08-Oct-10 Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco

Here's Art's Review:

Did you want some hits?  Did you want to hear the blues?  Philosophy? Jazz? Lengthy interior ramblings accompanied by glorious rolling grooves?  or a big, powerful classic ballad?  Anyway, it was all on display last night at the Nob Hill Masonic.  Van was energetic, very committed to every song, even the 60's material played with conviction at the very start.  And did he extend the instrumental part at the end of Brown Eyed Girl a few extra bars because 4 or 5 nubile women were up and gyrating in front of him?  Probably.

From there to the first of the bucolic, meditational pieces, 1974's "Fair Play", with extemporized lyrics about church bells in the distance and beautiful solos, especially Richie Buckley on flute and Paul Moran on both piano and trumpet.  Then uptempo  to a shouted, rousing and defiant "Keep Mediocrity at Bay", which this time around has a harp intro and an infectious New Orleans style groove,  and back down to the sublime "Little Village", highlighted by Jay Berliner ..was he playing jazz banjo on this one? Lengthy scat singing, beautiful sax from Richie Buckley.

Rough God follows, and Van finishes with his bit about ridin' on in like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and when he gets to Clint Eastwood he turns to the band and says "He's local, right?".  Then some joke about a banjo.. I think it was this one: "What's the difference between a banjo and a trampoline? You take your shoes off to jump on a trampoline. "

Playhouse, Jay on banjo and putting the band through their paces, then Keep it Simple, with some new lyrics.  Now he's "down here on the killing floor" instead of "running board", referencing Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf, and he's gotta keep it simple "just to keep from getting screwed".

Now for the traditional centerpiece: "It's All in the Game/You Know What They're Writing About", a superb version of a song that hasn't left his repertoire since the late 70's.  The new violinist, Rebecca Ramsey had a chance to shine on this one, and she added a distinctive voice, sometimes echoing movie music from the 30's, sometimes playing like a string quartet.  When Van gets to the part where the abashed lover is knocking on her door to apologize, he beats repeatedly on the microphone, then comes out with "open up your heart?  that's scary, I won't do that."  One of many standing ovations after this was over.  As Mark Watt said of the Los Angeles performance earlier this week he sang "like a man helplessly in the throes of love, heartbreak, or both.."

My personal highlight, "In The Garden", a great song that took a 7 year hiatus until it started reappearing in the shows starting last year. The band really made this performance, by turns their solos talked of eroticism (Jay), brightness and romance (Richie) and then a statement from Paul and the grand piano:  "This is a Song".  Majestic solos, really.  Then Van seems a little perturbed, but he's getting into the deeper part of the song.. "Long notes, long notes... keep it goin'" he shouts to the band...and that triggers the return of the rolling groove, this time with the long notes that let Van counterpoint with his delirious vocal into a big orgasmic final rave-up.

Moondance follows, the still unnamed band taking turns on their instruments, finishing with Van on sax, Paul on trumpet, Richie on sax.  A typically great David Hayes played a deep and interesting bass solo.  Shana Morrison then came out for a crowd-pleasing duet on "Sometimes We Cry".  She did a fine opening set last night, but started 45 minutes before the ticket said the show started, so she played only to the early and the tipped-off.  "Back on Top", a big, bad "Georgia", then the fourth of the night's quintet of  "deep" pieces, Ballerina.  The new violin was a big part of the success of this one, mixing notes of string quartet, country and Hollywood.  Another loud, standing ovation, and the band noodled through the fairly obscure instrumental "Celtic Excavation", reborn this year as a medley/intro for "Into The Mystic", a song which rolled and tumbled and reached more than one big crescendo, including one with repeated shouts of "rock your gypsy soul" that had the crowd where I was whipped into a frenzy.

"Help Me", Sonny Boy Willamson II's loud blues romp,  started with Van on the harp and moved into great  solos from the sax and Hammond organ.  Van name-checks Sonny Boy and Junior Wells "in the Chicago and Detroit area", and winds it all up with a big chorus of screaming "nightshirt"'s.  Big singalong for "Gloria" ends it all.

