20-April-2018
Subturania
London, England

Brendan checks in with Night 2:
Night two of the three night stint at Subturania followed the pattern of the previous night in that the material was drawn almost entirely from the new album. After opening with You're Driving Me Crazy and Hold It Right There (which saw Van lead the clapping along to extended guitar and saxophone solos) Van introduced Miss Otis Regrets as a song written by Cole Porter for a bet. A deviation from the previous night saw When Shadows Fall performed and this was a real highlight with Joey excelling on piano and organ. Magic Time was a slightly slower version than usual and featured an extended trumpet solo by Joey while the guitarist's excellent solo drew applause from Van. The song ended with Van performing a saxophone solo with great exuberance as his legs pumped furiously. Close enough For Jazz featured some scatting by Van while All Saints Day featured great organ by Joey and was much superior to the previous night's version.Travellin' Light geatured great saxophone and guitar solos while Joey's organ solo pleased Van greatly. The Things I Used To Do/Got My Eyes On You /Dimples medley included a harmonica solo by Van and got the "one more time" treatment. The slow blues which followed consisted as far as I can ascertain of Teardrops On My Pillow/Broken Hearted Blues(correct answers on a postcard please) and included a wonderful guitar solo followed by a saxaphone solo which drew plenty of "yeah"s from Van. There was also a humorous exchange between Joey and Van after Van sang"if I had ten million dollars I would give her every dime" with Joey saying "oh yeah?" to which Van immediately retorted "not really!". Van introduced Money's Getting Cheaper as a Jimmy Witherspoon track he had recorded himself back in 1966 and this was really good. Dana Masters got a nice audience ovation for her vocals on the fast version of Have I Told You Lately and Moondance brought the show towards its end but with Van returning for an encore of Centrepiece/Every Day I Have The Blues before thanking Joey and asking for a "big hand for the band"followed by "big hand for the ladies" directed towards Teena Lyle and Dana Masters.

The level of performance by the musicians on stage was at the virtuoso level with all looking very relaxed and comfortable and given considerable latitude by Van to stretch out and display their considerable talents during extended solos.Van once more seemed to really enjoy himself greatly with plenty of smiles and laughs and humorous interplay with Joey.
-Brendan Hynes

Set List
You're Driving Me Crazy
Hold It Right There(Wait A Minute Baby)
Miss Otis Regrets
When Shadows Fall
Magic Time
Close Enough For Jazz
All Saints Day
Travellin' Light
The Things I Used To Do/Got My Eyes On You/Dimples
Teardrops On My Pillow/Broken Hearted Blues
Money's Getting Cheaper
Have I Told You Lately
Moondance/My Funny Valentine
Centrepiece/Every Day I Have The Blues

Set Time 1h 28m

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)