ON EVERY STREET TOUR 1991 - 1992
 

         


Tour line-up:

Mark Knopfler

Guitar, vocals		 John Illsley

Bass, vocals

 Guy Fletcher

Keyboards , vocals

 Alan Clark

Keyboards / piano
       

Paul Franklin

Pedal steel guitar

 Phil Palmer

Guitars, vocals

 Chris Whitten

Drums

 Danny Cummings

Percussion, vocals

 Chris White

Saxophone
 

Early June 1990, Mark Knopfler, John Illsley, Paul Crockford and Ed Bicknell (manager Dire Straits) had a meeting at Julie's Restaurant in Notting Hill, London. In fact, they went there for two days and made the decision to record a new Dire Straits album and have another world tour. The rehearsals for the tour were fully financed by Mark and John themselves.

The planning of this tour was difficult: the complete tour was planned and ready to start in April 1991. But the outbreak of the Gulf War made it too uncertain. Operation Desert Shield, which marked the military buildup from August 1990 to January 1991 and then Operation Desert Storm, which began with the aerial bombing campaign against Iraq on 17th January 1991 and came to a close with the American-led liberation of Kuwait on 28th February 1991. Ed Bicknell had to re-schedule the whole tour and moved the start to August 1991 which by then was a pure guess.

See here and here two pictures taken during the recording sessions of the album (Mark's boots later appeared on the album cover and were issued as merchandise during the tour). See here for a nice photo of Mark Knopfler and John Illsley signing a contract with tour sponsor Philips. The recording of the On every street album took several months from November 1990 until May 1991. Vince Gill added some harmony vocals on the album. Then long rehearsals took place between June and August 1991 at Bray Studios, a film and television facility at Bray, near Maidenhead, UK.

See here and here for some pictures of the indoor stage. The tour that followed was long and Dire Straits played at many huge outdoor stadiums in 1992. Click here for a great shot of the stage in an outdoor arena 1992. Originally, the tour was meant to be much longer including a second visit in North America and shows in Eastern Europe and South America. But this was cancelled because of the economical climate and the financial risk. See here parts of the fax (dated 19th March 1992) that Ed Bicknell sent to Phonogram, Rondor and promotors in 14 countries. And listen here to what Mark said about this just before the show at Woburn Abbey, 20th June 1992. Mark said that the daily costs were a lot more than what the newspapers said. In 2016, Ed Bicknell revealed the actual amount in a comment on the internet. The countries that were not visited (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia) were listed on the promotional Philips bus. See here another compilation picture of all countries listed on the bus. Ed Bicknell contacted me in August 2024 and told me that the Philips bus mentioned the planned countries as definite. However, Ed did not cancel any shows in these countries, they were never booked or confirmed in the first place. Promotion for the album could be seen on other busses in London. On several 1992 shows, Was (not Was) and Lyle Lovett were the opening act. See this nice UK poster which also mentions these opening acts.

On 8th, 9th and 10th May 1992, Dire Straits played at Plaza De Toros Monumental in Barcelona, Spain. During one of these shows, Mark Knopfler and John Illsley were dressed in a FC Espanyol jersey! Espanyol is from Barcelona just like FC Barcelona, and they are rival clubs in Spanish soccer.

To stay fit during the long tour, Mark revealed in interviews that he lift weights and plays a bit of tennis. Click here for a rare picture of Mark on a tennis court in Bremen, 25th July 1992.

Video clips were made for Calling Elvis, Heavy fuel and The bug. The video clip for Heavy fuel (featuring Randy Quaid) was partly filmed at the Sheffield Arena. Following Rod Stewart, Dire Straits became the second act to perform at the newly opened Sheffield Arena. During the Saturday show (31st August), members of the audience were given tickets to attend the Arena the following Monday (2nd September) daytime for the filming of the video for the Heavy fuel single. 

