It's not easy to begin show for trendy Dire Straits (8)
I believe the answer is:
hardship
'dire straits' is the definition.
'it's not easy to begin show for trendy' is the wordplay.
'it's not easy' becomes 'hard' ('hard' is the opposite to 'easy').
'to begin' suggests taking the first letters.
'for' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'trendy' becomes 'hip' (I've seen this in other clues**).
The initial letter of 'show' is 's'.
'hard'+'s'+'hip'='HARDSHIP'
(Other definitions for hardship that I've seen before include "Adversity, affliction" , "Difficult circumstances" , "Severe privation or suffering" , "Need" , "Austerity - affliction" .)