18-February-2014
Brighton Dome
 Brighton, England

Brendan made to trip over to Brighton
This was the second night of Van's two night stint and rather surprisingly there was little variation from the preceding night. Van eased himself into proceedings with Celtic Swing and Close Enough for Jazz before the first highlight of the night arrived with the return of Higher than the World which was really nice. Rough God (complete with the now expected Clint Eastwood impression) featured a nice duet with Shana Morrison with Van playing guitar from around the mid point of the song. After a rather jazzy Back on Top, Van led us into mystic territory for a few numbers starting with a beautiful arrangement of So Quiet in Here which ended with Van and Shana bring the vocals down to a whisper and with Van saying
'fading out' over and over. Keep it Simple followed with Van on ukukele and to my ears this song sounds much better this time around. The recently resurrected Queen of the Slipstream followed and the arrangement which highlighted brilliantly the quality of Van's musicians was breathtaking.Magnificent and a true classic in my view!

Van took over on hammond organ to deliver a foot stomping Keep Mediocrity at Bay followed by a Mose Alison cover Benediction. I have to say the latter does nothing for me, particularly the oft repeated punchline "Thank God for Self Love" which by the song's end I had replaced with "Thank God it's over"! A somewhat varied and improved arrangement of Whenever God Shines His Light included a particularly good percussion solo from Bobby Ruggerio.

At this point in the show Van introduced his special guest Chris Farlowe with Van emphasing that this was the rhythm and blues section. It has to be acknowledged that Chris always seems to lighten Van's mood and so it proved again with Van in great form and smiling from ear to ear. Van did most of the vocal work on Early in the Morning/Rock Me Baby and Hoochie Coochie Man with Chris's main contribution coming through taking most of the vocals on Stormy Monday. The band were simply superb on all these numbers with guitarist Dave Keary especially prominent, particularly on Early in the Morning where he received the ultimate accolade from Van whic consisted of repeated exclamations of "yeh" " yeh"! The blues section ended with a rather tame Born to Sing after which Chris Farlowe left the stage.
Van played piano while dueting with Shana on Have I Told You Lately. This was quite tremenous with Shana actually out singing Van on this one in my view which is no mean feat. It is possibly the best live version of the song I have ever heard.

Van dueted again with Shana on that Old Black Magic before Brown Eyed Girl was delivered for the masses, if not the purists.

Proceedings were drawing to a close now and Van brought Chris Farlowe back on to assist on a brilliant version of Stand By Me.Van seems to love singing this song and was very animated throughout its delivery.Following a quick trot to the side of the stage Van returned for the standard closing number that is Gloria.For some reason this was a particularly good version with the band going into overdrive when Van had departed and Paul Moran's organ solo was quite fantastic.

While the concert would have been elevated by a 10 minute plus In the Garden or All In the Game it nevertheless maintained the consistently high performance level to date in 2014.Van seems really into his performances and the interaction with the audiences has increased the atmosphere and made audiences even more receptive.

-Brendan Hynes

Pat wrote down his experience on night two in Brighton on his great blog Visions of Pat
Van arrived on stage and started with the now familiar Celtic Swing and Close Enough For Jazz. Then a welcome change, Higher Than The World which was great and Van's sax playing was sublime. Rough God Goes Riding followed and when Van said "Just Like Jesse James" Shana said, "Just like Van Morrison". Back On Top was next followed and then So Quiet In Here which was Van at his very best. At the end Van Van was really in the zone, repeating over and over, "We can dream on, in black and white". Keep It Simple, Queen Of The Slipstream, Keeping Mediocrity At Bay all followed with Van saying, "Move Over, Rover". Benediction was next followed by Whenever God Shines His Light with Shana. The percussionist Bobby Ruggerio was really good on that one as was Van on harmonica.

Read the rest of the review here.