In sum, no throwaway material.  Five great adventures into the music, lots of commitment from Van and the band.

Huffington Post
Singing Lessons: The Truth About What Motivates Us To Sing, Play and Hear Music

As we walked in the house that Van built on Friday night, it was like walking into a church in the midst of a ferocious revival. Van was on fire. The band was on fire. The crowd was the kind of crowd that gave its all with gratitude and love. I have heard that that sometimes shows are less inspired, but every time I have seen Morrison in concert, he has never disappointed and this night was the most thrilling.


He wore a dark suit, gray hat and black shades. We couldn't see his eyes. He cracked a few jokes, but Morrison's not gregarious. He accepts you'll come to him or you won't and doesn't seem to care what you choose. Although, you sensed he was pleased to be loved that night.

*****
What Phil (my fiance) and I heatedly discussed Saturday morning was the difference between what we saw and what we heard. Phil thought it was an amazing show, but that Van Morrison couldn't care less about the audience (we saw Chris Isaac recently -- Isaac reaches out to the audience, he cares about the audience). I contended that though Van Morrison doesn't necessarily reach out with banter or facial expression, you often can barely understand what the man is even saying, still -- his voice cries out in such a way that each person is pulled close to his soul. If you close your eyes, what you hear is sheer contact, though what you see may appear to be an introvert. "Of course, Van cares about the audience," I said, "what else would drive him to be there and to sing like that?" I don't think it's money or adulation. He is there because he cares about and feels connected to the music and the audience.


There are performers that come to us and performers that force us to go to them. Bruce Springsteen. Thelonious Monk. There are different ways of connecting.

*****
As a performer, I generally go to the audience. As a singing teacher and vocal coach, I take care not to push my students to do the same, because both kinds of performance are valid. What we connect to is subjective. Who we connect to, from their personalities to what they are saying, how they are saying it, the frequencies of their voices, all of it -- what moves us is subjective. It is about intention and perception. Performance is a two way street. What I bring to a show as a listener is as important as what the performer brings. There are three components to a song: the music, the performer and the listener.


This same concept applies to any communal endeavor. If you have to give a presentation, if you are teaching a class, if you need to inspire your kids to memorize their times tables, what makes it work is connection.


In the book Drive, Daniel Pink says "human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another."


What drives us to perform is connection. What drives us to attend the performance is connection. The show was so good, because we were all in contact.


*****

Sometimes it feels like magic or miracle, but we can approach it technically as artists and individuals and engender connection. The first step is creating a space. (The Masonic felt like Van's house.)


Before I go on stage, I create a space in my mind. I practice sensorial memory, so that wherever I am performing, I can make it my home.


I ask my students, before you go to sleep, lay in bed and use your imagination to create every detail of a space that belongs to you, a beach somewhere, a mountain top, your room. Know the sounds and the smells, build the details. Who is there? Who could be there, so that when you walk on stage, or in front of your classroom, or when giving an important pitch -- you will know where you are, and the room will belong to you.


How you welcome your audience into your space is a matter of individual expression. It does not have to be done with a grin, an incessant shake of your head or wide open arms. If it's your house, we'll feel it. We'll come to you and want to know what it is you are there to say.


Being connected makes us love our work. Being disconnected can make us hate vacation. Connection is what gives us meaning and makes us feel like we're somewhere.


Connection is why we are driven to sing, play and hear.


Van cares, that's why everybody is there.
-Ruth Gerson

Setlist

Baby Please Don't Go

Here Comes the Night

Browned Eyed Girl

Fair Play

Keep Mediocrity At Bay

Little Village

Rough God Goes Riding

Playhouse

Keep It Simple

It's All in the Game

In the Garden

Moondance->My Funny Valentine

Sometimes We Cry

Back on Top

Georgia On My Mind

Ballerina

Celtic Excavation->Into the Mystic

Help Me

Gloria 

Big Hand for The Band!

David Hayes

Paul Moran

Jay Berliner

Andy Jones

Richie Buckley

Bobby Ruggiero

Becky Ramsey

Thanks to Art for photo.