24-Aug-07 Poole Concert Review

Bill's review of the Poole show:

We're in Dorset, on the edge of one of the largest natural harbours in the world, but tonight no foghorn whistles blow. Forget the cry of gulls and the deep-sea swell, as it's a fine summer evening in olde Poole town.

At seven o'clock sharp a singer arrives backstage, clutching a worn old
leather briefcase, muttering something serious, then smiling, he leaves a
silver Mercedes and driver, free to move on, and disappears into the club.

It's been a while; several years have passed, since the man's previous
visit with a certain Linda Gail Lewis. Wasn't that when it all went wrong?
Well tonight expectations are high as a new Van is back with a fresh
combo, and who know where he's heading now.

A surprisingly refreshing Guinness (extra cold) in a quiet Lighthouse bar
begins to work its magic in the waiting game. Eight o'clock sharp take
your seats, old folks, for the show is about to begin. And yes, thank
Christ, drinks are allowed in the full, comfortable, seated theatre.
Musicians wander on stage, back up singers, violin, banjo, a drummer
needing no raised platform, a close, tight group, confined by the
equipment.

Maybe we should have guessed, here he comes now, Chris Farlowe, with a
warm up of sorts, but he is quickly joined by the man himself, who treats
us to some very fine saxophone, and later detailed acoustic guitar.

Despite George Ivan still wearing a tight-buttoned suit, hiding behind
shades and a pork pie hat, a comical figure, he appears relaxed, smiling,
comfortable, and having a pretty good time. The voice, the voice, weighty
bass barreltone healing season'd and glorious.

Between swift exits to the bar for Guinness replenishment, dodging ribald
security festering reliant yellow monkey men who vex the harmless aged
multitude, we are treated to a varied robust tight set that includes the
disappointing Vegas style Have I Told You Lately, a novel bluegrass Bright
Side Of The Road, a mellow Magic Time, Farlowe sounding strangled on
Stranded, a throw away Precious Time, I'm Not Feeling It Anymore, sung
with great feeling, and a predictable goodnight folks Brown Eyed Girl
after the quickest ninety minutes ever.

Bonuses include a surprised Tom Jones (OK, Chris again) duetting on Cry
For Home, a reprise of their big hit. Two great tributes - a Ray Charles
number to die for - in all its majesty - beautifully arranged, pure love,
and a comical Dylan ditty with Chris again helping out to great effect,
for It's All Over Now, Baby Blue.

Other highlights include a Tupelo Honey that was worth the price of
admission on its own, sung with a passion and depth you don't see every
day. Well preserved, and skilfully converted.

Hitching a ride into the night we made haste to The Bricklayers to mull
over the nights events, over frothy pints, buttered scones and crumpets,
footfalls echo in the memory.
An old white horse galloped away in the meadow.

Wonder if anyone taped it. Some of these bootleggers, they make pretty
good stuff.
-Bill N.

Setlist:
I Love My Baby [*, CF]
This Love Of Mine
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately [Las Vegas version]
Early In The Morning (‘Bout The Break Of Day)
Bright Side Of The Road [Satchmo ending]
Cry For Home [CF]
Hey Mr. DJ [CF]
Little Village
I’m Not Feeling It Anymore
Sometimes We Cry [CF]
Stranded [CF]
Playhouse
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Don’t Start Crying Now >Custard Pie
Precious Time [scat ending]
Tupelo Honey [CF]
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue [CF]
Brown Eyed Girl
Stand By Me [CF]

18-Aug-07 Freiburg Concert Review

From Badische Zeitung:

Van Morrison enthuses his fans

View on castle mountain inspires the grand old man:
During the only German show of his European tour Van Morrison proved his
artistic diversity – at the Ganter-Open-Air in Freiburg yesterday.
“Van the Man” remained true to himself: The Irish blues and rock interpreter
who is on stage for more than 40 years met the taste of the audience and
enthused 2100 visitors.
The Northern Irishman stood with hat and suit on stage, he played for just
under 2 hours. The 61 years old singer and songwriters did not center his
performance on his biggest hits. Instead he effortlessly altered musical
styles. From rock he went over to blues, from soul to jazz.

