Chicago Concert Review 23-April-06

Wrong songs, wrong room for Van Morrison www.suntimes.com
Wrong songs, wrong room for Van Morrison
April 25, 2006
BY DAVE HOEKSTRA Staff Reporter
Now, here's a country tear-jerker: soul legend Van Morrison mailing in honky-tonk songs in a cold barn like the United Center. That was the unfortunate scene Sunday night when the Belfast Cowboy set up shop to promote "Pay the Devil," his debut for the Lost Highway label.
Backed by a band that included piano, organ, pedal steel and fiddle (but no horns), Morrison sang traditional country like "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" and Webb Pierce's "There Stands the Glass" with the brevity of last call. Van the Man's restless approach to his country songbook indicated something better was down the line.
His "Pay the Devil" songs might have stood up in the intimate setting that breeds great country music -- and original tour dates had Morrison in appropriate settings like the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville (where the mayor proclaimed him an honorary citizen of Music City) and the Masonic Auditorium in his beloved San Francisco. But the United Center? In March, Morrison told Billboard magazine he is not a "big-gig act."
I took it all in from a third-level seat ($69.50 a ticket in Section 334) that was closer to Bobby Hull's retired number banner than it was to Van. From my seat, the sound was unintelligible; the band, which numbered between eight and 13 people, was undistinguishable. I think that long-haired person on dobro and steel guitar was the great Austin, Texas, player Cindy Cashdollar, but from my vantage point it could have been Edgar Winter. I also figured promoters would partition the United Center to make the venue feel warmer, but I was wrong. The venue was filled to about three-fourths capacity.
Even Morrison slam dunks like "Bright Side of the Road" and "Precious Time" suffered through a distorted country-tinged filter -- although Cashdollar (formerly of Asleep at the Wheel) brought a colorful Western swing sensibility to "Moondance," and Morrison nailed the cresting ballad "Stranded," which became a tribute to all of us on the third level. Morrison also drew from his "Veedon Fleece" songbook for a minimalist take on "You Don't Pull No Punches but You Don't Push the River."
Morrison finally began to click when he picked up an acoustic guitar to launch an ambitious journey through "Celtic New Year." His dramatic vamping was immaculate, and subbing a fiddle for horns made perfect sense. By this time, Morrison had performed for an hour, which marked the end of his regular set.
He upped the ante for his encores, beginning with a sluggish Caribbean version of "Brown Eyed Girl," a song covered more passionately these days by Jimmy Buffett. Morrison accented the Tommy Edwards soul hit "It's All in the Game" with a splendid sax solo and then paid passionate tribute to Chicago blues with a gritty version of Muddy Waters' "Hoochie Coochie Man." He roared to a finish with a grungy take on "Gloria" that also would make Chicago's Shadows of Knight proud.
It was obvious Morrison enjoyed these chestnuts more than the country music. I've seen Morrison in all kinds of weird incarnations, playing with Linda Gail Lewis and a throwaway pub band, as well as his 1979 "Into the Music" show at the Park West, when he sang with his back to the audience. Sunday night I longed for those days.
dhoekstra@suntimes.com

www.setlist.com
United Center - Chicago, IL
Keep Mediocrity at Bay, Real Real Gone > You Send Me, They Sold Me Out, Magic Time, Bucket Got a Hole In It, There Stands the Glass, Stop Drinking, Bright Side of the Road, Stranded > Don't Look Back, Moondance, Streets of Arklow > You Don't Pull No Punches But You Don't Push The River, Precious Time, Tear Your Playhouse Down, Celtic New Year, Healing Game, Brown Eyed Girl, All In The Game, Help Me, Hootchie Cootchie Man, Gloria