31-August-2018 
Wrest Park 
Silsoe, England

Brendan checks in again with review of Van's gig on his 73rd birthday

Van Morrison/The Waterboys/Hot House Flowers at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire, 31st August 2018

I usually avoid these festival shows like the plague but as it was Van Morrison's 73rd birthday I hoped that he might produce a special show to mark the occasion but it was a forlorn hope as it transpired.

Hot House Flowers commenced proceedings with a rather sedate set consisting of some of their better known material including Don't Go along with some traditional Irish material. The Waterboys by contrast hit the stage running and played a brilliant set culminating with The Whole of the Moon and Fisherman's Blues. Apart from Mike Scott on vocals,guitar and piano the band also features the incredible Steve Wickham on violin and an organ player who goes by the name Brother Paul and is a real throwback to days of yore with long blond hair flowing as he was virtually hanging over the edge of the keyboards while delivering several outstanding solos. The band also features the outstanding former Van drummer Ralph Salmins.

After the Waterboys set I reckoned Van would have to reach some great heights to emulate their performance but he came nowhere close. As the set list indicates, this show was a typical festival one featuring plenty of 'the hits' alongside several jazz standards and jazzy reworkings of Van songs none of which to my ears are an improvement on the original versions.The third song was the rarely played Start All Over Again which was emphasised by Van demanding the lyrics sheet at the song's commencement. Bring It On Home To Me was strong once again as was Carrying A Torch but it was only toward the end that the show picked up somewhat with the inclusion of Did Ye Get Healed,Why Must I Always Explain and In The Afternoon after which Van exited the stage singing the line 'Need A Shot of Rhythm and Blues' over and over. Van did return for an encore of Brown Eyed Girl and an extended Gloria which, in fact, got by far the biggest audience reaction of the night with the band really cutting loose after Van departed. Dana Masters did some great vocals, Paul Moore produced some really funky bass lines while Teena Lyle has undoubtedly added to her fan base after an extended percussion solo.

The audience incidentally was a typical festival one with virtually everyone in the unreserved area where most were congregated talking and laughing non stop throughout with the music of secondary importance and being purely of a background nature. It continues to fill me with a sense of wonder that people are prepared to travel such long distances and spend so much on concert tickets just to have a good chat and a few drinks with their friends. It seems that once they take a few photos to prove they were there to be shared with their friends (i.e.the other ones that they were not talking to throughout the concert) then their night is complete.

As the festival shows near completion for 2018 it is to be hoped that Van will then delve more deeply into his real quality material for future shows and perhaps deliver some more Llangollen type shows which would be much more representative of his outstanding musical legacy.
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist
Skye Boat Song (instrumental)
Benediction
Start All Over Again
Magic Time
Only A Dream
Bring It On Home To Me
Baby Please Don't Go/Don't Start Crying Now/Got My Mojo Working
I Can Tell
Carrying A Torch
Enlightenment
Jackie Wilson Said
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Moondance
Broken Record
Did Ye Get Healed
Why Must I Always Explain
Whenever God Shines His Light
In The Afternoon
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

Set Time 1h 39m

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)