He not only focused on his unmistakable voice, but also resorted to
saxophone, trumpet (?????) and harp.
“These days, I’m doing what I like to do”, the musician said, whose full
name is George Ivan Morrison. For his current European tour he has chosen
“stages with atmosphere”. In Freiburg he played in the patio of the Ganter
brewery. From the stage he looked onto the vineyards at the castle mountain.
Apparently because the mood was right, Morrison played longer than planned:
“I felt good”, he said. That wasn’t always so: During the 70s Morrison
suffered from stage fright. During former tours he several times shortened
his performances and left the stage earlier. Nevertheless, his fans remained
true to him over the years.
As frontman of the rock band Them Morrison had hits like “Gloria”, “Here
Comes the Night” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” in the 60s. As a solo
artist he was in the charts with “Brown-Eyed Girl” and the duet with Cliff
Richard “Whenever God Shines His Light On Me”. The smash hit “Have I Told
You Lately That I Love You” that Rod Stewart had in the 90s is also
Morrison’s song. Morrison tours Europe until the beginning of December. A
show in the US metropolis New York is also planned.


Petra checks in from Germany with her take on the show (Petra's first Van show!)"

Van’s first concert in Freiburg. And my first concert with Van.

The knowledgeable Van fan – called Vanatic – may find this concert review a bit annoying: as a “newcomer” in this community I wouldn’t tell the nuances of recent gigs in Montreux, Glastonbury or Toronto.

What I try to do, however, is to describe what this evening in Freiburg meant to me. And maybe this brings back your memory of what it was like for you when you went “into the music” with Van: “I look upon the world anew and know what’s truly real ..:”

The “Van bug” hit me earlier this year in spring for the first time. Not being aware of the consequences, my husband Uwe discovered “Astral Weeks” on cd in a record shop. Until then, we had several Van Morrison cds of the recent years and liked his music – not more.

After listening to “Astral Weeks” on my new iPod nothing was the same any more – you could even say it changed my life. In the following months Uwe (who has caught the bug in a lighter version, so to speak) succeeded to buy all missing Van cds of the past 43 years. Most of them on Internet auction as used ones as they are out of print these days.

Today around 40 albums with more than 450 songs make my iPod overflow and make me listen to Van each and every day – there is so much left to hear and it’s too late to stop now … A totally new world of great music has opened up to me. And I had to become 50 years old for this experience.

And now Van live in Freiburg – my first live concert with him. Considering the previous months one can imagine how I felt while waiting for it. Sure, I was looking forward to it and couldn’t hardly wait for the day to come. On the other hand – I dreaded it a bit as well: What if my expectations were too high ? Maybe the sound would be horrible, lots of rain to pour down (open air !), Van’s voice barely audible behind the band, he being in bad shape or mood, grumpier than ever ? Or maybe the worst: would it be a mere routine performance without any passion ?

Before I could find any more reasons for sleepless nights, finally the day arrived.

After driving down the 800 km distance from Hamburg to Freiburg the day before the concert we had time to explore the beautiful medieval town of Freiburg in the most southwestern part of Germany, close to the French and Swiss border. We strolled through the colourful farmer’s market and climbed up the 253 steps to the cathedral tower, giving us exercise and overview. The weather looked promising – sunshine, no dark clouds in sight.

Prior to the show we met with some other Van fans in a beer garden close to the Ganter brewery where the concert would take place. Never having met other “Vanatics” before we really enjoyed talking to Harm and his wife (unfortunately I forgot her name – sorry!), with Wolfgang and Jutta, Günter and Rolf. Chatting about music and laughing at funny stories from previous gigs, time went by easily.

Being new in this community we got a briefing from the others: Don’t expect a concert longer than 90 minutes – Van will start exactly on time and close 90 minutes (plus or minus 5 minutes) later. He will not approach the audience directly, no chatting, no contact, no thank you. Well, this is not really encouraging, is it ? But of course I had read a lot of reviews on the internet previously and knew about that … And as I was quite nervous whether Van would really show up I was being assured: he has never canceled a concert recently …

There was some confusion about start time of the concert. Information varied between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Finally, the pre-show started with Van’s guests Shirley Grimes and the Insiders around 6:30. So we knew Van would not be on stage before 8:00 p.m.

The venue seemed a bit odd for me as a newcomer – the experienced Van fans confirmed they had the same feeling when they heard the concert would take place in the centre court of a brewery – does not really sound like an appropriate location for a celebrity like Van … And in fact it looked a bit provincial and prosaic: in the backyard of a brewery where usually beer-barrel loaded vans (!) are parking a provisional stage and folding seats were set up, surrounded by factory walls – by far not as romantic as the Glastonbury Abbey venue, I assume.

