Mystic Avenue: February 2015

Saturday, February 28, 2015

28-February-2015
Nell's Jazz and Blues Bar
London, England

Brendan sent in his thoughts on the first of two Nell's gigs
This was the first night of Van Morrison’s latest weekend residency at Nell's and his performance started as usual with the Celtic Swing instrumental before taking us briskly through nicely delivered versions of Higher Than The World and Magic Time. A really strong I Believe To My Soul saw Dana Masters make a fine vocal contribution much to the delight of the audience while Baby Please Don’t Go/Parchman Farm saw Van and the band up the tempo considerably and Van good humouredly chastise drummer Bobby Ruggiero for coming in too early during the latter with a drumbeat replicating one of many gunshots before Van had signalled the particular gunshot. Days Like This certainly slowed things down before a thunderous Real Real Gone was delivered. This had a much more prominent organ sound than previous versions which is probably largely down to the continued absence of the brass section from the band. Sometimes We Cry was somewhat of a duet between Van and Dana and a good one at that while In The Midnight provided one of the real highlights of the night. Moondance contained no surprises and was followed by the welcome return of All in the Game which was a much shortened version and pretty disappointing as a result. Who Can I Turn To was notable for Van’s vocal performance while Precious Time was just as you would expect.I Just Want To Make Love To You was a shorter version than usual but it was great while it lasted. Talk is Cheap really moved at pace and was particularly good with Van quite amused when delivering certain lines while Early In The Morning was another powerhouse version from Van and the band.

Following the delivery of Enlightenment and I Can’t Stop Loving You I had pretty much consigned this show to being one that while being very enjoyable did not contain too many real highlights when suddenly Van changed direction and brought us out on the ancient highway with In The Afternoon making sure to bring us on down the underpass along the way. Big Joe Turner,TV Mama and Flip,Flop and Fly were all thrown into the mix as Van delivered what for me was the show stopper of the night. Van had actually introduced the song as being off The Healing Game album asking the audience if they had heard of it but it won’t be found there as it is actually on the Days Like This album. No sooner had the song ended than the welcome intro to In The Garden confirmed that we were now firmly in mystical territory. Van gave this the full treatment before leaving the stage to wild applause. No sooner had he departed than he returned with a terrific Ballerina before finally heading off into the night leaving the band to finish the job. Those last three numbers had brought proceedings to a much higher level and provided a fitting climax to the show which lasted I h 47m.
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist (Thanks Mike S.)
Celtic Swing
Higher Than The World
Magic Time
I Believe to My Soul
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchment Farm/Cry Cry Baby
Days Like This
Real Real Gone
Sometimes We Cry
In the Midnight
Moondance/Funny Valentine/42nd Street
All in the Game
Who Can I Turn To
Precious Time
I Just Wanna Make Love to You
Talk is Cheap
Early in the Morning
Enlightenment
I Can't Stop Loving You
In the Afternoon
In the Garden
Ballerina

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