31-August-2025
Waterfront Hall
 Belfast, Northern Ireland  

Brendan Hynes once again shares his thoughts on gig

Van Morrison at Waterfront Hall, Belfast, 31st August, 2025
Tonight's show didn't deviate markedly in content from the previous night but with a couple of different special guests present. After opening once again with Into The Mystic and Only A Dream Van said that the next song was going to feature Dana Masters and she certainly rose to the challenge with a fine vocal contribution to Symphony Sid which got a well deserved ovation from the audience. Little Village which followed was once again a major highlight with nice flugelhorn and trumpet solos from Chris White and Matt Holland and an extended saxophone solo from Van towards it's ending.

Chris Farlowe joined Van for Ain't Gonna Moan No More which got the " one more time" instruction from Van before a really good version of It's All Over Now Baby Blue which worked very well. Back To Writing Love Songs and The Only Love I Ever Need Is Yours from the new album received another airing and were well received. Van was a mine of information in introducing For Mr. Thomas as he outlined the background to how it came to be written which involved the writer Robin Williamson going into a fish and chip shop in the USA before going on to a venue frequented by the likes of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg whereupon he read a newspaper page containing references to Dylan Thomas and this provided the inspiration for the lyrics. I'm sure Robin would have appreciated Van's fine rendition!

Van was joined by Kevin Burke who Van said was going to give us some jazz education for Broken Record. After initially leading the audience in some Van birthday celebrations with Van saying "you set me up!" Kevin not only sang some of the vocals but also did some scatting which included his apparent party piece of doing a vocal impression of a trumpet solo which included him waving his hat in front of the imaginary trumpet for greater sound effect no doubt! It was quite impressive and the audience was greatly amused. Crazy Jane On God was very good once again with Dana Masters and Jolene O' Hara contributing beautiful backing vocals. The final special guest was Ronnie Wood from The Rolling Stones and rather appropriately And It Stoned Me was performed which was a real highlight of the show. Van said it was Ronnie who chose the song to which Ronnie replied that he loves the song. Ronnie also joined Van on the medley of Who Do You Love/ Mona/ Not Fade Away after which Van rather surprisingly shuffled off the stage as he had only been on stage for just over an hour. It was obviously just for effect as he quickly returned alongside Chris Farlowe for a great rendition of Stand By Me on which the brass section excelled. Stormy Monday followed with Ronnie Wood returning to the stage and with Kevin Burke also joining in for Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket.

Unsurprisingly Gloria brought proceedings to an end with Van introducing all the band members and guests including a reference to Sticky Wicket on "percussion and personality" which is quite an accolade! The extended band solos included a moving version of Happy Birthday on trumpet by Matt Holland which the audience joined in with before Jolene O' Hara hit some incredibly high pitched notes with her vocals to huge acclaim.
-Brendan Hynes

Set List 
Into The Mystic 
Only A Dream 
Symphony Sid
Little Village
Ain't Gonna Moan No More (w/Chris Farlowe)
It's All Over Now Baby Blue (w/Chris Farlowe)
Back To Writing Love Songs 
The Only Love I Ever Need Is Yours 
For Mr. Thomas
Broken Record (w/Kevin Burke)
Crazy Jane On God 
And It Stoned Me (w/Ronnie Wood)
Who Do You Love/Mona/Not Fade Away (w/ Ronnie Wood)
Stand By Me (w/Chris Farlowe)
Stormy Monday/ Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket (w/Chris Farlowe/Ronnie Wood who were  joined by Kevin Burke on second song)
Gloria 

Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Nicky Scott (Bass)
Alan 'Sticky' Wicket (Percussion)
John McCullough (Keyboards)
Matt Holland (Trumpet)
Neal Wilkinson (Drums)
Dana Masters (Vocals)
Jolene O'Hara (Vocals)
Christopher White (Saxophone)

Set Time: 1Hr 39Min