Mark Knopfler Get Lucky Tour 2010

31st July - Avila - Musicos el la Naturaleza 1st August 2010 With the final day upon us, (I'm writing this diary entry from home) what a final day it turned out to be. As we are in Madrid, I planned a time-honoured last-day visit to the nearest delicatessen kno....			30th July - Bilbao - Plaza de Toros Vista Allegre 31st July 2010 Memories of past visits to Bilbao fill my head as we drive into this town in the heart of Basque country which seems to have undergone a bit of a transformation in the last 20 years. A major urban ren....
29th July - Madrid - Plaza de Toros de Ventas 30th July 2010 Many consider the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas to be the home of Bullfighting in Spain and when you drive up to a building like this, it's hard to disagree. The recent announcement that the Catalan pa....			28th July - Santiago de Compostela - Multiusos Fontes do Sar 29th July 2010 The incessant heat of this summer seems to be following us around now, and today I learn that Santiago is experiencing unusually warm conditions. After a very leisurely in-room Four Seasons breakfast ....
27th July - Lisbon - Campo Pequeno 28th July 2010 With the last day off of the tour behind us we find ourselves in Lisbon, surely one of the finest cities in Europe. This city on the Iberian peninsula, at the Western edge of Europe has suffered it's ....			25th July - Cordoba - Plaza de Toros Los Califas 26th July 2010 The day started in Barcelona, another beautiful day, not too hot, just perfect. After a leisurely breakfast we checked out of the hotel and Bernie drove us to the airport for the flight to Sevilla. We....
24th July - Murcia - Plaza de Toros La Condomina 25th July 2010 With the Bullring season upon us once more, it was with much excitement we flew today from Barcelona to Murcia for the first of the outdoor Spanish concerts. A part of this beautiful country I've neve....			23rd July - Barcelona - Olympic Pavillion Badalona 24th July 2010 One of the favourite hotels of the tour is the one in Barcelona. Its location, service and comfort are always enjoyed. A great gym, lovely pool area although today it was absolutely full so no lounger....
22nd July - Nimes - Arena 23rd July 2010 After a night in an unscheduled hotel, the band had the whole day to luxuriate in Sofitel splendour. Actually, the hotel was lovely and the food was excellent. The breakfast I ordered was much better ....			21st July - Lyon - Théâtre antique de Fourvière 22nd July 2010 To say that today was eventful would be an understatement. Waking up in our dreamy resort hotel on the edge of Monte Carlo, the morning swim in France was on the cards so Laurie and I headed down to t....
19th, 20th July - Monte Carlo - Sporting club 21st July 2010 Nothing quite prepared the touring party for the weird and wonderful world that is the principality of Monaco. If gawping at ridiculously beautiful (or grotesque) cars is your thing, then look no furt....			17th July - Wurzburg - Festung Marienburg 18th July 2010 Our final morning in Italy and our final show in Germany heralded our first and only 'four countries in one day' day. Not something you can boast often, today's travel itinerary was daunting on paper ....
16th July - Locarno - Moon and Stars Festival 17th July 2010 With a potentially long drive ahead of us this afternoon, most of the morning was spent trying not to get too frustrated by the incessantly intermittent hotel internet. We left the hotel at 4pm in Fou....			15th July - Montreux - Jazz Festival 16th July 2010 It's amazing how times change...one of the most frustrating things these days for anyone who spends any length of time on a computer away from home is the speed of the hotel broadband. Ten years ago, ....
14th July - Milan - Arena Civica 15th July 2010 Some days seem like weeks and some weeks seem like days..today I suppose was a bit of both. As often when we're on the road, the travel leaves you a little disoriented. A good friend of Mark and I. Em....			13th July - Rome - Parco Della Musica Cavea 14th July 2010 After another relatively early night, I woke two minutes before my iPhone alarm as so often happens for me, maybe something about the action of actually setting the alarm triggers an internal biologic....
