Dire Straits: Alchemy Live

Dire Straits live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London. Recorded over two nights, 22-23 July 1983, while on the tour for the album Love Over Gold. Song listing: Once Upon a Time in the West; Expresso Love; Romeo and Juliet; Private Investigations; Sultans of Swing; Two Young Lovers; Tunnel of Love; Telegraph Road; Solid Rock; Going Home - Theme from Local Hero.

Superb. Excellent music, expertly performed and perfectly captured. There's an artistry to the whole event, from the minutiae of the performances, to the arrangement of the songs, to the song running order. Even the closing track is perfectly chosen!

This is a very enjoyable concert movie. It's no-nonsense, maybe a little bland, and feels like eating a solid meal of meat and potatoes, but that's Dire Straits in a nutshell, so you kind of get what you'd expect here and it's enough.

Actually, that's a little unfair. I think maybe this live performance is a little better than most of their music found on their studio albums. When they beef up the runtimes on various songs to make them sound bigger and more epic, it really works. Dire Straits probably could've/should've put out some kind of double album at their peak, but this live album is double-album-length and maybe the next best thing.

This is all the more impressive considering how much I like Brothers in Arms, and this concert being recorded in 1983 means there are no songs from that album featured. Okay, maybe Dire Straits are a bit more than just meat and potatoes. Or I'm just a boomer when it comes to music taste. Or a bit of both.