Tuesday, March 8 2005 09:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: British superstar Mark Knopfler, known as the "Sultan of Swing", entertained Bangalore with all-time hits, snapping classical tunes on his trademark guitars, as nearly 20,000 fans turned up to enjoy the music on a cool night.

Winding up his India trip, Knopfler with a band of 30 singers and musicians, thrilled his fans with all-time hits like "Calling Elvis", "What It Is", "Romeo and Juliet", "Sultan of Swing", "Money for Nothing", "So Far Away" and "Done With Bonaparte", as the fans swooned to the thrilling music.

Scores of expatriates from across the South were seen at the Palace grounds for the music of the Glasgow-born Scottish rock-and-roll star as the 100,000 watts of sound gripped the audience.

"To educate your ears, you should have enough reverence for music. You have to know old stuff, get right back into it, know it and feel it," Knopfler had said on his arrival in Bangalore.

A journalist in his hey day, Knopfler became a full-time musician when he formed the band "Dire Straits" in the autumn of 1977, with his brother David, John Iisley (bass) and Pick Withers (drums).

Ever since their first album "Dire Straits" hit the stores in 1978 and took hold of music buffs across the world, their second album "Brothers in Arm" turned out to be an all-time hit in the mid-eighties.