12th July - Perugia - Arena S. Guiliana 13th July 2010 With only three more days off for the rest of the tour, yesterday's in Rome was to be much cherished and Dan, Pete and myself took the opportunity to play tennis. A good friend and Roman resident Marc....			10th July - Lucca - Lucca Summer Festival 12th July 2010 Today's 'day-trip' to the beautiful town of Lucca needed some careful planning as we needed to fly into Pisa airport which is notoriously busy with it's daily influx of tourist charter flights and suc....
9th July - Padova - Villa Contarini 10th July 2010 The last break in the tour heralds the final leg and for me, being able to go home felt like a real luxury; especially as the weather at the moment is really nice in the UK. Apart from seeing the fami....			4th July - Budapest - Sport Arena 5th July 2010 There's something about a Four Seasons bed that conjures up images of a truly deep sleep, that combined with curtains that let absolutely NO light in meant I woke this morning and had to switch the li....
3rd July - Vienna - Stadthalle 4th July 2010 Back on the treadmill this morning after failing to restrain myself when presented with last night's Persian curry-fest on the plane. As always, when you leave it for a few days, it's tougher than it ....			2nd July - Wroclaw - Hala Stulecia 3rd July 2010 After four nights in Amsterdam and another day off, it was time to head back East in the sweltering heat over Europe this week; it would have been fun to stay one more night as Holland managed to beat....
30th June - Amsterdam - HMH 1st July 2010 Day three in Amsterdam and with the weather still almost tropical I thought I'd put some shorts on and wander the streets this afternoon with the camera. It's always interesting and sometimes quite en....			29th June - Amsterdam - HMH 30th June 2010 Show day number two in glorious Amsterdam, although it did actually rain for a while this afternoon. This is a very civilized town, I often wonder how London could benefit if it should ever implement ....
28th June - Amsterdam - HMH 29th June 2010 The days off seem to be coming thick and fast now and the day off after the Prague show was spent in Prague. Tennis was definitely on the agenda; Dan sourced the club, and what a club. With an 8,000 s....			26th June - Prague - Another O2 27th June 2010 After yesterday's epic day, it seemed today should be spent recharging and most of the band did exactly that. A late hotel departure time meant loads of free time during the day. I'm not sure many of ....
25th June - Munich - Königsplatz 26th June 2010 After last night's session in my room with music and massive quantities of tea, a small clean-up operation was in order as due to the confines of the room, there were multiple spillages as the five of....			24th June - Stuttgart - Schleyerhalle 25th June 2010 Most of us needed to get up a little earlier than usual this morning as a planned trip to the Boss VIP store means a 40 minute drive Southwards but my alarm clock wasn't needed as the hotel had the fo....
23rd June - Mannheim - SAP Arena 24th June 2010 Checking out of the Breidenbacher Hof hotel and not a moment too soon, it was goodbye to Dusseldorf and a train journey Southwards to Mannheim. Bernie's team dropped us off at the train station and we....			22nd June - Oberhausen - Arena 23rd June 2010 A rare day off where both band and crew were in the same town. Dusseldorf, an unlikely contender for best day-off city was in the event, a perfect place for the touring party to recharge. A quiet Mond....
20th June - Koln - Lanxess Arena 21st June 2010 Today started very slowly with a reluctant visit to a gym which seemed to me to be situated in a room which was too small for the available equipment. You couldn't walk between the machines. Neverthel....			19th June - Leipzig - Arena 20th June 2010 We arrived at Schoenfeld airport to a sombre mood. We learned as we greeted Simon, our captain that the control tower had just a few minutes ago, closed the airfield due to an air crash within the air....
18th June - Berlin - another O2 19th June 2010 The aromas of Berlin. Dan and I played tennis today, our first match on our favourite surface, clay. The sun was out and it was warm..whilst we were onstage in Hanover last night, Bernie kindly arrang....			17th June - Hanover - Tui arena 18th June 2010 It was a good turnout in the gym this morning, when I arrived, Tim and Richard were already working up a sweat and Glenn and Danny were in there later too. Today's travel schedule was a return trip fr....
