23-September-2017
Nells Jazz And Blues
 London, England

Once again, Brendan shares his thoughts on 2nd Nells gig
Van Morrison at Nells Jazz and Blues,23rd September 2017

As on the previous evening Van started with numbers from the new album namely I Can Tell, Roll With The Punches, How Far From God and Automobile Blues (which featured Van on guitar and a really great piano solo from Stuart McIlroy followed closely by a fine organ solo from Paul Moran). Van then moved into his wider catalogue with Have I Told You Lately (fast version) featuring Dana Masters on shared vocals and then Moondance. Carrying A Torch featured Dana prominently once more to great effect while Magic Time received a further airing with fine guitar and trumpet solos from Dave Keary and Paul Moran respectively. In The Midnight never scaled any great heights due largely to Van's dissatisfaction with some part of the instrumentation which he felt was too loud. Mose Alison's Benediction from the new album followed and this was quite an upbeat version which was a considerable improvement on previous pretty mournful renditions. All In The Game was reprised once more and while really good it didn't quite scale the heights reached the previous evening.

Whenever God Shines His Light raised the tempo considerably before Van strapped on his guitar for an exquisite version of And The Healing Has Begun as he took us down the back streets over and over again. As if that wasn't enough excitement for one evening we were then treated to In The Garden which featured beautiful guitar and trumpet solos. Into The Mystic which followed kept us in dreamland but only after considerable confusion at the start when at least one band member seemed to be playing a different song to the rest. Nevertheless it was really splendid once it took off and this was the sort of material the dedicated fans yearn to hear a lot more often when attending Van shows. After a brief departure Van returned for what turned out to be a considerably truncated version of Gloria with most band members denied the opportunity to showcase their talents with extended solos apparently on Van's instructions as the concert finished after only Ih 20 m.

This was the best Van show I have seen in quite some time and while it was very short it was also very sweet particularly in the finishing straight.
-Brendan Hynes

Set List
I Can Tell
Roll With The Punches
How Far From God
Automobile Blues
Have I Told You Lately
Moondance
Carrying A Torch
Magic Time
In The Midnight
Benediction
All In The Game
Whenever God Shines His Light
And The Healing Has Begun
In The Garden
Into The Mystic
Gloria

Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards/Trumpet)
Mez Clough (Drums)
Sumudu (Vocals)
Dana Masters (Vocals)
Stuart McIlroy (Piano)

22-September-2017
Nells Jazz And Blues
 London, England

via Matthew J.

via Matthew J.

Brendan checked in with his thoughts on gig
Van Morrison at Nells Jazz and Blues,London, 22nd September 2017

Given the release of Van's new album Roll With The Punches on the day of the show it came as no surprise that the setlist was heavily laced with songs from the album. I Can Tell got proceedings off to a pretty blistering start and was followed by the album's title track which was quite impressive and somewhat reminiscent of Hoochie Coochie Man. How Far From God featured a really fine piano solo from guest pianist Stuart Mcilroy while Lightnin' Hopkins Automobile Blues saw Van strap on his electric guitar and play some nice guitar to add to Paul Moran's great organ solo. Another cover in Teardrops From My Eyes was followed by a Van original called Too Much Trouble before Ride On Josephine brought the new album showcase to a lively close and included a nifty piece of guitar from Dave Keary. Van then brought us back in time with a most welcome and fine rendition of Warm Love. In The Afternoon was really good while it lasted but as Van took us down the ancient highway the band suddenly stopped momentarily before breaking into an up tempo rendition of a song called Don't You Get Me High which ruined the moment and if this was an experiment it certainly didn't work. Following this there was a request for The Healing Game to which Van seemed favourably disposed but unfortunately upon checking with the band to see if they knew it he got a negative response and so we were denied a chance to hear this fantastic song which Van has not played for many many years. 

via Matthew J.

