and “Real Girl” would be dropped from the set soon after this show, so having a tape like this should be considered important to the collector. Dire Straits: Roundhouse, London, England, 1978-01-29 Opening act for Talking Heads! 01 Southbound Again 02 Six-Blade Knife 03 Eastbound Train 04 Down To The Waterline 05 In The Gallery 06 Water Of Love 07 Setting Me Up 08 Real Girl 09 Me And My Friends 10 Sultans Of Swing 11 Wild West End (Real Girl and Me And My Friends are rare, unreleased, non-album songs!)
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Soundboard 9.8 - What you have here is an absolute “Must Have” for any fan even remotely interested in this band. I would say this comes highly recommended to ANYONE who enjoys music, period. It’s just that good. Dire Straits The Polytechnic Leeds, England January 30, 1978 1. -Southbound Again 2. -Eastbound Train 3. -Down to the Waterline 4. -In the Gallery 5. -Water of Love 6. -Setting Me Up 7. -Me and My Friends 8. -Real Girl 9. -Sultans of Swing The Band: Mark Knopfler - Guitar, Vocals David Knopfler - Rhythm Guitar John Illsley - Bass Guitar Pick Withers - Drums
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Soundboard 9.6 - Pretty much the crème de la crème for collectors of this great band. Fame is just now latching on to them, as they get ever larger gigs and more exposure. Wait until Money For Nothing and then it really takes off! I guess these are the days before the glory although I would say they are hitting their stride. Dire Straits Studio-L. Cologne, Germany 2/16/1979 Disc 1 01 Down to the Waterline 02 Six Blade Knife 03 Once Upon a Time in the West 04 Lady Writer 05 Single Handed Sailor 06 Water of Love 07 In the Gallery 08 Follow Me Home 09 News Disc 2 10 What's the Matter Baby 11 Lions 12 Sultans of Swing 13 Wild West End 14 Where Do You Think You're Going? 15 Eastbound Train 16 Sultans of Swing