# 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.

## 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.

## Release

On the Night was released on 10 May 1993 by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. 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 re-released and expanded for the box set Live 1978-1992. The original songs were remastered by Andrew Walter, while Guy Fletcher newly mixed the songs "Sultans of Swing", "Fade To Black" (inserted between "Private Investigations" and "Your Latest Trick"), "When It Comes To You", "I Think I Love You Too Much" (inserted after "Your Latest Trick"), "Two Young Lovers", "Tunnel of Love" and "Telegraph Road" (inserted before "Money for Nothing"). The new double CD configuration also swaps the order of "On Every Street" and "You and Your Friend". Encores is included as a separate disc in the box set (despite "The Bug" actually not being an encore but usually played before "Private Investigations", as in the DVD tracklist shown below). "Planet of New Orleans", according to Guy Fletcher, "was not performed on the nights that were recorded – as far as I am aware."
The box set marks the first time "I Think I Love You Too Much" was included on a Dire Straits release. The band never put out a studio version; Jeff Healey released it on his album Hell to Pay, while an earlier live performance by Dire Straits (with Eric Clapton) was recorded at the 1990 Knebworth Festival and included on the "various artists" album and video distillation.

## Critical response

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | (CD) |
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."

## Track listing

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

## 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)

## Video

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.

### Track listing

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

### 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

## Certifications

Sales and certifications for On the Night :
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Australia (ARIA) | Gold | 35,000$^^$ |
| Austria (IFPI Austria) | Gold | 25,000$^*$ |
| France (SNEP) | Platinum | 300,000$^*$ |
| Netherlands (NVPI) | Platinum | 100,000$^^$ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | Gold | 7,500$^^$ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE) | Platinum | 100,000$^^$ |
| Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) | Gold | 25,000$^^$ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Gold | 100,000$^‡$ |
| $^*$ Sales figures based on certification alone. $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. $^‡$ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |||