30-Apr-10 Bass Concert Hall, Austin Concert Review
Austin360:
Van the Jazzman Band Director showed up at Bass Concert Hall, apparently in a good mood and rested from six months off the road. His planned January restart in Texas was delayed until Friday night, with exhaustion cited, but the wait paid musical dividends.
In strong, mostly clear voice, the always unpredictable Van Morrison pleased the crowd right away with his “Brown Eyed Girl” hit at the piano, followed by “Moondance” on a saxophone. Then he stepped into his conductor role for the rest of the evening, pointing to each band member for repeated solos and often turning his back to the audience.
The jazzy renditions of not-so-well-known songs sounded well rehearsed. Improvisation must have been banned on this tour, but Morrison’s scatting provided just enough free flow to the songs that honored reflective quietude.
With a lesser band, that might have been disappointing. But these crackerjack players, particularly on weeping violin and soulful horns, worked wonders with the many slow songs. Van the Man would not be shouting G-L-O-R-I-A this night.
Nor did he name the musicians. Nor did he say a word to the audience, not a thank you for the standing applause after his harmonica-driven “The Philosopher’s Stone” or even just for buying $85-$350 tickets. He makes Dylan look chatty on stage by comparison.
Some of the players Morrison held over from his 2008 experiment at the Hollywood Bowl when he performed all of 1968’s “Astral Weeks” in front of a larger band with strings and chorus. That album produced no hits but set the meditative, chanting jazz style that Morrison employed so well at Bass without playing a single “Astral Weeks” song. He saved his bluesy, R&B self for another time.
Austin fans have proved their loyalty to Morrison over and over, from 1974’s appearance at the Armadillo World Headquarters to 2006’s Austin City Limits Music Festival. But after his Austin Music Hall show in 2008 some fans muttered about high tickets prices, few classic songs and no encore. They wondered what his next stop here might be like.
Near the end of Friday’s 16th song — the who-knows-this-one “On Hyndford Street” — Morrison exited the stage blowing his harmonica. The hall lights came on. No complaints heard. Van, still The Man after more than four decades of performing, and a band of serious pros had delivered satisfying goods.
-Ed Crowell
Van put on a great performance last night at Bass Concert Hall in Austin, TX, his first show in 6 months. The 7 piece band was all dressed in black suits and Van was in an all white suit and hat. He started a few minutes after 8pm and went straight to the piano for the 1st two songs. Not quite knowing what show to expect after such a long break, it turned out to be quite a show for the hard core aficionados. Casual fans got a few hits such as Brown Eyed Girl, Moondance and Have I Told You Lately? However, the bulk of the show was reserved for deep album cuts.
It was hard to hard to make out the words to Fair Play for quite a while as he wasn't enunciating them very well. It turned out to be a lovely version that stretched out with an extended coda. Three more deep cuts followed that threw me for a loop even though I have about 25 of his CDs. I'm not familiar with Higher Than the World or The Mystery and I'm sure they stumped the majority of the crowd. I was surprised to hear Keep it Simple and Playhouse as he's not really promoting those two records anymore. In the Garden was a major highlight with its No Guru No Method No Teacher refrain repeated to great effect. Philosopher's Stone was another major highlight of the show, with a full band sound that elevated the show once more.
Van didn't speak to the crowd all night or introduce the band, which was primarily the same band as on the Astral Weeks Live DVD, the bonus tracks at least. Before one song he barked out "Let's Go!" to the band. During most songs the individual members were given room to shine with solos of their own. Van played sax on several songs and harp on a few as well. He walked off stage without saying goodbye and left the band to finish with the drummer saying "Vaaan Morrrsion" a time or two. The show lasted about 90-95 minutes. All in all, a very strong performance for fans looking for more than a greatest hits show.
-Tom Friedrich
Austin, TX
Jack's review:
Show started late at 8:05,solid ground kicked off the festivities followed by beg,nice version of moondance,then a real highlight fair play( not heard live before)after that my memory is blurred but other songs in the set list were:it's all in the game,higher than the world,in the garden,keep it simple,new song (lonely with a gun(?),healing has begun,philosophers stone,help me,hityl,playhouse,maybe a song or two that i cant remember and ended with hyndford street, show ended at 9.45,lights went on and no encore, sound was real nice,bass concert hall sits about 3000 and was sold out, 7 piece band that was never introduced,drummer,keyboards,bass,violinist,horns,guitarist and van who played piano,guitars,sax and harp on every song,few miscues early on as this was 1st show of year and current tour,all this should be worked out as tour progresses and in my opinion all will be well by new orleans and beyond,van in white slacks,white jacket and white hat with sunglasses, only got mad at guitarist and keyboard player twice during the show,no interaction with the audience as usual, not the best show ever but certainly worthwhile and enjoyable in my humble opinion, tshirts were available in the lobby
-Jack
Here's Wally's take:
I was there. My 3rd Van show ever. Long time fan. Thought it was fantastic. A few slight moments seemed like a rehearsal but overall - amazing. Van was in great form. Started with Solid Ground then BEG. Didn't write a full set list but he played Fair Play, Moondance, Have I Told You Lately, And the Healing Has Begun, Playhouse, In the Garden, Who Was That Masked Man?, and a few others.
