04-February-2012
The O2, Dublin, Ireland

Photo via Alan

Irish Times

“NO PLAN B, no safety net.” Van Morrison doesn’t need either. At a sold-out O2 on Saturday night, Van the Man could be seen swinging from a precipitous musical scale, then dangling precariously on a single, delicate refrain, with nothing to break his fall. But Morrison walked the tightrope like a true musical acrobat.

There were no big screens or special effects – just Morrison and his band huddled on a bare stage, with soft lighting to illuminate the low-key scene. If you wanted a spectacle, you were in the wrong room. But if you wanted to hear some sweet jazz/soul/rb/blues from a still-potent veteran, you had come to the right place. Few of the crowd who listened raptly as Van delivered his musical masterclass wanted to be anywhere else at that moment.

This was Morrison’s first Dublin gig in a decade, and it’s clear from how quickly the concert sold out the fans were glad to have him back. It’s also clear Van had lost little of his pinpoint precision, as he deftly conducted his band through a set featuring many of his best-known tunes, along with a few hand-picked covers, including Ray Charles’s I Can’t Stop Loving You and It’s All In the Game , a 1958 hit for Tommy Edwards. He’s also lost none of his gruff, workmanlike approach to performance, going about his business with minimum fuss or ceremony. This is his job, after all, and thankfully, he still does it well.

Van didn’t strain himself trying to reach out to the 15,000-strong crowd – instead, he let the crowd come to him, trusting his musical instincts to keep the focus on the small but tightly woven group of musos onstage. The band may have been low-key, but they delivered on the musical prowess, providing just the right back-up of keyboard, trumpet, trombone, sax, electric and acoustic guitars, percussion, bass and drums.

There were no backing vocalists to sweeten the pudding – it all rode on Van’s larynx, and he was well up to the task, building from throaty whisper to full-bodied bark, and showing his mastery of the arpeggiated vocal line. “No guru, no method, no teacher,” he intoned during one of the evening’s highlights, In The Garden , and the crowd fell silent like attentive pupils gleaning precious wisdom from the master.

The set list should have satisfied most Van fans, and included such classics as Tupelo Honey, Crazy Love, Moondance and Have I Told You Lately . There were also a few delightful surprises, such as Ballerina , from Astral Weeks . His daughter, Shana Morrison, who was the support act, joined her dad onstage for Sometimes We Cry , and returned later to help on Ben E King’s Stand By Me and Gloria , by Van’s old band Them. Alas, Van’s voice had to concede defeat on that last one, but the band took up the baton and brought the classic riff to a rousing finale. At 66, Van’s still the man to beat.

-KEVIN COURTNEY

Photo via Art

Wilson sent in this review

Saturday evening in post celtic tiger Dublin, and there’s an electricity in the air. It’s been over a decade since the great man’s last performance here, and his first in what is now called the O2 arena. Van arrived on stage at about 8.30pm, and kicked off with a jazzy rendition of Brown Eyed Girl, before treating is to some of the less mainstream material. By the time Van and his ensemble had delivered a breathtaking rendition of ‘in the Garden’, the Dublin crowd knew they were in for a very special evening. For an artist with as extensive a back catalogue as he does, it would always be a challenge to keep everyone happy. At such events, the great man has a tough balancing act on his hands - between keeping the masses happy with old favourites such as ‘Brown eyed girl’, ‘moondance’, ‘have I told you lately’ - yet at the same time, pleasing the more astute Jazz musicians in the house. A few numbers in, and the band had really stretch their legs. ‘Fair play’ and ‘little village’ were exceptional. Then of course there was the man simply pleasing himself, with a blinding rendition of the Sonny boy Williamson number ‘help me’. Have no illusions about it, he was enjoying himself.

Other highlights included ‘Ballerina’, ‘Tupelo honey’, ‘why must I always explain’ and a duet with daughter Shana on ‘sometimes we cry’ (a welcome replacement for Brian Kennedy). The audience were treated to a vast repertoire of material, spanning now six decades. All boxes were ticked, ranging in musical genres through the night in the same manner he has done throughout his career. Jazz to Blues to celtic soul and some good old fashioned rock and roll thrown in for good measure. At times Van would lose himself in the music, falling into a transient state as he encouraged the band to really express themselves. The man himself played around with a few guitar solos, a sax intro, and a few blasts of the harmonica for the bluesier tunes at the close of the evening.

The roll of the pianist on Tupelo, impromptu due guitar solos, and a little confusion over the closing number –(‘Gloria’ seemed to be the outro, until Van arrived back on stage with Shana, to do a cover of ‘Stand by me’) –was enough to give the vibe that this was an outfit not unrehearsed so as to be unprofessional, but improvised enough to be spontaneous. A true Jazz band. The great man, is still very much, on top.

-Wilson

Ciarán was at the gig & sent in this review

Wow, Well that was really something special. At 8:42 when Van walked out on stage and blasted into jazzy version of Brown Eyed Girl, taking many by surprise. The highlights for me had to be No Safety Net/No Plan B followed by In The Garden. Not many people have the ability to keep a crowd of 14,000 totally focused and completely silent when he whispers into the microphone and then, with a punch in the air, bring the volume right back up again. There were so many amazing moments though.

Moondance, Have I Told You Lately, Gloria, Help Me, Ballerina... All fantastic. There were times when he stood back and surveyed his band and conducted then through the song nodding with approval. Pointing at band members for solos and doing his ‘Yeah, Yeah, Do it again’ that he does when things are really going great. He seemed to be enjoying himself smiling. He Added Stand By Me into the set list when it wasn't originally in there. The band started Gloria and he stopped them and then launched into Stand By Me.

The sound was fantastic, the band were on fire, the set list was brilliant. At the end of Gloria Van walked off, Handed his mic to the stage hand and he never looked back. Van the Man on form is like nobody else. And boy was he on form.

-Ciarán Kilbride

Setlist

Brown Eyed Girl

High Than The World

Fair Play

Precious Time

Sometimes We Cry (w/Shana Morrison)

Real Real Gone

I Can't Stop Loving You

Moondance

Crazy Love

The Mystery

All In The Game/No Plan B/No Safety Net/This Is It

In The Garden

Have I Told You Lately

Little Village

Tupelo Honey/Why Must I Always Explain

Ballerina

Help Me

Stand By Me (w/Shana Morrison)

Gloria

Big Hand For The Band!

Jay Berliner, Guitar
Paul Moore, Bass

Dave Keary, Guitar

Alistair White, Trombone

Jeff Lardner, Drums

Paul Moran, Keyboards
Chris White, Saxaphone
Rod Quinn, Percussion

Concert Time: 106 minutes