Mark Knopfler in Lisbon

Mark Knopfler played at Campo Pequeno in Lisbon last night. I took my guitar-crazy elder son. It was SUPERB! Backed by excellent musicians with dozens of guitars and other instruments on stage, one of the all-time great guitarrists gave us a great show of musical prowess, though with his usual low-key presentation style.

I was worried that, like so many musicians who have been around for a long time, he would insist on playing only his recent music, but I was proven wrong. The balance between Dire Straits and his solo work was perfect. When the audience started getting restless with the wonderful, but unknown, recent guitar work, better known tracks appeared to liven us up again. Starting with Sailing to Philadelphia and Why Aye Man, he went on through more recent songs, that I must admit I can't name, to excellent versions of Romeo and Juliet, Sultans of Swing and Telegraph Road.

Campo Pequeno was packed with a very participative audience, including a lower than usual quota of adolescent idiots to disrupt proceedings. At the end Mark Knopfler and the band appeared impressed by the audience's enthusiasm, playing four encore songs, including Brothers in Arms before being sped away in comfort leaving the fans to face the only negative experience of the evening - more than half-an-hour to get out of the underground car park. So while I can recommend Campo Peqeuno as a venue, don't even think of parking there.