Concerto Knopflero ...

Lemme start this with a sad comment. Whoever is reading this, might never get a chance to see the Legend himself performing live in concert.

The legend himself is no other than the 60 years old God - Mark Knopfler. Lemme henceforth not call God by his name.

Krishna, Ruz, Rishi n me, we all set out for the concert. First there was this beautiful ride on the bombay poona highway, during which we exhausted almost all of the God's tracks. The day was just getting better. As the day set, we got in line for an appointment with the God Himself alongwith around 15000 more devotees, many of which were from Pune, and bangalore too. My heart sank when the stupid @#$@ tore our cool credit-card like tickets at the entry. Anyways, the torn cards will also be treasured, cherished as a memorabilia ! We got in after about 15 mins. 1 hr wait by which time, it was like a sea of fans waiting for a glimpse of The God himself. So much so, that some of the fans had paid 1000 /- just to hear Him. I bet He wasn’t visible after the last man in the 2500 /- ticket area !

So, 1 hr wait and The God made a modest entry. White loose shirt, blue jeans, blonde sparse hair, a grim face and a guitar that completed the attire ! The show started with some of the best blues music that I have heard. The mood all changed as soon as He played “Walk of life”, which is one of my favourites. The crowd just went wild ! With voice unparalleled and killing guitaaring, He had the crowd at His feet. All that the crowd can shout was “more”.

Then he played “Sultans of Swing”, “Donegons gone”, “Boom like that”, “Telegraph road”, “Romeo and Juliet”. Then, again, the mood changed. The brightly lit stage was transformed into a starry night. He played “Brothers in arms”. A perfect song for that mood. By that song he took us for a tour to heaven with Him, a five minute tour.

Then another favourite – “Money for nothing”, then another “Telegraph road”, then another “So far away”. It was an overdose of good music for us. It all ended with a sweet good-bye song “Going Home”. With a “Good bye all, Good night, Is everybody OK ?”, He made a quiet quite modest exit. Most of the audience (I was one of them) was not content as he couldn’t play some of his best tracks – Calling Elvis, Heavy Fuel. But it was good in a sense, otherwise no one would have left the show alive, such was the killing performance !

This is the man who once was asked why he didn’t press charges against a woman who caused an accident, due to which he had 9 broken bones, to which he replied “Why the hassle !”. This is the kind of a man he is ! most popular yet modest. The memory of the show will linger till the rest of my life …