19-April-2018
Subturania
London, England
Subturania
London, England
Brendan Hynes checks in with review of Subturania night 1:
The joint billing for this show was a clear indication that it would draw heavily from the forthcoming album and be very jazz orientated and so it proved as Van advised at the outset that they would be showcasing songs from the new album You're Driving Me Crazy out on 27th April 2018.
After opening with the album title track Van announced the next song as Hold It (full title Hold It Right There) which seems to be exactly the same song as Wait A Minute Baby which Van has performed regularly in recent times.Strange but true! Miss Otis Regrets was the first real highlight and featured a great trumpet solo by the multi talented Joey De Francesco. Things I Used To Do again featured Joey prominently with a brilliant organ solo which prompted Van to lead an audience clap along which continued through great sax and guitar solos by Joey's musicians.
It was the fifth song in before we got a Van original in the form of Magic Time which included a fine trumpet solo by Joey.Close Enough For Jazz saw Van do some scatting with Joey replicating the sounds on organ.Travelling Light was followed by the fast version of Have I Told You Lately which saw Dana Masters get some of the limelight on vocals.The version of the somewhat biographical Goldfish Bowl was particularly good and a great organ solo was applauded by Van who then exclaimed"there's Joey!" before giving the "one more time" instruction towards the song's ending to show that he was really into it.This song got a great crowd reaction.The Way Young Lovers Do featured really good extended organ,guitar and flugelhorn solos and was one of the main highlights. Centrepiece moved into Every Day I Got The Blues before All Saints Day and Moondance/My Funny Valentine brought the show to a conclusion after a relatively short set time of 1h 24m. Joey and the band remained on stage for a while as if expecting Van to return but he was nowhere to be seen.
This show was far removed from a standard Van show and would be appreciated most by those who are jazz fans.The quality of musicianship was of an extremely high level throughout and Van seemed particularly enthused by the playing of the saxaphone player which perhaps might prompt Van to restore the brass section to his own band where the absence of same has left a definite void.Van was very animated throughout the show and clearly enjoying the musical collaboration.
-Brendan Hynes
Setlist (Thanks Michael S.)
You’re Driving Me Crazy
Hold It Right There
Miss Otis Regrets
Things I Used to Do/Got My Eyes On You/Dimples
Magic Time
Close Enough for Jazz
Travelin' Light
Have I Told You
Goldfish Bowl
Young Lovers
/Centerpiece/Everyday I Have The Blues
All Saints Day
Moondance
Big Hand For The Band!
Joey DeFrancesco (Organ)
Dan Wilson – guitar
Troy Roberts – tenor saxophone
Michael Ode – drums
Teena Lyle (Percussion, Vocals)
Dana Masters (Vocals)
1 comment:
Last night we were treated to what in my opinion was possibly the best Van Morrison concert for many, many years. The show consisted mainly of tracks from Van's forthcoming album collaboration with Joey deFrancesco and his band. This means reworked (jazzy) versions of some of Van's much loved classics and old standards performed as only Van can.
We were treated to 88 minutes of non stop wonderful musical entertainment - no talk, no banter, no breaks. Van was backed by Joeys wonderful band together with Dana Masters on backing vocals and Teena Lyle on percussion. Joey is a magnificent organist (and trumpeter) ably assisted by Dan Wilson on guitar (fabulous) Troy Roberts on sax, clarinet and double bass, (amazing) and Michael Ode on drums (restrained measured and tasteful). Van's singing was superlative using his voice as a an instrument in a manner which I have not seen before. Playing sax and harmonica as necessary he showed all the versatility he possesses and that voice on the night was just something so so special. The band are the ideal foil for Van and it was clear that Van and all of the band members were enjoying themselves on stage and Van himself applauding the wonderous playing of his co-musicians on the night. The musical quality was superb, the choice of material ideal and all in all it brought me back to the wonder of Van Morrison that I enjoyed at his concerts in the early 1970's. It is so refreshing to observe and hear a superlative performer refuse to rest on the laurels of his previous successes and move the boundaries of his abilities forward by performing new material and new arrangements.
The performance reminded me of the wonderful first night at the opening of Nells in December 2014. Subterania opened for its first night with this performance. It is another small intimate venue which so suits what Van is doing now. There are two more shows, do whatever you need to in order to get a ticket. You might not get the privilege to witness such a wonderful performance of such wonderful material by such exciting performers again. The new album promises to do well if the quality of the recording is anything like what we witnessed last night.
BTW the set list finished off with My Funny Valentine (Michael S you must have left early) after an interesting rework of Moondance the only allowance to Vans back catalogue not on the new album and to the fans who came to hear "the hits"
All in all a most wonderful and memorable evening.
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