Shirley Grimes delivered 10 songs, one of them a-capella. The Irish singer lives in Switzerland. I would describe her style as a mix of Irish folk, pop and R&B. Nice, but nothing exceptional to my opinion. The audience applauded politely, one bold voice even shouting for encores … What we did not get, of course, as the stage had to be prepared for Van from now on.

No surprise: to the minute at 8:00 p.m. Van appears on stage together with his band members. It was a 9-piece band, unfortunately I did not comprehend their names. Assuming that there was no change since the recent gigs there they were Ned Edwards on e-guitar, Sarah Jory on steel guitar, Paul Moran on keyboard and piano, Neal Wilkinson on drums, ? on bass, Crawford Bell on trumpet and Tony Fitzgibbon on violin with Karen Hamill and Janeen Daly as background singers.


First song was “Did Ye Get Healed”, often used as a starter, as I read. Van was blowing on the saxophone on this one and the next two songs to come – great, considering that he has currently no sax player in this band. At the end of this concert he had played himself sax on seven of the songs in total. His voice was powerful and unique as anticipated and definitely gives you the creeps hearing it live for the first time …

The band members played lots of brilliant solos on the songs to follow: there were violin and steel guitar solos on “Only A Dream” and “Back On Top”. “Bright Side Of the Road” sounded new and crisp regardless of being 28 years old, with banjo background and violin solo.

The first highlight for me was a long version of “Little Village” with Van playing guitar and sax and several consecutive solos of the band members. “Early In The Morning” was an atmospheric blues with a frenzied keyboard solo – breathtaking.

“Real Real Gone” led into a few sequences of the old Sam Cooke song “You Send Me” ending with the original tune again.

Of course, I was aware of the 90 minutes total time for us and that there would be two “standard” encores: “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Gloria” – nothing else. What I did not know before was the dizzy tempo of the show giving the enthusiastic audience almost no time to even applaud. I was tempted to shout “Give me a break” just to once breathe deeply between two songs and to digest the latest one. No chance, on and on it went in high speed.

Van seemed to have a cold. From time to time he turned his back to the audience and blew his nose. His voice, however, apparently had not suffered from that, it was extremely powerful and variable with lots of vocal tricks making the enraptured listeners smile. There were surprisingly many young people in the crowd – that’s good, I think.

It was a marvelous night for a moondance and darkness had set in just in time when the suitable song had its appearance. A very lovely star spangled sky was projected onto the black stage background. “Moondance” this time was an unusual version which I did not recognize from start although having heard so many versions before. Van playing sax and piano and the excellent background singers doing a beautiful solo. Nice show.

“Precious Time” was a joyful, subdued swinging country version this time with Van smiling (!) to the band when singing “queen for a day” instead of “king for a day” throughout the song. An insider joke ??

“Saint James Infirmary” is not one of my favourite songs with its sombre lyrics and too much horn noise. But I must admit this was a sublime performance with Van himself blowing the sax and a piercing trumpet solo – just flawless.

The next two songs were the surprise of the evening for me. At least I was not aware Van would perform those ones live these days. The first one was “Star Of The County Down”, in original played with The Chieftains on “Irish Heartbeat”. In absence of the Irish instruments this time with sax and trumpet instead and still sounding very Irish and beautiful …

Now “Wild Night” from “Tupelo Honey”, supported by a furious light show. I would have assumed this hot song could be sung by a young Van only, as done 36 years ago. But even now with a 61 years old Van it was just great thrilling noise and fun.

This brings us to the last “regular” songs of this night, the Sonny Boy Williamson song “Help Me”. Van seems to like this one in particular, being one his concert standards since 1973. “Bring me my nightshirt …” suggests the evening might be over soon.

And in fact: the standard encores “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Gloria” make everybody jump off their seats and sing while Van is stepping slowly off the stage, blowing his harp … It’s all over now …

Leaving the crowd “in wild wonder” - applauding, shouting, booing and whistling ear-deafening, in particular when realizing they won’t get any more – a great concert is over.


And me? Am I satisfied or did I even get healed? No doubt – it was a sublime performance of “the man” and his excellent band. And it was worth in any case the long trip from Hamburg to Freiburg just for these 90 minutes. Just one sad remark: Van did not play my favorite kind of songs, the ones where he sounds so desperate and passionate and building up an almost unbearable tension for the listener just by singing. Like “Ancient Highway” or “In The Garden” or “You Know What They Are Writing About”. Or the beautiful dreamy long songs like “Summertime In England”, “So Quiet In Here”.

