When Dire Straits were inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame in April, frontman Mark Knopfler, didn’t attend the ceremony, nor did his brother and band co-founder David. And neither Knopfler will be joining keyboardist Alan Clark, drummer Danny Cummings, saxophonist Mel Collins, and guitarist Phil Palmer on tour this September. They will be performing under the DSL Dire Straits Legacy moniker.

“The DSL Dire Straits Legacy project was born from our love and respect for the music of Dire Straits, and to bring the music to fans who have been starved of hearing it played live by the musicians who made it, for far too long,” Clark and Collins write in a statement. “Now, after many requests, we’re coming to the US! Along with all the Dire Straits hits, we’ll also be playing one or two songs from our new album 3 Chord Trick, and a couple of other tunes we’ve been involved with. See you there!”

According to Rolling Stone, Dire Straits bassist John Illsley isn’t into the idea either. Apparently, they were going to call themselves “the Straits” for this iteration. “I said to them, ‘If you’re going to do it, will you please call it something else,’” he told Rolling Stone last year. “‘It would be like some people coming together and calling themselves the Stones or the Floyd. You can’t really do that. You were members of the band for a while, but you don’t own the name. You have no ownership. Can you please it call it something else? Call it what it is, which is basically a tribute act.’ There’s a lot of tribute acts. That’s what happens when there’s a vacuum. You just have to accept that, but I found it very difficult. It didn’t last very long.”

Hopefully Illsley prefers DSL Dire Straits Legacy! I, for one, am glad they clarified the acronym. Heartbreakers’ Steve Ferrone will join the band on drums, along with the Buggles’ Trevor Horn on bass, Marco Caviglia on vocals, and Primiano DiBiase on keyboards. See tour dates below.

Tour dates:
09/26 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
09/28 – Riverside, CA @ Fox Performing Arts Center
09/29 – St. Charles, MO @ Family Arena
10/02 – St. Charles, IL @ Arcada Theatre
10/04 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Parker Playhouse
10/05 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Mahaffey Theater
10/06 – Westbury, NY @ NYCB Theater At Westbury