Setlist
1. Northern Muse (Solid Ground)
2. Brown Eyed Girl
3. Moondance
4. Fair Play
5. Who Was That Masked Man
6. Higher Than The World
7. The Mystery
8. Keep It Simple
9. In The Garden
10. Have I Told You Lately?
11. Philosopher's Stone
12. It's All In The Game
13. Playhouse
14. Help Me
15. And The Healing Has Begun
16. On Hyndford Street
Big Hand For The Band!
Jay Berliner-electric guitar
6 comments:
I was there too. I thought the band sounded great but it kind of reminded me of a jam session. He had no connection to the audience, never looked at them, never smiled and not once said "thank you for coming" but maybe he's an eccentric self indulgent guy. He was in good voice, with his signature mush mouth unintelligible lyrics and terrific instrument playing but I left hearing others say "that was the strangest concert I've ever been to." I have to agree whole heartedly. For the price of tickets, I think it fell short of people getting their money's worth. Luckily, we won tickets on a radio show, so we got in for free. Maybe I'm not enough of a fan but I was really disappointed.
I'll be at Jazz Fest tomorrow...in the rain probably...and hope to hear a similar set of music. I've seen Van three times and would love to hear Fair Play, In the Garden, The Mystery and Higher Than the World.
I'll let you know how the Man does in the heat and rain in New Orleans.
A setlist I would have loved to listen to ... When is it Van performed last 'Higher Than The World', 'Fair Play' and - most of all - 'Who Was That Masked Man' ? And I longed to hear 'In The Garden' during the past years ... And then 'On Hyndford Street' as last song - that's a sensation ! I'm just afraid the audience expected something else ... The hardcore fans worldwide would have given a lot to be there Friday night !
I'm going to see Van for the first time this Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale. I came to this website to see the setlist. I was hoping to get about 75% greatest hits and the rest deep cuts but knowing the rumors about his shows - this is not the case. I've been a Dylan fan for years and his shows are the same, half hits, half songs you'd rather not hear. It's kinda a shame. I know the purists think otherwise, but the truth is a majority of fans would rather hear the hits.
Tom F-Your review is excellent & captured the essence of a magical night! Van was in his jazzy mystical persona at Bass Concert Hall.
I first saw Van on the 1978 Wavelength Tour & the 1979 Into the Music Tour both at Armadillo World Headquarters. That 1979 show still remains in my top concerts of all time. He did not return to Austin until 2006 when we were lucky to attend the Austin City Limits Studio taping and the Austin City Limits Festival at Zilker Park the following night. In 2008 we saw Van at the Austin Music Hall & La Zona Rosa the following night as a SXSW showcase. He played 12 songs last night in Austin that were not done at the 2006 & 2008 shows! Below I added last night's
performers. Thanks! Bernard
Mama and I went to see Van Morrison last night. Next to last musical ToDo list bullet. Aware that he can be moody and his shows tend to one extreme or the other, fingers crossed. Rules for the audience, no alcohol in the hall, in your seats by 7:50, etc. At 8:02 the man walked right out in a white suit and porkpie, black hat band, black tie, up to the grand piano and started into Northern Muse (Solid Ground) like turning on the radio. All I could say was "Damn." While I had mulled the possibility of Side A from Moondance, being the 40th anniversary of that gem, instead this show was nothing like the setlist from last year's Astral Weeks revival. More like a two-hour road trip with your Van Morrison-only I-Pod on a kick-ass shuffle. He and the 5-piece band (keyboard, violin, wind, bass, drums, guitar) moved pretty quickly through a few hits - Brown-Eyed Girl, Moondance, Have I Told You Lately - and then played the rest of the hour and forty-five, best I could tell, to please themselves and make sure there was no dust for the upcoming tour dates. When the second number was Brown-Eyed Girl, a song he's termed a "throwaway," Angela says to me "he must be in a good mood." As many of the songs provided opportunity for a succession of solo turns in jazz-band style, Van would turn his back to the audience and watch, intently, each soloist, using subtle hand gestures to bring the piano up, drums down, and at just the right instant, turn back to the mike and resume belting. This talented, grumpy little man played electric and acoustic guitar, piano, sax and harmonica. And sang, of course. There were at least four places in the show that I thought they crossed the line into magical. Highlight, for me, beyond Northern Muse, must have been And the Healing Has Begun. The audience was stone silent and he was talking right to me. After the last number, an instrumental from, I believe, Astral weeks, he simply walked off the stage as the band played the last 15 bars or so and that was that. My only critique is that I could have listened for another two hours.
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