13-August-2021
Hampton Court Palace
London, England

Pamela shares her thoughts on gig: 

From our position in the first few rows, we could see that Van was aggravated by a series of technical issues regarding the sound throughout. Consequently, Pete Parsons was being summoned from the wings rather more than usual! Particularly affected was Dave Keary’s pedal steel guitar. Dave was clearly having a torrid time, resulting in much brow-mopping, under Van’s steely gaze! 

The highlight of the show was undoubtedly In The Afternoon. Van has added a new section of ad-libbing in the Sittin Pretty section. It’s probably one of the best live versions of In The Afternoon I’ve heard. And he was doing some special outward thrusting right arm movements that I haven’t seen before (as well as the usual downward thrusting right arm movements), which seemed to reinforce his enthusiasm for the song and also indicated the one time during the show when he appeared genuinely engaged with the material. 

 This was my first time seeing Chantelle Duncan. She is clearly a worthy replacement for Dana but I think Van was scaring the life out of her! At one point he made her switch from one tambourine to another! He then picked up a spare tambourine, seemingly to show her how it was done! However, during the jam, she was able to relax and demonstrated a beautifully pitched and strong voice. It was nice to see Stuart McIlroy on keyboards. He is a welcome addition to the band, especially for Paul Moran who has so much multitasking to do already! 

Before leaving the stage for the final time, Van made his only comment of the night: that it was great to be back at Hampton Court. However, I imagine he probably had a thing or two to say about the sound issues on his journey away from the venue! 
-Pamela K.

INEWS (Source)

Van Morrison, Hampton Court Palace Festival, review: Refreshing, energetic and surprisingly joyous

You never quite know what sort of performance you’re going to get at a Van Morrison concert. Will he be in grumpy old man mode, picking
fights with the audience – or indeed with the Government, over its Covid-19 policies (which he vehemently opposes)? Or will we get
the seasoned entertainer with one of the richest back catalogues in pop?

Happily, at Hampton Court Palace Festival this weekend, he let the music speak for itself – literally. There was no between-number chat or patter: the rapport he built with a willing audience came from the songs themselves. And what songs they were.

Morrison’s career has always been built on the bedrock of blues, R&B and gospel that underlies popular music, and which he seems content to keep on mining.

Here, in the unlikely setting of a courtyard in Henry VIII’s Tudor palace, we had him on rambunctious form, revisiting his first hit, Big Joe Williams’ “Baby Please Don’t Go”, which then segued into the Muddy Waters classic “Got My Mojo Working”.

Clad in his usual uniform of dark suit, dark glasses and porkpie hat, he also gleefully tackled versions of Bo Diddley’s “I Can Tell”, Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “How Far from God” (with an added spirited chorus of “Be-Bop-A-Lula”) and the Ray Charles hit “I Can’t Stop Loving You”. Best of all was a boisterous reworking of Sonny Boy Williamson’s
“Help Me”, which gave him the chance to show off his harmonica skills.

It was his own songs which inspired and impressed the most, though: a relaxed (almost nonchalant) performance of “My Time After a While”; a measured but still moving “Days Like This”. Both featured his own admirable tenor sax solos, before a slice of more up-tempo fun came with a jumping “Broken Record”.

The voice was as magnificent as ever, with its Celtic overtones and its ability to leap from a whisper to a roar in the space of a line. The backing, too, from his eight-strong band was never less than excellent,
with solid musicianship that ignored drum machines and digital wizardry to concentrate on brasswork, string bass solos and lap
steel brilliance.

Finally, it was the inspired mastery of a classic such as “Moondance”, the almost muscular exhilaration of “Brown-Eyed Girl” and the guttural joy of that old warhorse “Gloria” that lifted the concert to a fresh level.

These weren’t just Van Morrison classics: in an act of inspired transference, they became joyous crowd anthems.

In a welcome surprise, then, instead of grumpy old man we got the exuberant outpourings of an energetic 75-year-old. How refreshing that did feel.

-John Clarke

Setlist (Thank Pamela K.)

Deadbeat Saturday Night
Double Agent
My Time After A While
Baby Please Don’t Go / Got My Mojo Working
I Can Tell
Days Like This
Precious Time
Cleaning Windows
Ain’t Gonna Moan No More
Moondance/My Funny Valentine
Broken Record
Enlightenment
Real Real Gone/You Send Me
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Wild Night
In The Afternoon/Ancient Highway/Raincheck
Help Me
Ballerina
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria 

Big Hand For The Band! 

Dave Keary (Guitar, Banjo, Bouzouki, Backing Vocals) 

Paul Moore (Bass) 

Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Stuart McIlroy (Piano)

Colin Griffin (Drums) 

Teena Lyle (Percussion) 

Chantelle Duncan (Vocals)