Further requests for a couple of more classic songs left Van saying he was confused before he and the band launched into the Baby Please Don't Go medley which felt somewhat like a bit of a punishment. Magic Time which followed was a nice rendition with Paul Moran delivering a fine trumpet solo. Moondance contained no surprises before probably the highlight of the night followed with an extended All In The Game with Van once more confirming that there is No Plan B/No Safety Net and that This Is It. A cover of the Ray Charles song Night Time Is the Right Time was pretty incredible with Sumudu's beautiful vocal complementing Van's perfectly and deservedly getting acclaim from both Van and the audience. Help Me signalled that the end was nigh to be followed by an extended Gloria which saw the band excel for a full ten minutes after Van had departed the stage.

All in all it was a most enjoyable show which certainly went down a treat with the captive audience.
-Brendan Hynes

Telegraph (Source)
A tiny little jazz club in west London witnessed a show as great as any in his illustrious career from the legendary Northern Irish singer-songwriter. Van Morrison was on blistering form, delivering a dazzling and engaged performance that was as warm and friendly as it was bravura. Which, as long time Morrison watchers know, is not a given. He is always impressive when he plays but he doesn’t always look happy about it. Yet here he was, unleashing the full charge of his extraordinary talent to a couple of hundred fortunate fans.

With another fine new album to promote, Roll With The Punches (his 36th solo album), the legendary star could have opted to unveil it in a much grander setting. In November, Morrison tours prestigious concert halls. But he seems to like these small clubs, which take him back to his R’n’B roots. His seven-piece band were crowded onto a tiny stage, where Morrison stood like a hatchet-faced old bluesman in suit, trilby and sunglasses, inches away from the audience. His only real concession to stardom was a gold-plated microphone and stand.

The band watched their leader with nervous intensity as he called out songs, apparently making his set list up on the spot. But smiles broke out as the musicians established Morrison’s mood, as he nodded vigorously, punched the air for snare shots, and muttered “Yeah! Yeah!” at intricate guitar and trumpet solos. Most of the band played at least two instruments, Morrison himself played three: electric guitar, saxophone and harmonica, all with virtuoso fluidity and feel. But his fourth instrument is the one that still raises goosebumps: his voice.

At 72, Morrison sang like a champion. His breath blowing through the notes like cosmic ululations, swirling and eddying above the piano lines, swooping down with the bass, ricocheting off the drums with staccato repetitions. Whenever his head tipped back, the voice rose, and he embarked on an extemporaneous coda, it was astonishing to behold.

He played some R’n’B covers from the new album (“If anyone’s interested!” he griped cheerfully), some gorgeous selections from his vast catalogue (In The Afternoon from 1979 was bliss) and a smattering of hits. “This is an old chestnut but don’t hold it against me,” he quipped before 1973’s Warm Love. He tore through Baby Please Don’t Go, and whipped up an effervescent Gloria. A head-spinning Moondance was reinvented around stunning solos. “The reason we do that one is it gives the guys in the band a chance to blow, d’you know what I’m saying?” he remarked in his gruff, deadpan manner. Oh, we knew all right. “Let me explain this one to you too,” he joked before a sensual rendition of 1979’s All In The Game.

Morrison can be a legendarily taciturn and cantankerous performer but here he was, cracking jokes, asking for requests. “This is a workshop!” he announced, to much laughter. “We’re not doing comedy yet,” he mock complained, “that comes at the end.” His sound engineer was swaying and bopping at the desk, tapping controls to the rhythms of the music.

Back in the Seventies, when Morrison bore the aura of a hippy guru, his concerts were approached as spiritual experiences. These days, he seems content to offer something more prosaic. But such was the astonishing skill, soul and feeling on display, the effect remains the same: singer, band and audience lifted into the mystic realm of pure musical communion. Roll on, Van, roll on.
-Neil McCormick

via Matthew J.

via Fumiko I.