16th June - Hamburg - CLA 17th June 2010 Yes folks, it's finally up and running. Check out the Pieta Brown and Bo Ramsey interviews http://www.guyfletcher.co.uk/index.php/page/Video?video=PietaBrownBoRamsey.flv After a refreshing day off...a....			14th June - Bergen - Vestlandshallen 15th June 2010 Here's the trailer for the Pieta Brown and Bo Ramsey film I've just completed - The full version will be up within a day or so. Today was an eerily similar repeat performance of the last time we playe....
13th June - Oslo - Norwegian wood 14th June 2010 Woke this morning pretty late, well I got to sleep late again due to the revelers outside. These Norwegians really know how to have a good time...in the street. I guess it's because the bars and clubs....			12th June - Helsingborg - Sofiero Slott 13th June 2010 And we thought the weather couldn't get worse.... The second of our outdoor shows of the tour in the Scandinavian Summertime saw 30-40 knot westerly winds as well as heavy, squally showers. Whil....
11th June - Middelfart - Under Broen festival 12th June 2010 A day of contrasts. The weather outside in central Paris this morning was absolutely stunning, deep blue sky and the whitest clouds, which were almost too perfect. We checked out of the Hyatt Park and....			9th June - Paris - Bercy 10th June 2010 Surely the world's most beautiful city, Paris evokes many fond memories for all band members as over the years we've had many great shows here and some wonderful time off. I'm always glad to open the ....
8th June - Luxembourg - Rockhal 9th June 2010 We left Frankfurt this morning after a quick swim to get the day started and sampling once again the finest Birscher muesli known to man. I compiled the diary and rushed out the door to checkout. Bern....			7th June - Frankfurt - Festhalle 8th June 2010 Frankfurt am Main is always on the tour itinerary for very good reason. This, the fifth largest of German cities is a fabulous place to come and play and the Festhalle is a real favourite on the tour.....
6th June - Antwerp - Lotto Arena 7th June 2010 After the rare luxury of a day off at home, today we find ourselves assembling at the now quite familiar Northolt airfield where the plane sits in wait for the short hop over the channel to Belgium. A....			5th June - Day Off - home 6th June 2010 Day Off at home
30th May - 4th June - London - RAH 31st May 2010 Our Albert Hall run draws to a close once more. These six successive concerts have almost certainly been the most exciting to date, also the most tiring as all of us have many family and friends visit....			28th May - Bournemouth - BIC 29th May 2010 Some days, everything just works out to plan. I was sitting at the computer in our kitchen at home, I'd just finished yesterday's diary entry and noticed the tree tops swaying. A quick look at our tru....
27th May - Brighton - Brighton Centre 28th May 2010 Home town gig. Eike collected me, Laurie and Leon from home and I took the wheel of the R class once again as I'm pretty familiar with the route etc. We arrived an hour later to find the BBC film crew....			26th May - Cardiff - CIA 27th May 2010 It was breakfast in the room for me this morning as I set to the diary, emails and a bit more Final Cut editing on the new 15" MacBook Pro I bought in New York...I just fancied eggs benedict and some ....
25th May - Manchester - MEN 26th May 2010 Today started at home for me and Eike and I had agreed that we'd set off for Manchester at around 9am considering the possibility of traffic. He pulled into my driveway at 08:55 and I quite fancied te....			23rd May - Birmingham - NEC 24th May 2010 Today I'm going to be brief as I'm at home enjoying a day off between Birmingham and Manchester in the sunshine on my 50th. Thanks to everyone who has sent birthday wishes and posts. Bernie's team pic....
22nd May - Newcastle - Metro Arena 23rd May 2010 There are some concerts which just stand out, where everything comes together perfectly and the team are in sync, this evening was one of those. The day started in customary fashion, with me on the ph....			21st May - Glasgow - SECC 22nd May 2010 First on today's agenda was a call to the Western Lawn tennis tennis club. "No need to book", so Danny and I donned our stylish Nike gear and strode round the corner (quite literally) for our planned ....