You can’t have it all. And it was still a fantabulous night in Freiburg with Van.

Set List:

1. Did Ye Get Healed ?
2. Have I Told You Lately (“Las Vegas Version”)
3. Magic Time
4. Big Blue Diamonds
5. Bright Side Of The Road
6. Only A Dream
7. Back On Top
8. Little Village
9. Early In The Morning
10. Real Real Gone / You Send Me
11. I Can’t Stop Loving You
12. Moondance
13. Blue And Green
14. Precious Time
15. Saint James Infirmary
16. Star Of the County Down
17. Wild Night
18. Help Me
19. Brown Eyed Girl
20. Gloria

Van's Catalogue Available On iTunes 03-Sep-07

Beginning September 3, 2007.

4 albums a week.

All of Van's Album releases 1971-2002.

Exclusively on iTunes.

10-Aug-07 Glastonbury Concert Review

Pat was at the Glastonbury gig and put his review on his blog:

The big day had arrived.I threw back the curtains and the sun shone through."Fecking brilliant", I thought. I gave the fish Country Joe, Justin, Dude, Dirt, and Colleen a good feed and said cheerio to our faithful cat Murphy. We set out on one of the worlds great train journeys, Westbury to Castle Cary, it took 18 minutes. Thirsty after the epic journey we had lunch in a country pub and got a taxi to our hotel. It was the Meare Manor Hotel which used to be the home of the Abbots of Glastonbury. We were in the Lancelot suite with four poster bed and jacuzzi style bath etc, very nice.We chilled out for the afternoon and i tried a local beer called 'Lady Of The Lake'. At 5.30 our taxi arrived to take us into town. Thousands of fans were already queuing up to see Van The Man at the Abbey.

We went in the 'George And Pilgrim' pub which is one of the oldest pubs in England and crawling with ghosts.Simon had organised a get together of the Van fans. Because of the smoking ban though we had to keep going outside for a ciggie. Then showtime arrived.

The Abbey Ruins was once the most magnificent religious edifice in Britain. It stood on 12 hides of land (the symbolic measure of the New Jerusalem as described by St John in Revelation 21), and originally given to Joseph of Arimathea and the 12 Saints. The Abbey was built according to a prehistoric arcance tradition of sacred geometry known to the masons of the Middle Ages. The proportions of the Abbey relate to the principle numbers of the magic square of the sun. These numbers symbolize various aspects of solar energy and were also used in the construction of Stonehenge, of which the Abbey was spiritual successor. King Arthur was buried in the graveyard of Glastonbury Abbey south of the Lady Chapel, at a great depth, between two monumental pillars.

Prompted by hints and rumours, the monks excavated the spot. They dug down seven feet and unearthed a stone slab. Under it was a lead cross about a foot long, with a Latin inscription: "Hic iacet sepultus inclitus rex arturius in insula avalonia", "Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur in the Isle of Avalon". Some smaller bones, and a scrap of hair that crumbled away when touched, were explained as Guinevere's. The bones were placed in caskets, and in 1278 they were transferred, during a state visit by Edward I, to a black marble tomb before the high altar of the main Abbey church. There they remained until the Abbey was vandalized after the dissolution. No one has seen or heard of them since. Legend proclaims that after Arthur's death, a powerful spirit haunted the ruins of the Abbey, appearing as a black-armoured knight with glowing red eyes and a burning desire to eradicate all records of the ancient Arthurian legends which is why, it is said, that those seeking to discover the truth find so few facts available. Today a notice board marks the spot of Arthur's final resting-place. Occasionally people lay flowers there to honour this mighty King whose life and death gave birth to so many myths and legends. These mystical tales that still envelope Glastonbury Abbey in a cloak of mystery, add to its profoundly rich and timeless history.Glastonbury and Avalon have been a great source of inspiration to Van Morrison who was a well known figure in the area. Avalon Sunset, Common One and Enlightenment all have reference to Avalon. So it was particularly apt that Van should play in the Abbey grounds which is indeed a haunt of ancient peace.

We had a nice picnic while listening to Corinne Bailey Rae who is a sultry young soul singer and i thought she was really good although I'm not that familiar with her music. Twenty minutes after she finished Van came on stage.

