31-March-2012 
Edinburgh Playhouse
 Edinburgh, Scotland

The Scotsman (Source)
Van Morrison was packing sax on Saturday, sauntering on-stage to strike up a version of Brown Eyed Girl that set the tone for much of the rest of his set, being as it was a gentle tussle between subtle jazz flavours and loungey tendencies. 

This show was an exercise in restraint with some lovely, lightly-wrought playing from his six-strong ensemble, arranged around Morrison in a wide semi-circle, ready to act on his clipped command. The mournful mute brass and his own mellow sax solo made Haunts of Ancient Peace one of the highlights of the night, only rivalled by the fine cool jazz swing of Moondance. 

Morrison’s vocals were almost always the only strident note in the recipe, unless he felt the need to suddenly beat the body of his guitar or deliver a foghorn blow on the harmonica. Enunciation of the lyrics was, as usual, an added bonus, wheeled out for the homespun wisdom of I’m Not Feeling It Anymore. Nevertheless, there was soul in his tone, and little welcome bursts of gruff humour which suggested that he may, in fact, have been enjoying his time on stage. 

The pace pepped up in the later stages with bluesy Them favourites Baby Please Don’t Go and Here Comes The Night and covers of Sonny Boy Williamson’s Help Me and John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom. Morrison re-appeared briefly for an encore of Gloria, then left the rest of the band to jam it out like eager teenagers free from parental control.

Setlist 

Brown Eyed Girl

Higher Than The World

Fair Play
Haunts Of Ancient Peace
Moondance

Wavelength

All In The Game/Make It Real/No Plan B/No Safety Net/This Is It/Burning Ground
Enlightenment
I'm Not Feeling It Anymore/Hurting Game
Baby Please Don't Go

Here Comes The Night

Ballerina
Playhouse (1 verse)

In The Garden

Help Me

Gloria/Boom Boom