Every day, a personality invites itself into the world of Élodie Suigo. Tuesday October 24, 2023: Chris White, saxophonist and former member of Dire Straits, offers a cover show, 20 years after the dissolution of the group: “The Dire Straits Experience”, with 15 dates in France.
Chris White is the saxophonist of the British rock band Dire Straits, created by David and Mark Knopfler, John Illsley and Pick Withers. Dire Straits are one of the biggest rock groups in the world with more than 140 million albums sold. The list of titles that have become global hits is long: Sultans of Swing (1978), Romeo And Juliet (nineteen eighty one), Telegraph Road (1982), Brothers In Arms (1985), Money For Nothing (1988) and most of them have been with us for several decades.
Former member of this legendary group which announced its dissolution more than 20 years ago now, Chris White began creating a cover concert last year: The Dire Straits Experience. This show is back in 2023 with no less than 15 dates in France, including the Olympia on November 19 and 21.
franceinfo: Why did you create this show?
Chris White: We were asked to put the band back together for a charity concert in England, so just a concert. I thought it would just be one show, but that show went really well and people were calling after it asking, “Can you do it again?” And this is where we are. A few years later, it’s incredible. I think we were very lucky that it happened like that.
“I feel very lucky and very happy to be able to play these songs again.”
Chris Whiteat franceinfo
Why the saxophone?
That’s a very good question ! When I was very young, I played the violin for a little while, but I didn’t like it, really not at all. I remember watching TV one evening with my father. Someone came up and played the saxophone and I was like, “Wow, that’s great!” I wanted to do that. The next day, I went to school and told the music teacher that I would really like to play the saxophone. He said, “Oh, I think we have one.” And in a closet, there was a small, old bag, with a soprano saxophone in it. He said, “Take him home, see what you can do.” And that’s how it started.
In 1986, Dire Straits were at the height of their glory with this title Money For Nothing which will become the first video to be shown on MTV in England and with for the first time too Brothers In Arms, the first album to finally be fixed on a brand new discographic medium called the CD. I would like you to tell me about this time.
It was incredible. The tour started like any tour, for maybe six months, and then, as the tour progressed, the album really took off. We ended up playing, about 16 months. The audience grew and it was very exciting. And during this Tour, there was also the Live Aid which helped a lot. It was truly an incredible moment for the band and for all of us individually.
What do you think was the greatest strength of Dire Straits?
Marc Knopfler had written some wonderful songs, he’s an incredible songwriter and an incredible guitarist. If you take the group as a whole, everyone was a very accomplished musician so on stage, there was really an incredible musical energy and I think that’s what the audience saw and was looking for.
“With the members of Dire Straits, we weren’t just trying to play the songs the way they were on the record, we were trying to bring them to life live.”
Chris Whiteat franceinfo
What does it mean to go on stage? To be with this audience, to be able to continue to bring these songs which, often and systematically, are ultimately associated with life memories.
For me, it’s great. I love playing live. Among the people who come to see us, there are two groups. There are people my age and a little younger, who, perhaps, have seen Dire Straits before. For them, it’s a bit nostalgic, it’s something like that. But more and more, we have a lot of people who are barely 20 years old, who perhaps found music on the internet, I don’t know, but in any case, they come. Not for nostalgia, but to experience it for the first time. And I find it incredible and quite surprising and I am very grateful for that.
A word about the French public since you are doing 15 dates in France. Every time, it’s full. There are two Olympias. Does this room speak to you?
I love the Olympia. Yes, absolutely. Our first concert in France was at the Olympia. And it turns out that my career as a solo saxophonist in a group began in France in 1982 or 1983. I played with France Gall and Michel Berger. So I’m always very, very happy to play in France.
The Dire Straits Experience will pass through the Olympia on November 19 and 21, but also in Saint-Omer on November 14, then Amiens on the 15th, in Reims on the 17th, in Le Havre on the 18th, in Brest on the 23rd, in Nice on the 30th etc.