While Canberra has been left out of the loop in tour dates and places that have been announced for some big artists touring Australia, once upon a time it used to be a happening place for big bands.
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On this day in 1991 The Canberra Times reported on the band Dire Straits playing their hits to a crowd in Bruce.
Dire Straits wasn't the only troubled water on Bruce Stadium.
The band came on stage to the enthusiastic welcome of more than 15,000 faithful fans who clapped with their free hands and held umbrellas with the other.
The rain was relentless as it fell alternatively in sheets and dribbles but never let up.
They came in green garbage bags, Drizabones, armed with golfing umbrellas, but few escaped a soaking in what was billed as the biggest concert Canberra had seen and the last Australian performance in Dire Straits' On Every Street tour.
Spectacle was added to the much-touted light show as the combination of resin and warm bodies created a constant drift of steam.
Dire Straits had donated $50,000 to the drug offensive on their last Australian tour in 1986 and that money had been channelled into Get Real, the project that was aimed at schools and used video clips and rock music to deliver anti drugs and safe sex messages, said Peter Staples (minister for aged, family and health services).
It was no longer a case of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, as increasingly bands and rock stars lent their weight to anti-drug and safe sex promotions.