20th May - Belfast - Odyssey arena 21st May 2010 I had a sneak look back at Dublin entries from previous tours and a similar patter seems to be emerging. Namely, Guinness and a throbbing head. Today's headache is believe it or not, the first of the ....			19th May - Dublin - The Point 19th May 2010 After a full week off at home, it was time to get back to business. I find myself grateful for the days off as the jet-lag this time really took us by surprise, even though we only flew from New York ....
9th May - Albany - Palace Theatre 10th May 2010 They do say that time flies when you're having fun. I'm not sure if it's the frequency of the shows, the camaraderie of the band and crew or me just getting older...faster, but these 28 shows have flo....			8th May - Atlantic City - Caesars 9th May 2010 As we drove towards Teterboro this afternoon. I noticed the wind was increasing. I found myself focusing on the tops of the trees alongside the road, a legacy of all the years I've spent staring at ex....
7th May - Philadelphia - Tower Theatre 8th May 2010 As we left the luxury of the Peninsula hotel, I wondered if today's day trip to Philly was going to be trouble free in terms of traffic. Friday afternoon in New York City has the potential for frustra....			6th May - New York - United Palace Theatre 7th May 2010 As we drove up the Henry Hudson Parkway alongside the Hudson river I imagined to myself the sight of an Airbus 320 coming in low to ditch, as happened in January last year. It was described as the mos....
5th May - Red Bank - Count Basie Theatre 6th May 2010 I woke this morning thinking about that lobster we ate on the plane last night which was so kindly bought to the gig in Boston by Mark and Bonnie Stover all the way from Boothbay. We all wondered what....			4th May - Boston - Orpheum 4th May 2010 Our final day off of the US tour and for the 4th time in succession it falls on a Monday. I think everyone in the touring party needed this one, there were few tired faces in Washington. Monday is a g....
2nd May - Washington D.C. - Warner Theatre 3rd May 2010 You'll know by now that every now and then, Danny and I have been known to spend a few hours on a tennis court. Danny has improved his game incredibly in the last 6 months and part of this is due to h....			1st May - Mashantucket - Foxwoods resort-casino 2nd May 2010 It looks like our luck with the weather is about to run out as it unfortunately has done for many folks down in Tennessee today. A very severe bout of storms heading North Eastwards from the Gulf has ....
30th April - Montreal - Place Des Arts 1st May 2010 Here's a strange thing, why does visiting Montreal feel so reminiscent of a trip to Paris? Yes, there's the language and the French streets signs of course but it's a lot more than that. The architect....			29th April - Toronto - Massey Hall 30th April 2010 As I mentioned yesterday, Toronto is a city growing at a remarkable rate and judging by the sheer amount of construction going on, you could be forgiven for thinking the current world recession has pa....
28th April - Buffalo - Centre for the Arts 29th April 2010 The weather has been so favourable, it's hard to resist another city shot, this time of downtown Toronto after take-off. As I said to Danny and Mark in the car, when you've worked on a movie which is ....			27th April - Ann Arbor - Michigan Theatre 28th April 2010 A day off in Chicago is a much cherished affair as we enjoy our last full day of luxury at our favourite hotel. Most of the band agree Chicago is America's finest city and every time we visit it gets ....
25th April - Minneapolis - State theatre 26th April 2010 Events today were very similar to yesterday with a few exceptions. No headache, no flight issues and a slightly longer flight this time to Minneapolis. We landed and taxied to the waiting town car and....			24th April - Milwaukee - Riverside Theatre 25th April 2010 Pea soup Historically, during our stays in Chicago over the years, at some time the weather becomes the talking point and today the issue wasn't thunderstorms or high winds but low visibility. After m....
23rd April - Chicago - Chicago Theatre 24th April 2010 Today marks the halfway point of the US leg of the tour, 14 down, 14 to go, and it's just extraordinary how the time flies by. In a whirlwind of travel, cars, planes, sound-checks, gigs, hotels and th....			22nd April - Saint Louis - Fox Theatre 23rd April 2010 In all our travels, we stay in a lot of different hotels of varying standards and comfort levels and there's no doubt we're fortunate enough to explore the higher end of that range. There are some tha....
