06-July-2019
The Roundhouse 
London, England

Brendan sent in this review
Van Morrison at Innervisions Festival, Roundhouse,London 6th July 2019

The hope among the more dedicated fans in advance of this show was that it would deviate substantially from the rather predictable and underwhelming setlists which have featured in Van Morrison shows for quite some time, particularly at the outdoor festival ones. Five songs into the show these hopes seemed somewhat forlorn as those opening numbers were decidedly uninspired song choices and delivered in a rather lacklustre manner to put it mildly. The sudden sight of Van strapping on his acoustic guitar was promising however and when he delivered a stunning St. Dominic's Preview the world suddenly seemed a much brighter place. A rather subdued Moondance was followed by a really strong version of Sometimes We Cry featuring Dana Masters on shared vocals. Baby Please Don't Go did not involve a medley tonight and was immediately followed by I Can Tell featuring nice solos by Dave Keary on guitar and Paul Moran on organ. Van then announced a blues workshop and invited Chris Farlowe on stage for what proved to be a blues masterclass starting with Stormy Monday then on to Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket before going down The Lonely Avenue and culminating with Early In The Morning. Paul Moran featured prominently on organ throughout this segment. Chris stayed on stage to assist on a nice and somewhat rare rendition of Transformation which followed. Cleaning Windows and Bopping The Blues were pretty lively before Van transported us once more down the ancient highway In The Afternoon which received the full Van treatment despite the considerable crowd noise from those audience members who came to talk loudly rather than to listen to the music. Help Me featured some excellent harmonica playing by guest James Hunter who also contributed some vocals towards the song's end. Star of The County Down which recently featured in Belfast was reprised one more time tonight before an even longer version of Gloria than normal (designed to fill out the remaining ten minutes of the standard set time after Van had prematurely departed) brought the show to a conclusion.
-Brendan Hynes

Set List
Send You Back To Where I Got You From
Let's Get Lost
It Once Was My Life
Days Like This
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
St. Dominic's Preview
Moondance
Baby Please Don't Go
I Can Tell
Stormy Monday/Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket/Lonely Avenue/Early In The Morning w/Chris Farlowe
Transformation w/Chris Farlowe
Cleaning Windows
Boppin' The Blues
In The Afternoon
Help Me w/James Hunter
Star of The County Down
Gloria w/Chris Farlowe

Set Time 1h 31m (Van on stage 1h 20m)