Note that some Australian and New Zealand concerts venues were not confirmed by the time the MK Diary was created. I compared various sources to try to get this leg of the tour accurate:
- General 1991 tour book
- Australian and New Zealand 1991 tour book
- Original tour itinerary used by the band and crew
- Australian tourdates mentioned in an Australian TV show
- Promotion ticket Brisbane

The general 1991 tourbook lists some different dates for the Australian and New Zealand concerts compared to the 1991 tourbook that was specifically made for Australia and New Zealand. You would expect that the Australian and New Zealand book is accurate, but that one also does not list the concert of 8th December 1991 for example while I do have a concert ticket for that date. Then I thought that the official tour itinerary (thanks to Mimmo Carrata for providing me this info!) would clear it all up. However, according to the ticket of 8th December 1991, the show was at Flinders Park Tennis Centre (Melbourne), while the itinerary mentions the Football Stadium in Sydney. In the itinerary, that date is marked with an asterisk, which indicates that this could be subject to change. Conclusion; this original printed itinerary is not 100% accurate. Finally, in August 2017 I found the answer to the riddle; I came in contact with an official crew member from the On Every Street tour from who I got the full set of itineraries. When there were changes made to either dates, venues, hotels, flights or whatever, this crew member mentioned this in the itineraries.Thanks to the updated itineraries, the list below shows the exact tour schedule from the final Dire Straits tour in history.

The Australian leg was subject to quite some changes. According to an interview with Ed Bicknell and John Illsley (Vox Magazine, July 1992), Dire Straits were struggling in Australia and only played 85% of their planned shows due to the economic climate. Ed Bicknell told me in August 2024: "Australasia was a mess due to a recession and also a decline in interest in the band which negatively affected ticket sales. Down from nearly 1 million (a staggering number) on BIA tour to your correct figure of approx 260,000 ..the album was a hit but not “ hot” and music had changed substantially over the preceding 6 years. We had left it too long, at least there. It was WAY LESS than the 85% you quote." Since it was Ed himself who mentioned that figure in the interview in Vox magazine, I asked him if the interview figure was incorrect. Ed told: "I was trying to make things look better than they were. Just bullshit. Do not believe what you read on the web or in interviews ever."

Click here for a photo taken at Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada. The cameraman: Steve Boyle sitting next to John Anderson, and then Jim Della Croce, journalist at the time. The cameraman was doing shootings, and directed the video recording sessions for the video clip of John Anderson. Before the release of On every street album in September 1991, Mark wasn't sure about including When it comes to you in the band's last studio album, so he gave the tape to John Anderson who recorded a version of this title with country accents, with Mark Knopfler on guitar. Mark then invited John Anderson on stage at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver to perform the title with Dire Straits. Take a close look at Mark's grimmage, the cameraman and Jim Della Croce's impressed stares.  John Anderson appeared as a guest player on When it comes to you on the two nights in Vancouver. See here for another picture taken at the rehearsals and here for a shot during the live show. To my knowledge, John Anderson was the only guest musician on the whole tour.

Click here for a rare picture of the amp settings for one of the shows from the tour.

Originally. Dire Straits were to play two shows in Mungersdorfer Stadion, Cologne, Germany on 17th and 18th July 1992. This post mentioned that is was restricted to just one show, as also can be found in the itinerary of course. The four shows at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam set a record back then for the band that played the most consecutive shows at that stadium. It was a huge succes: the first 3 planned shows were sold out within 18 minutes. Then they added a fourth show which was sold out in about 15 minutes. The four shows were attended by 183.394 people! For these days, the Dutch railway company even had a special schedule.

Other facts and figures:
Thanks to computers it was estimated that Dire Straits played to an audience of 3.544.839 people during the On every street tour ; UK 447.630, Europe 2.385.865, Australasia 259.049 and USA & Canada 452.295 (source: D.S.I.S. newsletter from June 1993).

The band visited 22 countries during the On every Street tour. The smallest venue capacity was Bally's, Las Vegas (4.600), and the largest was Woburn Abbey (65.000). Number of touring personnel: 9 band plus up to 100 others at any one time crew/office/caterers etc. Number of trucks: up to 43 at any one time. Total tour cost was just under Ł22 million! (source: D.S.I.S. newsletter from August 1993).

