Thanks for checking out my site! For many years, I am a big fan of the wonderful music by Mark Knopfler, world class guitar player, former frontman of Dire Straits and since 1996 having a very successful solo career. In 1985, my father bought his first (Philips) CD-player and one of the CD's that was played quite often in our home was Brothers in arms by Dire Straits. I loved the music right away and from that moment on, my interest in the band began to grow. Unfortunately, I completely missed the Brothers in arms 1985-1986 world tour and did not see any of these concerts. With Dire Straits taking a long break after that immense tour, I had to wait until the magic moment of 28th September 1991  when I saw my first Dire Straits show in Ahoy Rotterdam, which was part of the huge On every street 1991-1992 world tour. I was blown away and started collecting. I now have all (digital) official released material that I could find, but also many promos, photos, articles, merchandise, tourbooks, etc.

In 1991, I accidently bought my first bootleg Live & Alive in a local record store, which is very unusual. I was delighted to hear a live recording other than the (brilliant!) officially released Alchemy concert and from that moment on my interest in bootlegs was triggered. Big time! I came in contact with other fans and bought various bootleg recordings on cassette tape from a fellow Dutch fan. During the On every street world tour (1991-1992), CD bootlegs could easily be found on record fairs and I bought many interesting bootlegs at that time. The interesting thing for me about bootlegs is that they give me the opportunity to enjoy the complete Dire Straits period from 1977 until 1992, Mark Knopfler solo since 1996 and The Notting Hillbillies from 1990 until 1999. Unlike official CD's, collecting bootlegs seems like a never ending story because there are a lot of them! Listening to these live recordings, it is very interesting to hear how certain songs have developed, how new arrangements are added and of course it is great to enjoy the fantastic live atmosphere. Atmospheres that vary a lot with audiences ranging from about 100 people (Chester, UK 1978) to 102.000 (Auckland, New Zealand 1986. Source: interview with Garry van Egmond, 12th June 2015). Compared to the original live CD's, I think that most bootlegs are often more interesting to listen to because they usually are more complete and nothing is edited or faded out. Above that, some bootlegs contain rarely played songs that can not be found on any other official CD.

I am very pleased to say that I have met some great and friendly fans from all over the world via the Internet and some of them I have met in person at the shows I have been to which was truely a nice experience. Mark Knopfler attracks a great group of dedicated fans!

Well, I hope you enjoy my site and if you have any questions or remarks, please don't hesitate to mail me.

 

All the best,

Jeroen van Tol
The Netherlands