‘On the Night’ is a live performance, split between two venues in France and Holland. The French component was staged in a Roman Amphitheatre, which is amazing in itself. As for the music, the sound quality is tremendous. The visuals please the eye in that they don't bounce around every second like they do in a lot of music videos.

Knopfler's music and particularly his guitar work are mesmerizing. On stage, he's rather taciturn, rarely cracking a smile, but really, he can do what he wants if he plays the way he does in this DVD. The 90s youth will remember the moves when these songs were released.

This is a fabulous concert recording. The music, the audio quality, the cinematography, and the production values are superb. Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits were on the band's final tour, and the group was honed to perfection on every level. The musicians, song selection and ambiance combine to make a fantastic whole. Knopfler is shown at the very top of his superb best dynamic, driving, understated, but always with the audience totally captivated. Other musicians include Alan Clarke, Phil Palmer, Guy Fletcher, and pedal steel guitar wizard Paul Franklin. You must watch Paul Franklin’s work on the pedal steel guitar, he rules on the song The Bug. All musicians give stellar performances, with Knopfler highlighting everyone's talents and at the same time leading hot and tight.

Knopfler's guitar style had evolved from ‘Alchemy’ (1984) subtlety, matured in both technique and musicality. The song selection is brilliant, alternating between hard-driving rock and introspective ballads. This DVD doesn't contain many songs, but what it does have are some of Dire Straits' hits from albums such as ‘On Every Street’, ‘Brothers in Arms’ and others. It's great to watch Dire Straits play these songs. Mark Knopfler's guitar playing is great as always, as is his unique voice and singing.

The vocal harmonies on some of the songs Walk Of Life sound excellent. There is a country sound on many tracks, emphasized by Paul Franklin's steel guitar. I quickly tired of the opening rock numbers, Calling Elvis, Heavy Fuel, but the mellow songs that followed made up for it. Mark Knopfler's moody and exquisite songs Romeo and Juliet and Brothers in Arms are here, as are superb versions of little known tunes such as Your Latest Trick, On Every Street and You and Your Friend. The bluesy, country solo of Knopfler in You and Your Friend is one of his best ever. Money for Nothing rocks and Private Investigations have the great guitar explosions at the end while Local Hero (Wild Theme) instrumental is both better in the other Straits live album ‘Alchemy’. Their sax player rocks out, and the slide guitarist is fabulous. Live music lovers will want to have this one in their collection. One of the greatest bands, Dire Straits really provides a great musical feast. Knopfler is indeed one of best guitarists. It's nice to finally have it on DVD as the sound quality is great.

My only criticism of this DVD is that it's too short. The concert tour's song selections could easily have made ‘On the Night’ a full 2-DVD set. The songs are all great. Great concert from a fantastic band. If you like Dire Straits you will not be disappointed.

Rating: *****

Reviewed By Verus Ferreira