Setlist (Thanks Brendan H.)
Celtic Swing
Close Enough To Jazz
Higher Than The World
Rough God Goes Riding
Back On Top
So Quiet In Here
Keep It Simple
Queen Of The Slipstream
Keep Mediocrity At Bay
Benediction
Whenever God Shines His Light
Early In The Morning
Hoochie Coochie Man
Stormy Monday
Born To Sing
Have I Told You Lately
Old Black Magic
Brown Eyed Girl
Stand By Me
Gloria

Big Hand for The Band!
Chris White (Saxophone)
Shana Morrison (Vocals)
Alistair White (Trombone)
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Jeff Lardner (Drums)
Bobby Ruggiero (Percussion)

17-February-2014
Brighton Dome
 Brighton, England

The Latest (Source)
The Dome was almost full but not quite sold out, perhaps due to Morrison’s hit-and-miss reputation and the expensive tickets. Van was thankfully in a good mood however, starting off with some soulful saxophone playing in the midst of a nine-piece band. The setlist was fairly esoteric and hit-lite, with a lounge jazz and soft blues feel. At times, the template blues numbers were a little samey, or even bland, but when Morrison went into ballad mode he really hit his stride.

Third song ‘So Quiet In Here’ was a highlight, a strong song with pleasantly shuffling drums, a sweet rolling melody and a prominent Astral Weeks type bass line. Van’s distinctive voice also shone most brightly on the ballads since they showcased his rich, smooth signature style. He couldn’t soar quite as highly as he used to, but there were still some glorious flashes of Morrison’s beautiful belting.

Blues singer Chris Farlowe joined Morrison for a few songs, including an uplifting cover of ‘Stand By Me’, an interesting jazzy arrangement of ‘Brown Eyed Girl’, and a rollicking rendition of ‘Gloria’. Overall it was a solid performance from a great musician, never truly lifting off into the spectacular but still an enjoyable, occasionally moving show.
-Joe Fuller

Long time Van fan, Pat, has a review of Brighton on his blog, Visions Of Pat

I took my seat in the circle and Van's daughter Shana came on first with the band minus the brass section to start the evening. She looked beautiful as always and sang three songs, God Must Love Me, Serve Me Right To Suffer and Higher And Higher which i really enjoyed. Then it was time for the Celtic soul brother himself to walk on stage with the now familiar opening of Celtic Swing followed by Close Enough For Jazz. This was followed by Back On Top which i think i enjoyed more than at Bristol. Then it was one of the first highlights of the evening for me, So Quiet In Here. It was great and i liked Shana's backing vocals and the brass section of Chris and Alistair White were really good as well. This was followed by Rough God Goes Riding, which was also great but i was beginning to realise this was almost exactly the same set as in Bristol. I wanted to hear something different. Van ended the song by doing his Clint Eastwood impression again which was funny the first time i heard it. He is trying to get away from his grumpy image though. Following this was Keeping Mediocrity At Bay.I have seen a comment about him doing this song from somebody who wasn't there. I think performed live it isn't bad at all. Benediction, by Van's friend Mose Allison was next which was ok but the gig for me was getting a bit 'samey' now. Van sat on the stool next for Keep It Simple which is on of the best songs of recent years. Then it was the excellent Queen Of The Slipstream.

Read the whole review here.

Setlist (Thanks Brendan H.)
Celtic Swing
Close Enough To Jazz
Back On Top
So Quiet In Here
Rough God Goes Riding
Keep Mediocrity At Bay
Benediction
Keep It Simple
Queen Of The Slipstream
Early In The Morning
Hoochie Coochie Man
Stormy Monday
Sometimes We Cry
Whenever God Shines His Light
Days Like This
Brown Eyed Girl
Baby Please Don't Go
Help Me
Gloria/Who Do You Love
Stand By Me

Big Hand for The Band!
Chris White (Saxophone)
Shana Morrison (Vocals)
Alistair White (Trombone)
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Jeff Lardner (Drums)
Bobby Ruggiero (Percussion)