The problem was that I left it a little too late.
By the time I looked for tickets, the only ones remaining were right at the very back of the Hydro. Now, I’m not exactly known for being happy sitting miles away from a stage, so I decided to see if I could improve my situation.
A quick look on Gumtree revealed a member of the Mark Knopfler fan club selling tickets that were closer to the front. They were about twenty quid more expensive, but I convinced myself the upgrade would be worth it.
So I bought them.
Technically, I was closer.
In reality, I was still a long way away.
The Hydro is a huge venue and despite paying extra, it still felt as though we were watching the concert from a neighbouring postcode. What made matters worse was the absence of any large video screens showing the band.
Normally, when you’re sitting a fair distance from the stage, the screens help bridge the gap and allow you to feel connected to what’s happening. Here, there was none of that. Instead, it often felt as though we were looking in on a concert rather than actually being part of it.
The music itself, however, was excellent.
Mark Knopfler remains one of the greatest guitarists of his generation and hearing those distinctive tones ringing around the arena was a genuine pleasure. His playing has always been instantly recognisable and seeing him perform live only reinforced that.
Mind you, there was another distraction to contend with.
I had taken my son along and, rather than fully immersing himself in the performance, he spent a significant portion of the evening conducting an Instagram Live broadcast for his friends in Turkey.
Apparently, the primary purpose of attending a Mark Knopfler concert was not to watch Mark Knopfler but to make your mates jealous that you were there.
Kids these days.
Every so often I’d look across and see him chatting away to people hundreds of miles away instead of focusing on the world-class guitarist standing in front of him.
Needless to say, it tested my patience slightly.
The distance from the stage became particularly apparent whenever I tried filming. It wasn’t until I zoomed my camera in to its absolute maximum setting that I could properly confirm that the tiny figure on stage was indeed Mark Knopfler.
To be fair, there aren’t many people on the planet capable of pretending to be Mark Knopfler for two hours, so I probably should have trusted the evidence of my ears.
The man can still play.
And when he plays, you listen.
Here are some clips that I made as well as some from my sons camera but again, we were too far away to do the gig justice.
Looking back, I’m very glad I went. The music was wonderful and getting the opportunity to see one of my guitar heroes live is something I’ll always appreciate.
The venue, however, did little to win me over.
I’ve been to enough concerts now to know what I like, and giant arenas rarely provide the sort of atmosphere I enjoy most. Unless someone truly unmissable comes along, I don’t think I’ll be rushing back to the Hydro anytime soon.
Give me the Barrowland every time.
Now that’s a concert venue.
The videos below include footage captured from both my camera and my son’s. Unfortunately, we were simply too far away to do the performance full justice, but hopefully they still give a flavour of an evening spent in the company of one of the finest guitarists ever to pick up the instrument.
The Photos
Decent Clips
Here are some other people’s clips from Glasgow and then the full show from Milan in High Quality recording. I had to watch these back so I could see the band properly and indeed appreciate it a lot more than I did at the time.
Guy Fletcher from the Band wrote a diary about the Glasgow Gig here.
Cheers!
Donate
