04-Aug-09 Boston Concert Review

Boston Globe
So how does Van Morrison singing Them gems “Mystic Eyes’’ and “Gloria’’ feel almost superfluous? Well, when he does those tunes after a cathartic reading of his “Astral Weeks’’ album.

Morrison and his band ended last night’s concert at the Citi Performing Arts Center’s Wang Theatre with those garage-rock paeans. And he began the show with some wonderfully introspective fare that climaxed with the spiritual knockout “In the Garden.’’

But it was Morrison’s venture back into his classic 1968 album that made the night one to remember.

Morrison first revisited “Astral Weeks,’’ a work conceived around the time he was living in Cambridge, last fall with a pair of concerts at the Hollywood Bowl that became the foundation for a live album.

Since then he has performed “Astral Weeks’’ shows sparingly and has only a handful on the East Coast this month. So without overdoing this at-times delicate, almost-always intricate piece of work, Morrison is giving the best of himself.

At the Wang, he did not simply sing the eight-song cycle; he reclaimed its themes of rebirth and awakening in a manner that dispelled criticisms he has endured over the years for seeming uninterested.

Looking fit and ready to work, Morrison arrived on stage wearing his trademark dark shades, dark hat, and dark blazer and took his place at a baby grand for “Northern Muse (Solid Ground).’’ The songs played ahead of the “Astral Weeks’’ tunes mirrored the tone and nature of the main-event material. “The Mystery’’ and “Hard Nose the Highway’’ allowed Morrison and his nine-piece band to work through vocal and solo intricacies that would later congeal beautifully around such “Astral’’ fare as “Slim Slow Slider’’ and “Sweet Thing,’’ songs that alchemize folk, jazz, and pop.

Morrison, playing guitar, sax, and harmonica, did not ape the beefed-up arrangements heard on the live album, instead reinventing the reinventions.

The song “Astral Weeks’’ here got trimmed and tightened. “Cypress Avenue’’ veered from the baroque pop of the original into a poetic flight of fancy. “The Way Young Lovers Do’’ arrived in sleek, dynamic fashion, sounding like the smash hit it should have been originally.

Morrison dramatically inhabited the songs. But as wild as Van got, his band stayed calm, easily following the leader’s every artistic twitch.

After singing “Madame George,’’ Morrison spoke the elegiac “On Hyndford Street,’’ and that’s in his heart, where the show ended.
-Scott McLennan

Boston Herald
It’s hard for old dudes to do young music. Bruce Springsteen is running out of “Born to Run” moxie. The Rolling Stones haven’t been in “Street Fighting Man” shape for years.

But Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks” - his masterpiece made when he was just into his 20s - was never young music. From the moment Van the Man cut those eight tracks, they were immortal.

Last night at a packed Wang Theatre, Morrison and his nine-piece backing band did all of “Astral Weeks.” It wasn’t that wicked ’68 piece of wax. But it worked.

The Man emerged in black shades, hat and coat, and strapped on a shining white guitar. Plucking out feisty guitar solos and urging his band on with constant waves of his mighty hand, he growled through “Fair Play” and mashed “Streets of Arklow” into “You Don’t Pull No Punches, But You Don’t Push the River.” The three “Veedon Fleece” tunes primed the pump.

With his grand band, Morrison turned the storied LP into something big. He crowded the songs’ intimacy with long solos, swollen arrangements and rumbling, grumbling, tough vocals. Instead of trying to recreate, he interpreted - which is what he’s best at anyway, even with his own catalog.

The title track became less a mystical meditation and more an Irish barn-dance romp. Next, “Slim Slow Sider” (Morrison mixed up the album’s sequence) got the tempo right, but had a fuller sound as Morrison called more and more of his musicians into the mix. For “Beside You” and “Sweet Thing,” the formula was repeated with diminishing returns as each ended with the full band congesting the tunes.

But “Cyprus Avenue,” with its soothing harpsichord and double-bass intro, was rightly balanced. And “Madame George” was the night’s highlight. Finally commanding his band to lay back - no fiddle solos or sax jams - Van the Mystic peeled off those poetic verses.