Setlist
I Can Tell
Roll With The Punches
How Far From God
Automobile Blues
Teardrops From My Eyes
Too Much Trouble
Ride On Josephine
Warm Love
In The Afternoon/Don't You Get Me High
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now/Custard Pie
Magic Time
Moondance
All In The Game
Night Time Is The Right Time
Help Me
Gloria

Set Time 1h 30m

Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards/Trumpet)
Mez Clough (Drums)
Sumudu (Vocals)
Dana Masters (Vocals)
Stuart McIlroy (Piano)

14-September-2017
Ascend Amphitheater
 Nashville, USA

Nashville Scene (Source)

Van Morrison Keeps It Simple in Career-Spanning Show at Ascend

The legendary singer-songwriter didn't have much to say, but the songs speak for themselves

Van Morrison accepted his lifetime achievement award for songwriting at the Americana Honors and Awards Wednesday night with just two words: “Thank you.” With that, he joined the house band for a performance of his new single “Transformation,” and then he rolled out. So it was no surprise to The Spin that he didn’t have much to say on Thursday at Ascend Amphitheater. Van the Man has taken a number of steps to make sure there’s not a whole lot of fuss these days. Review passes have reportedly been in short supply for recent shows, and Thursday night’s came with a strictly-enforced no-photography rule (with one exception made for a shooter from Getty). He even kept things close to home by having his daughter, Shana Morrison, open the show.

We arrived as the younger Morrison was closing out her set, and it wasn’t long before the Van Band — several members of which had just been backing Shana — took the stage and, as the sold-out crowd found their seats, the bandleader announced the main attraction.

“Ladies and gentleman, Sir Van Morrison!”

The man himself — decked out in a pinstripe suit, fedora and sunglasses — strolled up from the back of the cavernous shed playing the saxophone as band rolled into the classic “Moondance.” With that they were off on a 23-song set of blues, rock and soul set that zig-zagged back and forth through Morrison’s enormous catalogue. The list included songs that were hits for his first band, Them, like “Don’t Start Crying Now” and “Here Comes the Night,” as well as covers of old standards like the R&B classic “(Night Time Is) The Right Time.” Surprisingly, it did not include the new single, “Transformation,” which he’d played the night before at the Ryman.

Odd bird though Morrison may be, his performance was strictly professional. He did the job and little else. During musical interludes, or verses sung by his fantastic duo of backup singers — who elicited mid-song cheers from the lawn on multiple occasions — Van would shuffle back from the microphone to take a slow drink from a glass of water or, once or twice, blow his nose. While he did seem to brighten up a bit when he had a saxophone around his neck or a harmonica in his hand, he mostly had the appearance of a man who’d just clocked in for work.

What a job it is, though. The 6,800 or so Van fans in the house — and honestly, it's tough to find anyone who doesn't appreciate his work — lapped up every second of their time with the man and his inimitable band. "Wild Night" inspired dancing in the aisles, and as he and his backup vocalists traded wails on "(Night Time Is) The Right Time," the crowd was pulled to its feet.

Among the few words he spoke all night that weren't lyrics were in his introduction of his daughter, who came back out to join him for a rendition of “Old Black Magic.” He stumbled a bit, but at least he can laugh at himself.

“I hope you understood that, because I didn’t,” he told the crowd.

He followed that with a rare cut — “Mechanical Bliss,” the title cut from an unreleased LP recorded in the mid 1970s — which, as he proudly noted, featured timpani and had him fighting back laughter throughout. After that he called out a direction to the band that also served as an acquiescence to a crowd that had been patiently waiting for That Song.

“OK, 'Brown Eyed Girl.' ”

The Ascend staff, which had been dutifully shutting down amateur iPhone photographers all night did their best, but for these few minutes, their efforts were largely futile. Morrison exited the stage one song later, but came back for a rollicking rendition of his hit with Them, “Gloria.” He left again but the band kept playing, cycling through solos during a 15-minute jam session.

By the time the last note rang out, Van may well have been on a flight to the next show.

