05-January-2015
Lyric Theatre
 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Brendan sent in his thoughts on performance
This was the third in the series of Lit Up Inside shows by Van Morrison in conjunction with the launch of the book of his lyrics by the same name.It was also the first of four consecutive Monday night shows by Van in January which indicates that unlike the lyrics written by fellow Irishman Bob Geldof all those years ago Van does like Mondays.There was quite a substantial gathering of the more dedicated Van fans from far and wide all of whom were eagerly awaiting what was to follow.

The show followed the same format as before with film footage of Van and Bob Dylan singing Foreign Window being followed by Van being interviewed by author Ian Rankin and then readings by Michael Longley of Coney Island and Into the Mystic.The interview itself covered much of the same ground as before and has become somewhat repetitive which is not too surprising.There were however some further insights on the night with Van revealing that the songs which are really personal to him and fact based are ones such as Too Many Myths, I Was Educated By The School of Hard Knocks and others of that ilk.Van indicated that Wonderful Remark should have been in the book and it seems it was inadvertently omitted but there was a strong suggestion of at least one further volume to come in which it can be included.Van’s interview with Spike Milligan again got a mention with Van revealing that Spike was nothing like his stage character in person and was not in a good mood when they met.Ian Rankin suggested that is not something Van would know much about which greatly amused the audience.When asked if he had enjoyed being a window cleaner Van was quite enthusiastic and said he had as it gave him the freedom to control his own working time and tie it in with his music commitments.Given his tendency to send Van up when given an opening I thought Ian Rankin might have asked Van if he used to lose his rag at all and whether he found there were a lot of ups and downs in the window cleaning business but sadly he didn’t take the opportunity to explore such important issues.

After a short interval the music section commenced as before with Alan Watts Blues before another thunderous version of Why Must I Always Explain with Van again featuring prominently on electric guitar.Wonderful Remark and Tore Down A La Rimbaud were followed by The Street Only Knew Your Name which had not featured at the two previous Lit Up Inside shows and was quite brilliant.Coney Island,Magic Time and Moondance were followed by the highlight of the night(as was the case at the other two shows) in Celtic Excavation/Into The Mystic.Van became totally immersed in the music and brought proceedings down to such a whisper that at one stage he sang briefly without using the microphone.Van departed the stage during this song but continued to sing on in the wings for what seemed like an age as he issued utterences such as ‘not breaking down’ and ‘you’ve got to pull yourself together’over and over as the audience sat mesmerised.Finally the booming voice of drummer Bobby Ruggiero shouting VAN MORRISON broke the spell and the audience roared for more.Van returned one more time to deliver On Hyndford Street for the hometown audience who clearly appreciated the Belfast namechecks liberally dispersed throughout.
Overall I felt that the music performance segment of this concert fell somewhat short of the quality of the two previous ones largely due to the omission of Madame George and Foreign Window from the set.I considered both songs to be in the top three performed each night at the London and Dublin shows and their absence diluted the quality somewhat.Nevertheless it was still another outstanding evening of words and music which was thoroughly enjoyed by those lucky enough to be present.
-Brendan Hynes

Ian Rankin, Eamonn Hughes & Van Discussion
Michael Longley reads Coney Island & Into The Mystic

Setlist
Alan Watts Blues
Why Must I Always Explain
Wonderful Remark
Tore Down A La Rimbaud
Coney Island
Magic Time
Street Only knew your Name
Moondance
Into The Mystic
On Hyndford Street

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