Minneapolis Concert Review 22-April-06

As his ardent fans have long known, Van Morrison can be, shall we say, difficult BY ROSS RAIHALA
Pop Music Critic
As his ardent fans have long known, Van Morrison can be, shall we say, difficult.
So for his Saturday night gig at the Target Center, that meant a strict start time of 7:30 p.m., no encore and a set list comprised largely of songs unknown to those who don't keep close tabs on Van the Man's ever-expanding catalog. (The guy's got more than three-dozen albums under his belt, and he releases a new one every year.)
For nearly the entire 90-minute show, Morrison stood motionless in front of 7,200 people, moving only when he turned his back to the audience during frequent solos from his 10-piece backing band. And as he was clad in a black suit, black hat and Bono sunglasses, it was impossible to glean even a hint of expression from his face.
One could say his body language was that of someone doing long division while waiting for a bus to go to the dentist's office.
But whenever he opened his mouth, it was — to borrow Morrison's own phrase — magic time. At 60, his voice is every bit as rich, gorgeous and supple as it's ever been. If anything, he sounds more comfortable with his pipes than he did 10 years ago.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he saved his most passionate vocal performances for his newest material. On the road to promote his new country disc, "Pay the Devil," Morrison hit most of the album's high points, shaking off studio-based stuffiness in the process.
His fiery takes on Rodney Crowell's "Till I Gain Control Again" and his original "Playhouse" were worth the price of admission on their own. He also dipped into last year's "Magic Time" for the title track, "Keep Mediocrity at Bay" and "Stranded," a new number that fits in nicely with his best-known classics.
Speaking of his hits, he played a few with something approaching contempt.
During an extended "Moondance," he let his trio of backing singers handle most of the lyrics and actually walked off stage for part of the song. He introduced "Brown Eyed Girl" with a sneering, "Here's the money shot," and trudged through one of his most joyous numbers, "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)," at a pace best described as funereal.
But as long as he's still got that voice, Van the Man can be every bit as difficult as he wants.
Critic Ross Raihala can be reached at rraihala@ pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5553. Read more about the local music scene on his blog, "The Ross Who Knew Too Much," at www.twincities.com.

Another perspective on Minny:
Review sent in from Scott Wooldridge
Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Van Morrison Review
A review of the Van Morrison concert on April 22 in Minneapolis follows. The Minneapolis Star Tribune also printed a (much shorter!) review:
http://www.startribune.com/1374/story/387612.html
At the last minute, I was fortunate to stumble upon a ticket to the Van Morrison concert at the Target Center April 22. I've been a very big Van Morrison fan for a long time, but have never seen him perform live. A combination of Van's reputation for being a temperamental and inconsistent performer, my ambivalence toward big arena shows, and a general lack of opportunity have kept me away from Van shows in the past. But when this chance presented itself, I simply couldn't talk myself out of it.

Which is a lucky thing. For all Van's "difficult artist" rep, he still can be an inspired performer, and for parts of the evening Saturday, he was nothing short of dazzling. He impressed me with his saxophone, harmonica and guitar playing, but of course what everyone came for was his singing, and he remains one of the most exciting live vocalists working today.

Things started slowly; maybe glacially would be a better word. Van came out blowing on the harmonica, but was not exactly a ball of energy. The first song was "Keep Mediocrity at Bay," from the album Magic Time, and some of the crowd knew the song well enough to sing along. (Not me.)

From there Van moved squarely from a mid-temp shuffle to a slow ballad. "Way to fire up the crowd," I thought, but as things turned out it was not a bad strategy; start slow and build momentum.

Van's new album is a collection of old country songs with a few originals thrown in. It's not bad. I've always enjoyed hearing Morrison interpret other people's stuff, and even though R&B and jazz are obviously his first loves, he's clearly had an affinity for C&W too. The problem with the album is that there is a certain sedateness to it. "What he really needs to do," I kept thinking upon hearing it the first time, "is kick these songs in the butt a little."

So it was fun to hear him play the songs live, because that's exactly what he did. "Blue Diamonds," from early in the set, was one where his performance was both looser and edgier than the album version.

