10-December-2014
Olympia Theatre
 Dublin, Ireland

via Pablo G.

Brendan sent in his thoughts on the show
The question I pondered in the build up to this show was whether the magic of the inaugural Lit Up Inside show in The Lyric Theatre in London the previous month could be repeated. The resounding answer delivered at the Olympia was that it most certainly could and this was another marvelous night for dedicated Van Morrison fans in particular.

via Pablo G.

The format was similar to the London show with Eamon Hughes, editor of Van’s Lit Up Inside book, doing the introductions before some footage from an old BBC Arena programme was shown of Van and Bob Dylan singing Foreign Window in Greece. Van was then introduced for a question and answer session largely conducted by author Ian Rankin but with some input also from Eamon Hughes.If anything, Van was even more relaxed this time round and really warmed to the process as it developed. Interestingly, the questions explored differed significantly from the London show and Van somehow got drawn into areas one might not have anticipated including a reference to a book written by Morrissey which Van was clearly very impressed by as he really enthused about its brilliance. At this point Ian Rankin somewhat mischievously interjected to say that Morrissey is not like Van at all because Morrissey is grumpy. This seemed to go over Van’s head despite Ian repeating the comment but it was not lost on the audience who laughed heartily. Van also got quite animated talking about Spike Milligan and a performance he had given where a cat ran on to the stage and according to Van the cat did a 30 minute performance. This all went down great with the audience who would not normally encounter Van’s humour and wit to such a degree.

Van with Edna O'Brien

Following the interview there was a short film of Van in discussion with poet Michael Longley followed by readings of some of Van’s lyrics by Michael Longley (Coney Island and Into The Mystic) and by Irish broadcaster Marty Whelan (Tore Down A La Rimbaud and Madame George).The latter, who was hugely enthusiastic about Van’s work, was unable in my view to match Edna O’Brien’s mesmeric readings of both songs at the London show, particularly Madame George.

After a short interval the concert performance commenced with the rarely played Alan Watts Blues in a really nice arrangement followed by stirring performances of Tore Down A La Rimbaud and Wonderful Remark. The beautiful Foreign Window followed and while it was great the brilliant acoustic guitar work of Dave Keary which was so prominent at the London show was somewhat drowned out by Van’s electric guitar on this occasion which was a pity. Coney Island conjured up lovely images in our minds and was followed by Magic Time which was one of two additions to the London set list (the other one being Moondance as the penultimate number).In introducing Why Must I Always Explain, Van informed us this was a re-write of Tupelo Honey and this version featured Van on electric guitar with the legs pumping as he sang over his solo in that inimitable style of his. Incredibly when the song had just finished an audience member shouted out looking for Tupelo Honey to which Van replied like a shot “we just played it!”.Van then brought us through Celtic Excavation with nice saxophone playing from him and on Into the Mystic. This was quite incredible and Van brought things down to a whisper as he stepped away from the microphone and then back and then away again gently whispering the lyrics to a totally silent Olympia. It was hard to follow that but Madame George wasn’t far behind and it is great to be treated to such a classic from the vaults again. Moondance brought proceedings to a halt as Van thanked the band while the audience clapped along enthusiastically with their closing instrumental workout. This was not quite the end however as Van returned one more time to deliver On Hyndford Street to leave the audience truly healed having enjoyed a really magic time in the presence of the undisputed musical genius that is Van Morrison.
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist (Thanks Mike S.)
Alan Watts Blues
Tore Down at La Rimbaud
Wonderful Remark
Foreign Window
Coney Island
Magic Time
Why Must I Always Explain
Celtic Excavation/Into the Mystic
Madame George
Moondance
On Hyndford Street

Big Hand for The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Jeremy Brown (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Bobby Ruggiero (Drums)