21st April - Kansas City - Midland theatre 22nd April 2010 Waking in Denver this morning the first thing I notice is that my mouth is as dry as a bone and I remember that we are at an altitude of 5,281 feet, exactly one mile above sea level. We scramble to th....			20th April - Denver - Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre 20th April 2010 We were all rearing to go after the day off in LA which was used wisely by all band members for relaxation, luxuriation and rejuvenation. I chose the latter and arranged a tennis court for Midday for ....
18th April - Phoenix - Dodge Theatre 19th April 2010 It's unfortunate that Iceland seems to be bearing the brunt of another wave world wide acrimony. As the volcano mercifully enters a calmer stage, authorities there say the plume of ash is now showing ....			17th April - Los Angeles - Pantages Theatre 18th April 2010 Armed with my new mobile phone, or cell as they say here, I set about this morning scouring the local area for possible tennis opportunities. The concierge at the hotel wasn't exactly over helpful so ....
16th April - Los Angeles - Pantages Theatre 17th April 2010 By the time I rose from the bed, Laurie had been surfing and spent time at the Casa Del Mar pool overlooking the beach here in Santa Monica. That's not to say I slept in, it was still only 9:30am. Leo....			15th April - Temecula - Pechanga Resort and casino 16th April 2010 Since yesterday was a rest day for me in terms of the fitness regime I've so painstakingly undertaken, this morning my first thought was to hit that gym once more. Laurie and Leon had been up for ages....
14th April - Santa Rosa - Wells Fargo Center 15th April 2010 Another town we've never been to and I was looking forward to this one as it necessitated a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, something we just haven't found the time to do since we've been in San ....			13th April - Oakland, CA Paramount Theatre of the Arts 13th April 2010 After a great first day off in SF, it was time to resume the fitness program. I leap out of bed at a satisfying 9:30 and don the running shoes etc. It's time to visit the gym voted by Richard Bennett ....
12th April - Day Off - San Francisco 13th April 2010 Driving from the airport in-car with Danny and Mark, the roads are eerily empty as the rain hammers down. As we enter the downtown area os this wonderful city, the rain eases and we turn into the fami....			11th April - Eugene - Hult Centre for the performing arts 12th April 2010 Today was the first of the 'virgin towns' of the tour, by that I mean towns we've never visited before. I woke to bright sunshine but a little voice in my head told me to check the weather forecast, s....
10th April - Portland - Keller Auditorium 10th April 2010 Well I did warn myself. In my mind, show number three always has the potential for mishap as over-confidence can so easily rear its ugly head. we are playing a song called Coyote in the first half of ....			9th April - Vancouver - Queen Elizabeth Theatre 9th April 2010 You know when some mornings you wake up, look at the clock and realize the jet-lag is on the way out, then you open the curtains and notice it's a gorgeous morning, you think to yourself 'this is gonn....
8th April - Seattle - Moore Theatre 8th April 2010 Just when you think you've got this jet-lag thing licked it kicks your ass, removing your sense of balance, disabling your eyelids and erasing any trace of short term memory. Bed is the only solution ....			19th March - Rehearsals part two 19th March 2010 The three week rehearsal period is now over and we all have a week off whilst the equipment is shipped to Seattle for the first date of the tour. We are planning a production rehearsal day, the day be....
12th March - Rehearsals part one 12th March 2010 We're now well into our second week of rehearsals with the full band and it all seems to be going very well indeed. If anything, smoother than ever before although I probably shouldn't speak for the n....			5th March - pre-rehearsal 5th March 2010 Friday 5th March 2010 Almost exactly two years ago this day, I felt the icy cold sensation of my ear canals being injected with 'Smurf-wax', a mildly comical process which must be endured if one is to....

Follow this tour in RSS

Mark Knopfler Get Lucky Tour 2010

GL 2010 Tour