As soon as the first notes of DID YE GET HEALED? started i knew we were in for a special night. It was great and we cleared away the picnic stuff and headed for the front. MAGIC TIME was next and Van sang this brilliantly as well. HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY followed and it was the dreaded Las Vegas version which i can't abide but not to worry. The next song was INTO THE MYSTIC one of the best songs in history, it was superb and especially moving being performed in the mystical surroundings of Glastonbury Abbey. I mean what more do you need?. PLAYHOUSE was next and this song is one of my least favourite songs from Pay The Devil but i must say that Sarah Jory excelled herself on this song. She is quite brilliant.RAINCHECK was next and it was great as well.The next song I CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU went down a storm with the audience who loved it.One thing i noticed about this audience was there was lots of youngsters there which is a good sign.I didn't recognise the next song which was BABY, WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO? (or something like that). Simon told me later that it was a Jimmy Reed song. Van went back into the archives on the next song DON'T START CRYING NOW/CUSTARD PIE.

STRANDED was next, one of Van's best songs of recent years, it was performed beautifully with some lovely piano playing as well.What a great band Van has at the moment. MOONDANCE was next and the audience loved it. I am a bit bored with it but its one of the songs which make the concerts possible so who am i to complain. ST JAMES INFIRMARY was next, a song i have never really liked but some people like it. Things livened up for STOP DRINKING THAT WINE, SONNY BOY. It got all the audience dancing and its a lot of fun.BEAUTY OF THE DAYS GONE BY was next and it was really excellent. PRECIOUS TIME followed and I'm getting a bit fed up with it now but i suppose the audience liked it.


The next song though made the whole evening worthwhile and one of Van's best ever songs which i don't think i have heard him perform before TUPELO HONEY.This song is tailor made for this present band and Sarah was quite sublime on this song. The great songs continued with WHY MUST I ALWAYS EXPLAIN.

The concert ended with BROWN EYED GIRL and GLORIA which is what the crowd wanted to hear. The sun was setting over Avalon as a huge firework display ended the concert in spectacular style. Overall i thought it was a quite brilliant performance in very special surroundings and meeting up with some great friends made it even more special.

The next afternoon in the George And Pilgrim we got chatting to the owner of the Gothic Image bookshop which has been in the High Street for 30 years and sells all sorts of weird and wonderful books and music. He was in there with his friends and I told them about my blog page and they said they wanted to read my review so this is for you.It was nice meeting you.
Cheers, Pat.

Van Morrison gets great again:

So, one of the wettest summers around and the prospect of Van Morrison playing outdoors. You’d either be a very smug pessimist or an off the register optimist to be viewing that with any enthusiasm. And yet . . .
The man defied all expectations and turned in a stonker of a performance. Now don’t be daft, there was no smiling or audience banter or playing late into the night but clearly there was something going on. Maybe this had something to do with his inspired band which in addition to the usual keyboards, guitar, small brass section also included violin and a selection of slide instruments – dobro, pedal steel and straight electric slide guitar. The connection between all the band and their leader but especially between the pedal steel and violin was something to hear enabling solos from one instrument to continue on with the other fairly seamlessly. Coupled with some interesting oldies – Into the Mystic anyone? – brought the house down. Except it was outdoors and the abbey had already been pulled down several hundred years previously. One particular highlight was the seeming question of “what do you want me to do”? which, before a stunned audience could hit him with requests, turned out to be the instruction to the band for the next song – and very fine it turned out too. As did
the weather. Needless to say, for the finale we got a ripping version of Gloria (well there always is one, it’s how you know he’s about to leg it) and then there were fireworks to take our minds off the fact that he wasn’t coming back after that (he never does – so don’t go calling out for Gloria early in a set or you might find yourself short-changed). Fantastic, an addition to the list of Van Morrison shows that you can recall with joy – I have a vague memory his performance at Knebworth back in ‘74 was similarly impressive but we were all younger then.

St. James Infirmary

And an honourable mention for Corinne Bailey Rae who did a sterling job of performing whilst everyone stuffed their faces – she deserved better but you can’t interfere with a picnic when the sun’s shining. Those Glastonbury events just keep on getting better. But have you noticed how no-one sits on the ground any more? Time was that you stood up and danced – in a reserved English style or an off your face deranged way (the latter guaranteeing lots of space around you) or you just keeled over on the ground. Ah, the dangerous edge of rock and roll replaced by comfort. Bring on the nurses.