Setlist (Thanks Dan H.)
Moondance
Have I Told You Lately
Warm Love
Sometimes We Cry
Days Like This
Enlightenment
Baby Please Don’t Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now/Custard Pie
Here Comes the Night
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Wild Night
Half as Much
In the Afternoon/Ancient Highway/Don’t You Make Me High
Whenever God Shines His Light
Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile)
(Night Time Is) The Right Time
Help Me
Old Black Magic (with Shana Morrison)
Mechanical Bliss
Brown Eyed Girl
Real Real Gone / You Send Me
Gloria

Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards/Trumpet)
Mez Clough (Drums)
Sumudu (Vocals)
Dana Masters (Vocals)

10-September-2017
Hersheypark Stadium
 Hershey, USA

The Morning Call

REVIEW: Van Morrison's Moondance caps day of highlights at Outlaw Music Festival at HersheyPark stadium

HERSHEY — It was a marvelous night for a Moondance.
With a large, glowing moon filling the late-summer sky above HersheyPark Stadium, Van Morrison, one of the best singers in rock history, showed his still prestigious power in a set that delightfully danced through his career to headline the Outlaw Music Festival.

Morrison’s only East Coast concert this year – and first in Pennsylvania in nearly a decade – was the highlight of a daylong festival that had many highlights, several provided by Lukas Nelson and his band Promise of the Real, and others by a blissfully energetic set by The Avett Brothers and a warm nightcap from festival curator Willie Nelson.

Morrison, in a gray striped suit and matching fedora, wearing dark shades even at night, actually opened his penultimate set with “Moondance” – or, more precisely two versions of it: An instrumental on which Morrison played saxophone, then a very jazzy vocal version with his horn of a voice an equal instrument.

It was a lovely start to an 18-song, 75-minute set that continually pleased with both song selection and powerful performance – putting timeless hits beside wonderful deep cuts and interesting covers.

The second song, “Warm Love,” a Top 40 hit for Morrison 45 years ago, was astonishing – still wonderfully warm with violin from his four-man band and two back-up singers.
On the newer (only 20 years old) song ”Sometimes We Cry,” Morrison snapped out words and pushed his vocals. The song was so good that a good number of the crowd of somewhere around 25,000 danced to it.

And on the new, very bluesy “Roll with the Punches” – the title track to his new album, due out Sept. 22. (It was the only song he played from it) – Morrison showed how much of a bellow his voice still carries.

The first half of the set offered straight-forward, sometimes shortened versions of songs, though many still carried delightful moments: Him playing harmonica and singing through an old radio mic on “Baby Please Don’t Go,” an inspired pairing of “Don’t Start Crying Now” and “Custard Pie.”

But there also were stunning highlights: A powerful version of “Here Comes the Night,” the 1965 hit for Morrison’s pre-solo band Them and an inspired version of his minor hit “Cleaning Windows,” tied to a cover of the Gene Vincent rockabilly classic “Be-Bop-A-Lula.”
But in the second half of Morrison’s set, nearly every song was a highlight.

While pairing “Ancient Highway” and “Raincheck,” Morrison held on the mic stand and rocked front-to-back, then danced slightly. “In the Afternoon” was slow and sensual.
And while it was a pleasure to hear his “Wild Nights,” now more than 45 years old. But to hear it played more muted, as if those wild nights are memories that are still calling, was transcendent.

Morrison’s vocals are universal. His cover of the Ray Charles hit “I Can’t Stop Loving You” was surprisingly country, and he absolutely bellowed the end notes. The gorgeous “Whenever God Shines His Light,” on which Morrison again played harmonica, was very contemporary gospel.

And Morrison wailed – wailed – on the bluesy "Night Time Is the Right Time," another Charles hit. It got a huge response from the crowd.

The fact that Morrison, at 72, still has that kind of power is amazing. He closed his set with a great seven-minute version of Them’s “Gloria,” which had all the power of the original.
But it was the second-last song that showed how good Morrison was. It was another bluesy offering, Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Help Me.” As Morrison played harmonica, many in the crowd danced as if there were no reason for inhibition.

Morrison made sure it was a marvelous night for a moondance.
-John J. Moser

Setlist (Thanks Mike S.)
Celtic Swing
Moondance
Warm Love
Sometimes We Cry
Roll With The Punches
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Cryin' Now/Custard Pie
Here Comes the Night
Cleaning Windows
In the Afternoon
Wild Night
Can't Stop Loving You
Whenever God
Nighttime is the Right Time
Help Me
Gloria

Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards/Trumpet)
Mez Clough (Drums)
Sumudu (Vocals)
Dana Masters (Vocals)