 

Advertisement poster for the tour: 

 

Official recordings made during this tour

Concert Bootleg release Official release
Nimes concerts in May 1992 and Rotterdam 1992
Woburn Abbey (20.06.1992)
Basel (28.06.1992)
Copenhagen (27.07.1992)
Oslo (30.07.1992)
Nimes (29.09.1992)



Concert Bootleg release Official release
Nimes concerts in May 1992 and Rotterdam 1992
Basel (28.06.1992)
Nimes (29.09.1992)



► Total concerts played: 211


August 1991

   23.08.1991     The Point Depot Dublin Ireland
 24.08.1991     The Point Depot Dublin Ireland
  25.08.1991     The Point Depot Dublin Ireland
  26.08.1991     The Point Depot Dublin Ireland
  27.08.1991     The Point Depot Dublin Ireland
  30.08.1991     Sheffield Arena Sheffield UK
  31.08.1991     Sheffield Arena Sheffield UK



September 1991

   01.09.1991     Sheffield Arena Sheffield UK
  02.09.1991     Sheffield Arena Sheffield UK
  03.09.1991     Sheffield Arena Sheffield UK
  05.09.1991     National Exhibition Centre Birmingham UK
  06.09.1991     National Exhibition Centre Birmingham UK
  07.09.1991     National Exhibition Centre Birmingham UK
  08.09.1991     National Exhibition Centre Birmingham UK
  09.09.1991     National Exhibition Centre Birmingham UK
  11.09.1991     Scottish Exhibition And Conference Centre Glasgow Scotland
  12.09.1991     Scottish Exhibition And Conference Centre Glasgow Scotland
  13.09.1991     Scottish Exhibition And Conference Centre Glasgow Scotland
  14.09.1991     Scottish Exhibition And Conference Centre Glasgow Scotland
  16.09.1991     Wembley Arena London UK
  17.09.1991     Wembley Arena London UK
  18.09.1991     Wembley Arena London UK
  19.09.1991     Wembley Arena London UK
  20.09.1991     Wembley Arena London UK
  23.09.1991     Westfahlenhalle Dortmund Germany
  24.09.1991     Westfahlenhalle Dortmund Germany
  25.09.1991     Westfahlenhalle Dortmund Germany
  26.09.1991     Stadthalle Bremen Germany
  27.09.1991     Stadthalle Bremen Germany
 28.09.1991     Ahoy Rotterdam The Netherlands
  29.09.1991     Ahoy Rotterdam The Netherlands
  30.09.1991     Ahoy Rotterdam The Netherlands



October 1991

   01.10.1991     Forest National Brussels Belgium
  02.10.1991     Forest National Brussels Belgium
  03.10.1991     Palais Omnisports de Bercy Paris France
  04.10.1991     Palais Omnisports de Bercy Paris France
  05.10.1991     Palais Omnisports de Bercy Paris France
  07.10.1991     Festhalle Frankfurt Germany
  08.10.1991     Festhalle Frankfurt Germany
  09.10.1991     Festhalle Frankfurt Germany
  11.10.1991     Olympiahalle Munich Germany
  12.10.1991     Olympiahalle Munich Germany
  14.10.1991     Hallenstadion Zürich Switserland
  29.10.1991     Entertainment Centre Sydney Australia
  30.10.1991     Entertainment Centre Sydney Australia
  31.10.1991     Entertainment Centre Sydney Australia



November 1991

   01.11.1991     Entertainment Centre Sydney Australia
  02.11.1991     Entertainment Centre Sydney Australia
  07.11.1991     Entertainment Centre Brisbane Australia
  08.11.1991     Entertainment Centre Brisbane Australia
  09.11.1991     Entertainment Centre Brisbane Australia
  10.11.1991     Entertainment Centre Brisbane Australia
  13.11.1991     National Tennis Centre Melbourne Australia
  14.11.1991     National Tennis Centre Melbourne Australia
  15.11.1991     National Tennis Centre Melbourne Australia
  16.11.1991     National Tennis Centre Melbourne Australia
  17.11.1991     National Tennis Centre Melbourne Australia
  18.11.1991     National Tennis Centre Melbourne Australia
  23.11.1991     Subiaco Oval Perth Australia
  26.11.1991     Entertainment Centre Adelaide Australia
  29.11.1991     Derwent Entertainment Centre Hobart Australia
  30.11.1991     Derwent Entertainment Centre Hobart Australia



December 1991

   05.12.1991     Entertainment Centre Sydney Australia
  08.12.1991     Flinders Park Tennis Court Melbourne Australia
  10.12.1991     Bruce Stadium Canberra Australia
  14.12.1991     Lancaster Park Christchurch New Zealand
  17.12.1991     Athletic Park Wellington New Zealand
  20.12.1991     Mount Smart Stadium Auckland New Zealand