Setlist:
Did Ye Get Healed? > Yeh Yeh [instr.]
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately [Las Vegas version]
Into The Mystic
Playhouse
Raincheck
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Baby What You Want Me To Do
Don’t Start Crying Now
Stranded
Moondance
Saint James Infirmary
Stop Drinking
The Beauty Of The Days Gone By
Precious Time
Tupelo Honey
Why Must I Always Explain?
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

USA Today Interview (2005)

Here is an interview Van did in 2005 with USA Today:

Van Morrison's 60th birthday is a month away, and while aging does instill a sense of urgency in his creative life, he's not feeling any anxiety about the milestone.

"Not yet, because I'm still 59," he says matter-of-factly. "I can wait."

The legendary Irish singer has never been in a hurry to catch up with the times. The current Magic Time, Morrison's 38th solo release, is his third album in four years to pay homage to the blues and jazz roots that fired his youthful imagination and inspired him to start a recording career 40 years ago.

In 2002, Down the Road stole retro glances at jazz, soul and folk, and 2003's jazz-leaning What's Wrong with This Picture echoed those passions. On Magic Time, he again reaches back, covering Fats Waller's Lonely and Blue, submitting a jaunty, scat-peppered I'm Confessin' and giving a big-band makeover to This Love of Mine. The bluesy Stranded has a doo-wop feel, and the title track is a soulful waltz.

Morrison dismisses modern pop as "too diluted" and prefers mining the '50s and '60s because "that's still the era where the best music was happening," he says by phone from Derry, Northern Ireland.

"It's something I keep referring to, because nothing's ever been as good as that musically."

As a teen, he was particularly swept away by the recordings of Ray Charles, whose death last year "affected me so much on so many levels," says Morrison, who joined him on Crazy Love for the R&B giant's swansong album of duets, Genius Loves Company. "I don't think I would have become a singer if it wasn't for hearing Ray, him being such an inspiration over the years."

Like his other recent albums, Magic Time was culled from a backlog of recordings rather than plotted as a separate entity.

"I never was able to get all the stuff out that I was producing," Morrison says. "It's now accumulated into quite a bit of unreleased stuff. When I have something I want to do, I just lay it down and it goes in the can.

"I'm never really making one record. I decide what to put out from a pool of a lot of tracks."

At the deep end of that pool are long-dormant recordings Morrison hopes to compile into a series called The Unreleased Masters.

"It's an ongoing project that I work on when I get the time," he says. "It's too early to say, but we might get one out in October, some stuff from the early '70s. A lot of the stuff I've forgotten about. I actually don't remember doing it because there was a lot happening and these weren't the mainline records that came out. So it's very exciting for me. It's fresh and new because I haven't heard it in so long."

Though Magic addresses recurring themes — a scorn for corporate swindlers, a desire for privacy — Morrison says the songs are not a window into his world.

"It's quasi-autobiographical," he says. "There's stuff I'm picking up from other places as well. That's the songwriting process. Sometimes you don't remember where you picked things up because it goes into your subconscious and comes out at a later date."

They Sold Me Out sounds like another swipe at the music industry, but Morrison backs away from that interpretation.

"I don't really have anything against the music business," he says. "I'm independent, right? To me, it's an archetypical story. It's not just about me. It's probably happened to everyone who's tried to be an artist."

Likewise, he distances himself from the sentiments in Just Like Greta, a tune that name-drops Greta Garbo in expressing a yearning for solitude.

"That's more literal to a movie star than to me," he says. "It's not to be taken literally."

The notoriously aloof singer not only rejects trappings of celebrity, but he also refuses to concede that he is a celebrity, despite four decades of stardom. He seldom reveals personal details, even to refute rumors or flawed biographies "written by third-party observers or so-called friends who are mainly losers. That's my only comment on that."

Asked to expand on a line in Keep Mediocrity at Bay that says politics, religion and superstition go hand in hand, Morrison says simply, "I'm apolitical."

Pause.

"Well, you can't totally stay out of it if you live on planet Earth," he says. "Get on with what you do; that's what the song is saying. Keep out of the way of as much B.S. as you can."

Morrison's reticence and his distrust of modernity played roles in long delaying his official Web site. It was launched recently at www.vanmorrison.com.

He contributed zilch.

"I'm not involved in the Web site at all," he says. "I just authorized it because it gives me more independence for products. I'm not interested in Web sites."

It's safe to presume, then, that Morrison is not an Internet surfer.

