22-October-2018
Bristol Hippodrome 
Bristol, England

via Fumiko I.

Brendan was in Bristol for the gig
Van Morrison at Bristol Hippodrome, 22nd October 2018
Tonight's show followed a similar pattern to the recent UK shows in that it started at a very brisk pace and with a broadly similar set of opening numbers with the exception of the inclusion of All Saints Day on this occasion. The Baby Please Don't Go routine saw the return of Got My Mojo Working complete with Van's comedic mumbling and stuttering of the word Mojo. Van also signalled a couple of times with his right hand for the sound of Dana Masters vocals to be turned up and it had the desired effect as her vocal input was very prominent thereafter. I Can Tell followed immediately and was really good with the band firing on all cylinders. Moondance was followed by Steal My Heart Away which included beautiful trumpet playing throughout by Paul Moran and a short piano solo by Teena Lyle on her own small piano. This got me thinking at the time that perhaps Teena could cover for Paul Moran on piano every time he has to jump up to do a trumpet solo but on reflection the question then arises as to who would cover for Teena on percussion and vibraphone while she is covering for Paul on piano so where would it all end? Symphony Sid seems to be always lurking and swung into action at this stage followed by Broken Record which by my calculation included 28 song title references in its latter stages and a really clever loud scraping percussion sound throughout by Teena. I Believe To My Soul was very strong and was followed by a couple of 'hits' in Wild Night and Days Like This. Cleaning Windows went down well with the audience but suffers for me from the absence of its integral brass section sound.All In The Game was the highlight for me as Van took it right down and gave it the workshop treatment while reminding us that there is No Plan B, No Safety Net and This Is It (and for a certain USA based Van fan who likes to keep count Van uttered the word "caress" ten times during the song by my calculation). Think Twice Before You Go increased the tempo considerably before The Party's Over slowed proceedings down again. The opening notes of Help Me indicated that the end was nigh and it was followed in quick succession by a couple of 'hits' in Jackie Wilson Said and Brown Eyed Girl before Van briefly departed only to return one more time for Gloria which saw Dana get the loudest ovation during the band's jam session.

A rather extraordinary statistic from the concert is that out of a total of twenty four songs performed exactly half were cover versions of mainly jazz and blues material by other artists. It's not as if Van has any shortage of high quality material of his own to draw upon but for whatever reason he has largely not done so of late and those of his own songs which are performed tend to be primarily the three to four minute 'radio hits' so the really special moments one always hopes for and indeed expects at a Van Morrison concert are currently in pretty short supply unfortunately.
-Brendan Hynes

Bristol Post
Review: Van Morrison at Bristol Hippodrome - legend excels ahead of Bluesfest performance
Morrison brings his many different styles to Bristol

Even his most ardent fans never really know which Van Morrison will turn up for what are now becoming annual Bristol concerts.

One year it might be Morrison the soulster, the next it could be a performance based around his more mystic, transcendental music. And then there’s Van the jazz man and the blues master.

What we got at this sell-out Hippodrome show was essentially all the different faces of Morrison rolled into one, although the emphasis was more on the jazz and blues, possibly because he was warming up for a headline Bluesfest performance with Robert Plant at London’s 02 later in the week.

Morrison was clearly eager to crack on with things, walking on stage a couple of minutes before the scheduled 8pm start as many fans were still finding their seats in the darkness.

Morrison’s forthcoming new album, The Prophet Speaks, is his fourth in just over a year and his 40th studio album in a career that spans more than half a century. At 73, he’s as prolific as ever and not in the mood to waste time.

Ever the contrarian, he stuck to his back catalogue rather than preview new material, the evening starting at a leisurely pace as Morrison and his six-piece band cruised through crowd-pleasers like Magic Time and Have I Told You Lately.

Dressed in a pinstripe suit and with his wide-brimmed hat and aviator sunglasses covering his face, the 73-year-old singer may resemble a Prohibition gangster but his voice recalls the New Orleans jazzmen and ageing blues singers he was first inspired by.

A master of improvised scat singing, he uses his versatile voice as an extra instrument as he growls and yodels sections of certain songs.

Morrison switched from his gold-plated saxophone to his harmonica, blowing the instrument like a train for the opening railroad-style strains of Baby, Please Don’t Go, the 1964 Them classic with one of the most recognisable intros in pop history.

He also drilled deep into his solo career for Moondance from 1970 and Wild Night from the following year.

Morrison barely drew breath between songs as he shoehorned as many favourites into the 100-minute set: a spritely Cleaning Windows morphed into the Gene Vincent classic Be-Bop-a-Lula and it was followed by Days Like This, Broken Record, Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In Heaven When You Smile) and a stand-out reworking of All In The Game with its mesmerising refrain of ‘no safety net, no plan B’.

As always, the curmudgeonly Morrison barely said a word, other than a mumbled ‘thanks’ but fans, many of whom paid £85 for tickets, were eventually rewarded with Brown-Eyed Girl and an encore of Gloria that saw the house lights being turned on and Morrison indulging in some rare ‘call and response’ with his audience. At one point he may have even smiled.

By 9.30pm, Morrison had left the stage, his superb band staying for another ten minutes to finish an extended version of Gloria, complete with brilliant individual solos.

He may not have stuck around to see the standing ovation or to milk the applause but Morrison’s work was clearly done.
-Mark Taylor

Setlist
Let's Get Lost
All Saints Day
How Far From God
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Baby Please Don't Go/Don't Start Crying Now/Got My Mojo Working
I Can Tell
Moondance
Steal My Heart Away
Symphony Sid
Broken Record
I Believe To My Soul
Wild Night
Days Like This
Cleaning Windows
All In The Game
Think Twice Before You Go
The Party's Over
Help Me
Jackie Wilson Said
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

Set Time
1h 40m (Van on stage 1h 30m)