15-March-2015
Europa Hotel
 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Brendan sent in this review
The first night of Van Morrison’s two night stint got off to a fairly mundane start with the instrumental Caledonia Swing being followed by a rare performance of Hey Mr. DJ and then Moondance. Things picked up considerably with another fine rendition of I Believe To My Soul and then Magic Time which included a nice organ solo from Paul Moran. Sometimes We Cry featured another great organ solo and was a really strong rendition which got a great audience response. You Don’t Know Me featured great vocals from both Van and Dana Masters and a great trumpet solo from the versatile and somewhat overworked Paul Moran. Baby Please Don’t Go/Parchman Farm/Don’t Start Crying Now were powerfully delivered as usual to great acclaim. The welcome intro to In The Afternoon was met with several shouts of ‘Ancient Highway’ from some of the more excitable attendees and Van delivered a wonderful version while Paul Moore delivered some lovely bass towards the song’s conclusion. This song was probably the highlight of the night but we were soon brought down to earth with Precious Time which at least pleased those hoping for ‘the hits’.I’m Carrying A Torch featured a great exchange of vocals by Van and Dana and was a welcome addition to the set. Things I Used To Do fairly chugged along before Days Like This was produced apparently as a Mother’s Day tribute. Real Real Gone has got a new lease of life since one of Van’s musical heroes, Michael Buble dueted with him on it for the new album and it really went down well as did Whenever God Shines His Light which followed. A nice Enlightenment was followed by Van saying we would now have some rock and roll and he proceeded to play Jambalaya which was nothing special. In The Garden was a much shortened 3-4 minute version which proved pretty disappointing as a result. Brown Eyed Girl was just what one would expect and led towards the fast paced conclusion consisting of Help Me, Think Twice Before You Go and finally Gloria with no encore to follow.

This was a pretty average show in my view but one which nevertheless had some moments of real high quality. For anyone hoping for plenty of blues numbers and a high volume of the so called hit songs this was just the show to go to.
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist (Thanks John Z.)
Caledonia Swing
Hey Mr. DJ
Moondance/My Funny Valentine
I Believe To My Soul
Magic Time
Sometimes We Cry
You Don't Know Me
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchment Farm/Cry Cry Baby
In The Afternoon/Ancient Highway
Precious Time
Carrying a Torch
Things I Used To Do
Days like This
Real Real Gone
Whenever God Shines His Light
Enlightenment
Jambalaya
In the Garden
Brown Eyed Girl
Help Me
Think Twice Before You Go
Gloria