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)