30-August-2018
Bonus Arena
Hull, England
Bonus Arena
Hull, England
Brendan is back with review from new venue in Hull
Van Morrison at the Bonus Arena, Hull -30th August 2018
This concert saw the official grand opening of this new venue and it was more or less filled to capacity. After quite a number of European outdoor festival shows which have consisted largely of the 'radio hits' I was hopeful that tonight's indoor show would feature much more of the real classic material that the dedicated Van fans yearn to hear as evidenced by the ecstatic reaction of fans to the quality material delivered at the Llangollen show in July. The opening half of this show however was pretty unremarkable and contained no real surprises although How Far From God and the Baby Please Don't Go medley were strongly delivered and went down really well with Dave Keary most prominent on electric guitar.A really strong Bring It On Home To Me was the first real indication of Van being really committed to the task at hand and this was followed by a fast but pretty ordinary cover of Benediction while Broken Record which followed was notable for Van increasing the number of consecutive times he uttered the song title towards its conclusion to 29.Enlightenment and Carrying A Torch provided the first real indication of Van moving into a higher gear and while Days Like This saw a brief return to 'hits' territory a lovely Did Ye Get Healed picked up the tempo again. All In the Game was a most welcome addition and saw Van repeat over and over once more that "this is it" and there is "no plan B and no safety net". Warm Love was well delivered and received before a further trip down the ancient highway In The Afternoon brought the main show to a conclusion. When Van returned to the opening strains of In The Garden it seemed that more magic would ensue but sadly after a beautiful Dave Keary acoustic guitar solo this was a version cut brutally short as Van exited swiftly again mid-song only to return briefly to fit in what he apparently feels is the almost obigatory rendition of Brown Eyed Girl.
Van was in fine voice and sang with great power but there was no interaction with the audience throughout the show tonight.
-Brendan Hynes
Setlist
Skye Boat Song (instrumental)
Lets Get Lost
How Far from God
Magic Time
Back On Top
Baby Please Don't Go/Don't Start Crying Now/Got My Mojo Working
I Can Tell
Moondance
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Bring It On Home To Me
Benediction
Broken Record
Enlightenment
Carrying A Torch
Days Like This
Did Ye Get Healed
All In The Game
Warm Love
In The Afternoon
In The Garden
Brown Eyed Girl
Set Time 1h 38m
Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards/Trumpet)
Mez Clough (Drums)
Teena Lyle (Percussion, Vocals)
Dana Masters (Vocals)