“Down on Cyprus Avenue,” he called. Then fainter, but bell clear: “With a childlike vision leaping into view/Clicking, clacking of the high heeled shoe/Ford & Fitzroy, Madame George.”

That moment was worth the price of admission. Well, almost. Morrison tickets are as ridiculously steep as ever - you can’t see Van for less than a Benjamin.

But no one seemed to complain as Morrison encored with a classic Them medley - the only thing that got the crowd out of their seats and clapping. “Astral Weeks” is wonderful, but rumblin’, ’60s r&b is a great coda.
-Jed Gottlieb

Boston Music Spotlight
Morrison charms Boston faithful with Astral Weeks
If you came to hear mainstream hits like "Moondance" and "Brown Eyed Girl" you came to the wrong place. But, if you came expecting Van Morrison's best you were happily satisfied. And satisfied one should be with tickets going for several hundred dollars, but apparently Van Morrison shows are recession-proof as the legendary Irish star packed them in for a performance of his 1968 classic Astral Weeks along with some other choice numbers. Morrison is notorious for being off as much as he is on. Luckily, the Boston fans caught him on a night where Van the Man certianly lived up to his knickname.

Morrison started off the show on the piano for "Northern Muse (Solid Ground)" starting the show off on solid ground itself as he quickly exhibited his many vocal abilities from his rambling to his held notes born way down in his powerful frame.

For the rest of the show Morrison, dressed in his usual black coat, hat, and shades, took center stage with his white acoustic guitar belting out tune after tune while running his nine-piece band like a Jazz general as he kept to his improvisation tradition, pointing out band members whom he whished to solo. Violinist Tony Fitzgibbon often got the nod, as he did on "The Mystery" before bassist Dave Hayes took his bassline for a walk at the song's conclusion.

Morrison was animated using his hands to invoke a quick saxophone solo from Richie Buckley before he pumped his arms in anticipation of the drum fills on "Hard Nose The Highway". "Streets of Arklow" then segued into "You Don't Pull No Punches" where Morrison built up the energy with calls for several improvisations from his band before taking the song down to a whisper, getting so he quiet that he was amused enough to chuckle to end the song.

Ready to get to Astral Weeks after "In The Garden", Morrison slightly changed the original track order of the album by playing "Slim Slow Slider" , the last song on the album, after the title track opener. Fitzgibbon played a soft solo in "Slider" but got quite lively soon after during "Sweet Thing". Morrison played his harmonica for the first time during the song before taking it down for another delicate ending. He then did some pickin' along with guitarist Jay Berliner in "Ballerina" which provided one of the best jam sessions of the night.

"Madame George" finished off the Astral Weeks performance as Morrison joked, "Gimme Five!" before many fans rose to their feet in awe. The Man took off after the spoken word "On Hyndford Street" only to return a moment later for a short encore that included portions of both "Mystic Eyes" and "Gloria". The encore was appreciated but definitely felt like an afterthought. However, after Morrison exited for the evening during "Gloria" it did give the fans the chance to show their admiration for his stellar band who each individually answered every call Morrison made while sounding so sonically smooth and effortless as an ensemble.

With ticket prices costing a few Bejamins and a classic, yet commcercially unsuccessful album scheduled to be performed, this Van Morrison show surely was aimed towards the diehard fan. Those diehards who know Van Morrison knew he brought the good stuff and it's performances like this that will make fans feel like it was money well spent.
-Kevin McSheffrey

Also - check out Shannon's Blog for her thoughts on the concert in Boston.

Setlist:
Nothern Muse (Solid Ground)
Fair Play
The Mystery
Hard Nose the Highway
Streets of Arklow>You Don't Pull No Punches
In the Garden
Astral Weeks
Slim Slow Slider
Beside You
Sweet Thing
Cypress Avenue
Way Young Lovers
Ballerina
Madame George
On Hyndford Street
Mystic Eyes>Gloria

Big Hand For The Band!
Tony Fitzgibbon
Richie Buckley
Michael Graham
Terry Adams
Bobby Ruggiero
David Hayes
Jay Berliner
Paul Moran
Rick Schlosser

Thanks to Di For Setlist