January 1992

   30.01.1992     Arco Arena Sacramento USA
  31.01.1992     Lawlor Events Centre Reno USA



February 1992

   01.02.1992     Oakland Coliseum San Francisco USA
  02.02.1992     Oakland Coliseum San Francisco USA
  04.02.1992     Selland Coliseum Fresno USA
  05.02.1992     Sports Arena San Diego USA
  06.02.1992     Bally's Las Vegas USA 
  07.02.1992     Great Western Forum Los Angeles USA
  08.02.1992     Great Western Forum Los Angeles USA
  10.02.1992     Veterans Memorial Coliseum Phoenix USA
  13.02.1992     Summit Houston USA
  14.02.1992     Reunion Arena Dallas USA
  16.02.1992     Kemper Arena Kansas City USA
  17.02.1992     Illinois University Champaign USA
  18.02.1992     Rosemont Theatre Chicago USA
  19.02.1992     Palace Of Auburn Hills Detroit USA
  20.02.1992     Richfield Coliseum Cleveland USA
  21.02.1992     Nutter Center Dayton USA
  23.02.1992     Meadowlands Arena East Rutherford USA
  24.02.1992     Capital Centre Maryland USA
  25.02.1992     Broome County Arena Binghamton USA
  26.02.1992     Madison Square Garden New York USA
  28.02.1992     Nassau Coliseum Uniondale USA
  29.02.1992     Knickerbocker Arena Albany USA



March 1992

   01.03.1992     Civic Center Providence USA
  02.03.1992     Spectrum Philadelphia USA
  04.03.1992     War Memorial Syracuse USA
  06.03.1992     Civic Centre Hartford USA
  07.03.1992     Centrum Worcester USA
  09.03.1992     Metro Centre Halifax USA
  10.03.1992     Metro Centre Halifax USA
  11.03.1992     Coliseum Moncton Canada
  13.03.1992     Forum Montreal Canada
  14.03.1992     Civic Arena Ottawa Canada
  16.03.1992     Civic Arena Ottawa Canada
  17.03.1992     Copps Coliseum Hamilton Canada
  19.03.1992     Maple Leaf Gardens Toronto Canada
  20.03.1992     Maple Leaf Gardens Toronto Canada
  21.03.1992     Arena Sudbury Canada
  24.03.1992     Arena Winnipeg Canada
  26.03.1992     Agridome Regina Canada
  27.03.1992     Saskatchewan Place Saskatoon Canada
  28.03.1992     Northlands Coliseum Edmonton Canada
  29.03.1992     Olympic Saddledome Calgary Canada
  31.03.1992     P.N.E. Vancouver Canada



April 1992

   01.04.1992     P.N.E. Vancouver Canada 
  03.04.1992     Beasley Coliseum Pullman USA
  04.04.1992     Center Coliseum Seattle USA
  06.04.1992     Memorial Coliseum Portland USA
  18.04.1992     Galaxy Amnéville France
  19.04.1992     Galaxy Amnéville France
  20.04.1992     Halle Tony Garnier Lyon France
  21.04.1992     Halle Tony Garnier Lyon France
  22.04.1992     Palais des Sports Grenoble France
  24.04.1992     Palais Omnisports de Bercy Paris France
  25.04.1992     Palais Omnisports de Bercy Paris France
  26.04.1992     Palais Omnisports de Bercy Paris France
  27.04.1992     Palais Omnisports de Bercy Paris France
  28.04.1992     Palais Omnisports de Bercy Paris France
  29.04.1992     Palais Omnisports de Bercy Paris France
  30.04.1992     Palais Omnisports de Bercy Paris France



May 1992

   02.05.1992     Parc De Penfeld Brest France
  04.05.1992     La Patinoire Bordeaux France
  05.05.1992     Velodrome de Anoeta San Sebastian Spain
  06.05.1992     Velodrome de Anoeta San Sebastian Spain
  08.05.1992     Plaza De Toros Monumental Barcelona Spain
  09.05.1992     Plaza De Toros Monumental Barcelona Spain
  10.05.1992     Plaza De Toros Monumental Barcelona Spain
  13.05.1992     Estadio Vicente Calderon Madrid Spain
  16.05.1992     Estadio de Alvalade Lisbon Portugal
  19.05.1992     Les Arčnes Nîmes France
  20.05.1992     Les Arčnes Nîmes France 
  21.05.1992     Les Arčnes Nîmes France
  24.05.1992     Stade de La Beaujoire Nantes France
  27.05.1992     Werchter Festival Site Brussels Belgium
  29.05.1992     Feyenoord Stadium Rotterdam The Netherlands
  30.05.1992     Feyenoord Stadium Rotterdam The Netherlands
  31.05.1992     Feyenoord Stadium Rotterdam The Netherlands



