Dire Straits — Rockpalast 1979
Recorded February 16, 1979
WDR Studio L · Cologne · 
Germany
Setlist
Wrong timestamp?
Latest album at the timeDire Straits1978The debut album is still the most recent and supplies seven songs, with Sultans of Swing played twice.“To see the original lineup in WDR's small studio, four months before the release of Communiqué.”
Context
On February 16, 1979, Dire Straits fits inside a television studio in front of a small audience. The band has only two years on the road, and its debut is still its only released album. In WDR's Studio L in Cologne, the second one is already starting to take the stage.
Mark Knopfler leads the quartet with the red Stratocaster, alongside David Knopfler, John Illsley and Pick Withers. Down to the Waterline opens the sequence; Lady Writer, News and Follow Me Home preview Communiqué. Mark's jacket gives way to a sleeveless T-shirt. Sultans of Swing returns at the close because the first performance doesn't satisfy him.
Communiqué reaches stores in June, while the tour continues through Europe and North America until December. The recording stays in the Rockpalast archive and gets a new airing on WDR decades later. It preserves this passage between two albums: the original lineup still compact, with new material sharing space with the songs that opened the way.
- Sultans of Swing returns in the last encore because Mark isn't satisfied with the first performance.
Lineup at this show
The lineup of this performance — not necessarily the current one.
- Mark KnopflerVocals and guitar
- David KnopflerGuitar and backing vocals
- John IllsleyBass and backing vocals
- Pick WithersDrums
Trivia
Sultans of Swing appears twice: Mark Knopfler isn't satisfied with the first performance.
The show presents six songs from Communiqué before the album's release in June 1979.
More concerts by Dire Straits
BroadcastDire Straits
1980·Rockpop in Concert 1980
Tour of Making Movies (1980)
BroadcastDire Straits
1985·Live in London
Tour of Brothers in Arms (1985)
BootlegDire Straits
1986·Live in Auckland
Tour of Brothers in Arms (1985)
BroadcastDire Straits
1986·Live in Sydney
Tour of Brothers in Arms (1985)
BroadcastDire Straits
1992·Live in Nîmes
Tour of On Every Street (1991)
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