26-Sep-09 Wells Fargo Theater, Denver Concert Review
Denver Post
Van Morrison was armed well at his Denver concert on Saturday night.

Wearing his ever-present sunglasses, suit and fedora, Morrison switched between a white acoustic guitar and a harmonica, an electric guitar and an alto saxophone during his 90-minute, no-nonsense set at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Saturday.

The time spent with Morrison was hardly as memorable as the artist’s Red Rocks show a few summers back, but longtime fans were pleased as Morrison kicked off the evening (at 8 p.m. sharp, no less) with “Northern Muse (Solid Ground),” “This Love of Mine” and “Fair Play.”

The singer-songwriter catered his performance to the fans who have faithfully followed his music beyond “Brown Eyed Girl,” the fans who enjoy/revel in elongated takes – accented by multiple solos – of “Foreign Window” and “The Mystery.” I’ll admit that I’m not that fan, but still Morrison’s top-notch six-piece band made for an entertaining evening.

The gentleman on the flute/tenor sax/bari sax was a master player who was versatile enough to handle all three of those instruments with aplomb, and the seated acoustic guitarist was a madman who slayed each of his solos and accented Morrison’s playing smartly, ably.

Speaking of the solos, the best part of the show came watching Morrison dole out the solos – with a head-nod here and a finger-point there. You could tell some of it was impromptu, as Morrison would sometimes bark at an unprepared player – the flutist/sax player and the pianist/trumpeter – to pick up his other instrument and join him on an improvisation.

Morrison’s shows are always studies in dynamics, and the loud-soft-loud of his songs is one of his trademarks that, like his hat and glasses, has become a cliché. But Morrison’s cloud-lifted, otherworldly voice never gets old.


That said, Saturday’s setlist, which also included “Queen of the Slipstream,” “All In the Game” and a gorgeous “In the Garden,” wasn’t ideal. It’s not like anybody who paid between $90 and $350 to see Morrison expected to hear “Brown Eyed Girl,” but he could have thrown a couple more familiar bones.

He played fewer than 15 songs, and of those, only two or three were familiar hits – including “Moondance” and the Them track “Gloria.” And of those, Moondance cruised on a sweet backbeat while “Gloria” sounded like a dated anachronism – a shame indeed because it’s one of the strongest songs he’s written to date.
-Ricardo Baca

Here's Rick's review:
OK, so one night after Vegas, with an 8:00 start time instead of 7:00 in a city in which he has usually punched the clock, I was expecting Van to simply mail in tonight's set. What I didn't expect, and what we got, was a Van fan's wet dream. I mean, I suppose it could have been better, he could have encored with a ten minute version of Cyprus Avenue, and at the end screamed "It's too late to stop now", thrown down the mic an stormed off the stage.

But what we did get is a Van who was engaged throughout, great sound, nice sightlines and a show worthy of the ages. The setlist is below. Trust that even though the man never spoke to the audience, he was pointing out solos generously, and letting the band do its thing. Setlist surprises were Little
Village and Philosopher's Stone, but the highlight had to be the extended version of Fair Play, including scat, harmonica and a solo from David Hayes on the stand-up bass that looked like he was making love to it. And one night after an abbreviated "You Know What They're Writing About" when the audience got enthusiastic a little too early, the same thing happened except Van then went straight to the Rainbow in his Soul and Making It Real One More Time and ripped it up.

Oh, and he needed the 90-minute clock, because the show clocked in at 88 minutes. But a sublime 88 minutes it was.
-Rick

Setlist

Northern Muse (Solid Ground)

This Love of Mine

Fair Play

Foreign Window

The Mystery

Queen of the Slipstream

It's All In The Game

In The Garden

Little Village

Moondance

Help Me

Philosopher's Stone

And The Healing Has Begun

Gloria

Big Hand For The Band
Paul Moran
Tony Fitzgibbon
David Hayes
Richie Buckley
Jay Berliner
Bobby Ruggiero

{Images via Erik Kabik}