Dire Straits
Encores Ep

One thing is certain: Dire Straits have never released a record just for the sake of it, as was the case with works like "Extended Dance Play" and "Money For Nothing". This concept doesn't hold when discussing this mini-CD. We should consider it as a sort of precursor to the forthcoming album "On The Night" (which we will discuss elsewhere), and thus the right way to establish an approach to this product. We are talking about a live release nine years after "Alchemy", which was also preceded by a maxi single – a now obsolete term – that contained a live version of "Love Over Gold" not published on the double vinyl.

The live celebration begins with "Your Latest Trick" (included on the full-length), which drags us right into the heart of this mini-concert, where the immaculate atmosphere generated by one of Dire Straits' most profound songs allows us to taste a band returned to their great audience, in splendid form after about six years (except for the participations in Mandela Day and the Knebworth Concert). "The Bug" rests on a completely different rhythm, riding those rock 'n roll rooted sounds so dear to our Mark Knopfler. Talking about the genre from which everything originated (Thank you Elvis) and not mentioning "Solid Rock" - it would be like discussing a classic western film and not citing John Wayne -, presented in a blazing version that makes you want to be catapulted into the arenas of Rotterdam or Nimes where the material was recorded.

Talking about a mere CD single seems at the very least reductive, given the duration of over twenty minutes (almost a side of the never renounced vinyl) and the high quality of the material that confirms a band enjoying, with eyes closed, a respect recognized by multiple generations from diverse musical backgrounds. If you want to take back the great Mark’s band all for yourself, sit in your hobby room on a carpet in the dark on one of these autumn evenings, closing the tired eyelids of a day in front of the pc and let your eardrums enjoy the immeasurable sweetness which only "Going Home" can sprinkle you with, starting to dream.