17-March-2019
Subterania
London, England

Brendan checks in with 3rd & final night of Subterania run
Van Morrison and Joey De Francesco, Subterania, London, 17th March 2019
The third and final show of this run opened in lively fashion with Love The Life I Live followed by Things I Used To Do which featured a great organ solo by Joey. Miss Otis Regrets was even better than at Friday's show and Van was really immersed in it while Mr.Versatily (aka Joey) delivered a great trumpet solo. Moondance was notable for a great piano solo by Joey and was followed by the night's show stopper which was a medley of Teardrops, Your Friends, which Van credited to Bobby Bland who previously recorded it, and Take Your Hand out of My Pocket which Van credited to Sonny Boy Williamson. This medley not only included great piano and organ by Joey but also a saxaphone solo by him which Van answered on harmonica to great acclaim.It is hard to envisage the blues being sung and played better than this by anyone!

The fast version of Have I Told You Lately was followed by Roll With The Punches with Van on electric guitar and Joey excelling on organ throughout. The arrangement of Magic Time was better than the one I heard at Friday's show and this was followed by a rare instrumental featuring Van on saxaphone with excerpts initially from Celtic Excavation and then on into Celtic Swing. Goldfish Bowl featured a great saxaphone solo by Troy Roberts and rather inevitably Joey on organ. The Party's Over brought a bit of a lull to proceedings but the tempo was immediately lifted by a cover of Laughin' and Clownin' which featured really nice background saxaphone playing by Troy. Sack of Woe was followed by a somewhat shortened version of Ain't Gonna Moan No More before we got another real highlight with a slightly varied arrangement of Into The Mystic. Finally, the show was brought to a conclusion with Gloria after another all too short set time which clocked in at 77 minutes tonight.
-Brendan Hynes

Set List
Love The Life I Live
Things I Used To Do
Miss Otis Regrets
Moondance
Teardrops/Your Friends/Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Roll With The Punches
Magic Time
Celtic Excavation/Celtic Swing
Goldfish Bowl
The Party's Over
Laughin' and Clownin'
Sack of Woe
Ain't Gonna Moan No More
Into The Mystic
Gloria

Set Time 1h 17m