20-July-07 Montreux Concert Review

Night two from Montreux was billed as a Blues Night With Van Morrison... In fact it was broken into one hour sets with Van, followed by Booker T, Dr. John, and a rousing closing from Solomon Burke that didn't end until after 3am! During the Van set, Solomon and Dr. John came on to join Van for a few tunes but otherwise it was an appreviated version of the first show on Wed night with the fine addition of John Allair on keyboards.... Can you imagine that he came in from San Francisco, reportedly because Van asked him to, to perform for one hour and then back to SF? Unless he continues with Van on tour (which isn't the ususal European line-up) it was quite a trip for John. We did meet up with John Platania who invited us back to visit with the band after the show but the ending was a confusing situation as Van was scheduled to re-appear with the other artists, but in fact, was not feeling well and I asked Claude Nobs (the founder of Montreux Jazz Festival) since John wasn't completely sure after their set, what the band would be doing... and Claude told me that Van was not coming back on... So, we headed to the hotel to meet the band but alas, they must have detoured for a bit.

We returned to see an incredible performance by Dr. John after midnight, then Solomon with his entourage of 15 on stage, including son Solomon Jr and daughter and his floral arrangements of roses for all the ladies in the audience. He was awesome as usual... and mentioned recording with Van in Nashville this January for an upcoming release. We also heard of a new Van release this fall -- a blues album... Met up with Niall and Judy and Niall asked that I mention in my post, after the Van set and a rollicking Foggy Mountain Top - "this is why we still bother". In fact, John Platania called me crazy for making the rounds to see all of these shows and if I am, then put me in the asylum because it's all worthwhile to me.

On behalf of the Seltzer Family, Lori, Justin, Kit and myself- this particular adventure is in our personal best file --- Loved Montreux, enjoyed Amersterdam, Prague, France and Switzerland, met Claude Nobs, saw two GREAT Van performances from one of the very best Van bands ever --- and on our way back stateside now....
-Michael Seltzer

Setlist:
1 Did you get healed?
2. Stranded
3. Have I Told You Lately
4. Raincheck
5. Foggy Mountain Top
6. Only a Dream*
7. Fast Train*
8. Blue and Green
9. Good Morning Blues!
10. Precious Time
11. I Can't Stop Loving You
12. Stand By Me

* with Solomon Burke
! with Dr. John