June 1992

   01.06.1992     Feyenoord Stadium Rotterdam The Netherlands
  03.06.1992     Earls Court London UK
  04.06.1992     Earls Court London UK
  05.06.1992     Earls Court London UK
  06.06.1992     Earls Court London UK 
  07.06.1992     Earls Court London UK
  08.06.1992     Earls Court London UK
  11.06.1992     Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff UK
  13.06.1992     International Stadium Gateshead UK
  16.06.1992     Maine Road Manchester UK
  18.06.1992     Ipswitch Town Football Stadium Ipswitch UK
  20.06.1992     Woburn Abbey Bedfordshire UK 
  25.06.1992     La Pontaise Lausanne Switserland
  27.06.1992     St. Jakob Stadion Basel Switserland
  28.06.1992     St. Jakob Stadion Basel Switserland
  30.06.1992     Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle Stuttgart Germany



July 1992

   03.07.1992     Praterstadion Vienna Austria
  05.07.1992     Fussballstadion Linz Austria
  07.07.1992     Waldstadion Frankfurt Germany
  09.07.1992     Wildparkstadion Karlsruhe Germany
  11.07.1992     Olympiastadion Munich Germany
  13.07.1992     Zeppelinfeld Nürnberg Germany
  15.07.1992     Alsterdorfer Sportshalle Hamburg Germany
  16.07.1992     Alsterdorfer Sportshalle Hamburg Germany
  17.07.1992     Mungersdorfer Stadion Cologne Germany
  20.07.1992     Waldbühne Amphitheatre Berlin Germany
  21.07.1992     Waldbühne Amphitheatre Berlin Germany
  22.07.1992     Waldbühne Amphitheatre Berlin Germany
  25.07.1992     Weserstadion Bremen Germany
  27.07.1992     Gentofte Stadium Copenhagen Denmark 
  28.07.1992     Gentofte Stadium Copenhagen Denmark
  30.07.1992     Vallehovin Stadium Oslo Norway



August 1992

   01.08.1992     Olympic Stadium Stockholm Sweden
  04.08.1992     Olympic Stadium Helsinki Finland
  20.08.1992     Estadio Municipal de Balaidos Vigo Spain
  22.08.1992     Estadio del Molinon Gijon Spain
  25.08.1992     Estadio Sao Luis Faro Portugal
  27.08.1992     Campo de Fútbol Municipal Marbella Spain
  29.08.1992     Campo de Fútbol Principe Felipe Cáceres Spain
  31.08.1992     Plaza de Toros Pamplona Spain



September 1992

   01.09.1992     Plaza de Toros Vista Alegre Bilbao Spain
  03.09.1992     Parc Lescure Bordeaux France
  05.09.1992     Stade de L'Ouest Nice France
  07.09.1992     Forum Di Assago Milan Italy
  08.09.1992     Forum Di Assago Milan Italy
  09.09.1992     Forum Di Assago Milan Italy
  10.09.1992     Forum Di Assago Milan Italy
  11.09.1992     Arena Verona Italy
  12.09.1992     Arena Verona Italy
  14.09.1992     Stadio del Baseball Florence Italy
  16.09.1992     Paleur Rome Italy
  17.09.1992     Paleur Rome Italy
  19.09.1992     Stadio Comunale Cava Dei Tirenni (Naples) Italy
  22.09.1992     Halle Tony Garnier Lyon France
  23.09.1992     Halle Tony Garnier Lyon France
  25.09.1992     Stade de Sapiac Montauban France
  26.09.1992     Stade de Sapiac Montauban France
  28.09.1992     Les Arčnes Nîmes France
  29.09.1992     Les Arčnes Nîmes France 



October 1992

   02.10.1992     Palau Sant Jordi Barcelona Spain
  03.10.1992     Palau Sant Jordi Barcelona Spain
  04.10.1992     Palau Sant Jordi Barcelona Spain
  06.10.1992     Plaza de Toros Las Ventas Madrid Spain
  07.10.1992     Plaza de Toros Las Ventas Madrid Spain
  09.10.1992     Estadio de la Romareda Zaragoza Spain



▲ Back to index