On the Night

On the Night is the second live album by the British rock band Dire Straits, released on 10 May 1993 by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album features many of the band's later hits, including the singles "Walk of Life" and "Money for Nothing". The cover art of the album features dishes of the Very Large Array in central New Mexico.

On the Night
Live album by Dire Straits
Released	10 May 1993
Recorded	May 1992
Venue	Arena of Nîmes, Nîmes, France Feijenoord Stadium, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Length	75:33
Label	Vertigo Warner Bros.(US)
Producer	Guy Fletcher, Neil Dorfsman, Mark Knopfler
Dire Straits chronology
On Every Street (1991) On the Night (1993) Encores (1993)

In November 2023, On the Night was included in the box set anthology Live 1978–1992.

Recording

On the Night was recorded in May 1992 at Les Arenes in Nîmes, France, and at Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, concerts that were part of the On Every Street Tour, which included 216 shows in Europe, North America, and Australia, and sold 7.1 million tickets.^[1]

Release

On the Night comprises two engagements, one from each of the European legs. The first was the three-night stint at the Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam, Holland, and the second a trio of shows at Les Arènes in Nimes, France.^[2] The album was released on 10 May 1993 by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. It was released on compact disc and cassette and pressed in very small numbers for a double LP vinyl record release.

A CD single for "Your Latest Trick" entitled Encores, was released in the UK which included three additional recordings from the tour: "The Bug", "Solid Rock" and "Local Hero - Wild Theme".

The album was remastered and reissued with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 for most of the world outside the United States.

In November 2023, On the Night was included in the box set anthology Live 1978-1992, remastered and expanded to include tracks that were included in the set lists during the tour but left off the original album, remixed by Guy Fletcher. The additional tracks were "Sultans of Swing", "Fade to Black", "When It Comes to You", "I Think I Love You Too Much", "Two Young Lovers", "Tunnel of Love" and "Telegraph Road". The reissue was remastered by Andrew Walter. The track "Planet of New Orleans", according to Guy Fletcher, "was not performed on the nights that were recorded – as far as I am aware."^[3]

Critical response

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	(CD)[4]

In his review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album two out of five stars, writing that the album "works sporadically, offering enough good material to interest fans but not enough to win back the commercial audience earned by Brothers in Arms."^[4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mark Knopfler, except "Money for Nothing" by Knopfler and Sting.

On the Night original CD track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Calling Elvis"	10:25
2.	"Walk of Life"	5:06
3.	"Heavy Fuel"	5:23
4.	"Romeo and Juliet"	10:05
5.	"Private Investigations"	9:43
6.	"Your Latest Trick"	5:35
7.	"On Every Street"	7:01
8.	"You and Your Friend"	6:48
9.	"Money for Nothing"	6:28
10.	"Brothers in Arms"	8:54
Total length:		75:33

Personnel

Dire Straits

• Mark Knopfler – lead guitar, lead vocals
• John Illsley – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Alan Clark – piano, organ, synthesizers
• Guy Fletcher – synthesizers, backing vocals

Other musicians

• Chris White – saxophone, flute, percussion, backing vocals
• Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar
• Phil Palmer – guitar, backing vocals
• Danny Cummings – percussion, backing vocals
• Chris Whitten – drums

Production

• Guy Fletcher – producer
• Neil Dorfsman – producer, engineer, mixing
• Mark Knopfler – producer
• Ronald Prent – assistant engineer
• Peter Brandt – assistant engineer
• Appie van Els – assistant engineer
• Andre den Besten – driver, Eurosound Mobil 4
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Sutton Cooper – artwork
• Paul Cummins – artwork
• Ross Halfin – photography
• Mark Leialoha – photography
• Guido Karp – photography
• Roger Ressmeyer – photography (Science Photo Library)^[5]

Video

On the Night
Video by Dire Straits
Released	11 May 1993 (VHS), 23 November 2004 (DVD)
Recorded	May 1992
Venue	Arena of Nîmes, Nîmes, France Feijenoord Stadium, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Genre	Roots rock
Length	94:00
Label	Universal
Producer	Paul Cummins

On the Night video was released on 11 May 1993 by Universal Music internationally, and included all of the songs from the CD plus three additional tracks: "The Bug", "Solid Rock", and "Wild Theme". "The Bug" was placed between "Romeo and Juliet" and "Private Investigations", while the other two tracks were placed at the end. The three omitted tracks were released separately on the Encores EP. The concert film was released in a PAL-format DVD in the United Kingdom, VideoCD in the Netherlands, and a region-free NTSC DVD importable from Canada on 23 November 2004.^[6]

Track listing

All songs were written by Mark Knopfler, except where indicated.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Calling Elvis"
2.	"Walk of Life"
3.	"Heavy Fuel"
4.	"Romeo and Juliet"
5.	"The Bug"
6.	"Private Investigations"
7.	"Your Latest Trick"
8.	"On Every Street"
9.	"You and Your Friend"
10.	"Money for Nothing" (Mark Knopfler, Gordon Sumner)
11.	"Brothers in Arms"
12.	"Solid Rock"
13.	"Local Hero – Wild Theme"
Total length:		94:00

Personnel

Music

• Mark Knopfler – lead guitar, lead vocals
• John Illsley – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Alan Clark – piano, organ, synthesizers
• Guy Fletcher – synthesizers, backing vocals
• Chris White – saxophone, flute, backing vocals
• Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar
• Phil Palmer – guitar, backing vocals
• Danny Cummings – percussion, backing vocals
• Chris Whitten – drums

Production

• Paul Cummins – producer
• Gilly Tarrant – assistant producer
• Graham Brennan – editor
• Christine Strand – live director
• Robert Collins – live sound engineer
• Chas Herington – lighting design
• Ian Baker – video post production
• Dave Southwood – video post production

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for On the Night Chart (1993) Peak position Australian Albums Chart[7] 5 Austrian Albums Chart[8] 1 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[9] 33 Dutch Albums Chart[10] 2 European Albums Chart[11] 1 French Albums Chart[12] 1 German Albums Chart[13] 7 Hungarian Albums Chart[14] 27 New Zealand Albums Chart[15] 10 Norwegian Albums Chart[16] 5 Portuguese Albums Charts[17] 1 Swedish Albums Chart[18] 14 Swiss Albums Chart[19] 5 UK Albums Chart[20] 4 US Billboard 200[21] 116

Year-end charts 1993 year-end chart performance for On the Night Chart (1993) Rank Austrian Albums Chart[22] 28 Dutch Albums Chart[23] 10 European Albums Chart[24] 18 German Albums Chart[25] 61 Spanish Albums Chart[26] 15

Certifications

Sales and certifications for On the Night

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[27]	Gold	35,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[28]	Gold	25,000*
France (SNEP)[29]	Platinum	300,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[30]	Platinum	100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[31]	Gold	7,500^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[32]	Platinum	100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[33]	Gold	25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[34]	Gold	100,000‡
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.