The first half of the set moved on, sometimes very good, sometimes kind of bland. Van's band is excellent--as you would expect. The pedal steel/dobro player was very good and made a nice contribution to the overall sound. However, some of the solos--especially in the first half--seemed gratuitous. It's not really necessary to have a guitar solo followed by a fiddle solo followed by a piano solo...

Perhaps the best song on Van's new album is "Till I Gain Control Again," written by Rodney Crowell. On the album, the track is brilliantly sung by Van right up until the very end, where he loses a little control himself, resorting to some guttural scats that dont quite work. But he clearly connects to the song, and Saturday night it was like a light bulb came on when he sung it. Part way through the song, Van uttered one of his most famous phrases: "turn it up!"although it appeared he was talking to the soundman rather than quoting "Caravan." But clearly he was into the music more from this point on. He ended the song with a "yeah!" as an exclamation point.

Van and band then rolled into a good singalong; "Precious Time Keeps Slipping Away." And then Van pulled out the biggest surprise of the night, for me anyhow, when he played "Streets of Arklow" from his Veedon Fleece album. He segued seamlessly into the chorus of the next song on that album "You Don't Pull No Punches but You Don't Push the River." During these two songs, Van played some bluesy guitar licks and generally sang like a man on fire, at one point he even testified: "You got to get right with the river!" For me this was the highlight of the night.

But for a lot of people, the next song possibly topped it, a lively version of "Bright Side of the Road," featuring Van's wonderful Louie Armstrong impersonation. During much of this song, the crowd was on its feet, and Vans sleepy beginning of the night was long forgotten.

Another potential highlight of the night came a few songs later, when Van suddenly launched into the opening of "Jackie Wilson Said." This drew another big cheer from the crowd, but Van's lounge-jazz take on the song was a bit deflating. It was almost like he was a little tired and needed to coast a bit. Just a guess, but it certainly didn't have the fire of the original. Van's sax solo was great, though.

Not long after "Jackie Wilson," Van and band played "Brown Eyed Girl." And although many people were very happy to hear it, this was the low point of the concert for me, because Van reverted back to his "difficult artist" persona when he announced the song by saying, "Here's the money shot, or the cum shot, or whatever they call it."

That's pretty much an exact quote, folks, and although it may have gone over the heads of many people there, I thought it was insulting to his audience to a) introduce a song that way, and b) play a song he obviously didn't want to. A friend of mine, who has been to many Van Morrison concerts, said after the show that Van is kind of trapped, because he knows many people are counting on hearing that song but of course it's long since become boring for him to play it for the six gadzillionith time.

Still, I was pretty put off by the comment. It just seemed, I don't know, juvenile.

It didn't take long for Van to redeem himself, though, because he next played "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," the Bob Dylan composition that Van redefined when he recorded it with Them. The version Saturday night was basically the Them version, and I marveled at how Van can still sing that song and hit all the high notes that he did in '67 or whenever it was he recorded it. Van's voice is a little less nasal now and a little more husky, but it was astonishing to hear him, in a live setting with no studio tricks, hit those high notes and sing the song so flawlessly.

The night ended with "It's All in the Game," Van's classic rendition of an old pre-rock and roll era love song. The arrangement was powerful and emotional, as Van and the band took turns upping the energy of the song. We heard, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Van Morrison!" from the guitar player a few times, as Van stalked off the set in glory, and then it was all over.

No encore, much to the shock and dismay of some of the audience around me. I wasn't surprised; I had read enough about Van to know he doesn't always feel like doing them. But the show had been great, encore or not. Van Morrison had delivered an amazing--if sometimes aggravating--night of music, and I felt lucky to have witnessed it.

www.setlist.com
Target Center - Minneapolis, MN
Keep Mediocrity At Bay, Stranded, They Sold Me Out, Big Blue Diamond, Magic Time, Days Like This, Stop Drinking That Wine, Moondance, In The Midnight, Jackie Wilson Said, You Know Me Better, Precise Time, Gypsy Road, Bright Side Of The Road, What Am I Living For, Playhouse, Brown Eyed Girl, It’s All Over Now Baby Blue, E: All In The Game > You Know What They’re Writing About>rainbow 65 > Make It Real One More Time,