"Dead right."

That brings us back to those aging twinges.

"Getting older kind of makes you sharper about what you want to do and how much time you've got to do it," he says. "I don't want to waste time."

Watch Van Perform 'Blue & Green' At Montreux

Watch Van and the band perform Blue & Green at the recent Montreux Jazz Festival.

‘Blue And Green’ is a hidden gem found on Van Morrison’s new album 'The Best Of Van Morrison Volume 3'. Currently getting heavy rotation on radio stations across the UK, this blues tinged treasure is available to watch in full in the Members area of this site along with other exclusive items.

(You must register first in order to view)

28-Jul-07 Maryport Concert Review

Cumberland News:
Van-loads of blues, but where were the golden
oldies?

Watch out! Cumbria is rapidly becoming a by-word for excellence on the live music and festival circuit.

Keswick Jazz Festival held earlier in the year has become an attractive proposition to internationally-renowned jazz artists; Brampton Live, held only a couple of weeks ago, is attracting big names such as Steve Earle; and Solfest is going to be massive – I just know it. Bands like the Proclaimers and The Levellers are paving the way for others to follow.

One of the first and original of these “weekenders” is the Maryport Blues Festival.

Now in its ninth year, the blues festival has attracted the biggest names yet to the realms of west Cumbria; the biggest of these so far being Van
Morrison, who last played in Cumbria at the Sands Centre in Carlisle in 2000.

It is almost unreal to be able to pop along to Maryport to watch one of the biggest names in music play a gig there. Winner of a Grammy award, with a career spanning five decades and over 20 albums, Belfast-born Van Morrison OBE, was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2003, and has a permanent place in the 100 greatest artists, musicians and singers of all time. He was also, at
one time, best buddies with the late, great Jim Morrison of The Doors.

Van Morrison appeared on stage in front of a capacity crowd in the main stage marquee of the blues festival; around 2,000 people, the largest crowd of the festival ever, were there to watch a 90-minute performance that was not a collection of Van the Man’s greatest hits, or most well known songs, but a connoisseur’s concert featuring some of Van’s vast repertoire of songs performed by a backing band that was very slick and professional,
containing excellent musicians and vocalists. Van Morrison’s voice was as powerful as ever, and his vocal range and delivery live are very impressive. The only thing he lacks is any kind of communication or repartee with the audience – he never spoke all night, and even turned his back to the crowd when he’d finished his singing parts.

The only recognisable songs to someone not familiar with his entire back catalogue were a cover of Don Gibson’s I Can’t Stop Loving You and his final song of the night - which also got the loudest cheer, and had the most people dancing, which was Gloria from 1964.

As this was a Blues festival, it is understandable that Van the Man should play his more bluesy material.

However, they all tended to sound pretty much the same. For the popular music fan, paying upwards from £50 for a ticket, it was disappointing that he didn’t play his better-known songs, such as Brown Eyed Girl and Moondance – after all, they are what people expect to hear, and they do fit into the R&B genre.

This disappointment aside, it was a very enjoyable experience; but next time, even though he refuses to become what he calls a “nostalgia act”, I would rather see Van Morrison on a greatest hits tour.

-PAUL JOHNSON

Time & Star:
THE Maryport Blues Festival was, in a word, outstanding!

A huge thank you is due to all of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ who organised the weekend, and to the rest of the people who made it run so well.

For us, the hidden gems of the event were Eric Bibb, Harper and Never the Bride, though there wasn’t a bad act anywhere in the marquee.

In our opinion, Gary Moore deserves the Eric Sardinas awards for gratuitous use of volume and self indulgence, as well as the Mike Sanchez award for quantity of perspiration. The iconic Van Morrison performed with an exceptionally gifted band, though he still has a few issues with
relating to his audience.

Finally, although some of the acts could be said to only have a passing connection with blues music, all of them produced very enjoyable and rewarding sets.

These performances will stay in the mind for a long while to come. Roll on 2008!

-TIM NICHOLLS AND TONY TERRY

Setlist:
All Work And No Play
Talk Is Cheap
Don’t Worry About A Thing
Don’t You Make Me High
Playhouse
In The Midnight
Stop Drinking
Foggy Mountain Top
Dead Or Alive
Blue And Green
Goin’ Down Geneva > Brand New Cadillac
Little Village
Whinin’ Boy Moan
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Don’t Start Crying Now > Custard Pie
Help Me
Gloria