26-October-2021
Powerhaus
London, England

 

Humo (Source)

Van Morrison in London: 'He has that fickleness in common with Dylan' 

We are in Camden, the London district where Van Morrison (76) this week – we write Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 October – will open the new PowerHaus hall with two concerts. I sit in the front row, next to me a Voluminous Man who has seen Van the Man at work a hundred and twenty times. By the way , we are here for 200 euros per ticket. There are two Van Morrisons: Highly Flammable Van, who once disappeared from the Queen Elisabeth Hall after just 39 minutes; and Geniale Van, who made brilliant live records like 'It's Too Late to Stop Now'. In the hope of meeting Geniale Van, we continue to follow him slavishly, if necessary for 200 euros. 

Van's latest record, 'Latest Record Project, Volume 1', is by no means his most exciting. Three problems, I guess. One: no one dares to contradict him. Two: Van doesn't want to give the impression that he is living on his past, so he releases a load of new songs every year - only they can't match his classics. Three: he himself revels in nostalgia for his early years, when he played fairly banal blues. The first half hour of the first concert, in which he chases through six interchangeable R&B songs, is therefore boring. Thank God for the Blues? No, Van, there are hundreds of artists who can handle the blues, but no one has your body of work. 

Then follow decent songs ('Days Like This'), carelessly reeled beautiful songs ('Have I Told You Lately') and great played good songs ('Help Me', 'And the Healing Has Begun' and 'Cleaning Windows' , with a bit of 'Be-Bop-A-Lula' mixed in). Van plays saxophone (very good) and harmonica (masterful). The only real irritation factor is the percussionist, who plays congas too much. 

The guest tonight is Chris Farlowe , an old fellow who still sings quite well with one leg in the grave (fat, pale, limping). Not that his voice matters much: Farlowe is above all a companion for Van, with whom he wants to evoke the craic (Irish for 'fun', 'atmosphere') of yesteryear before it's too late. And that works. During 'Stormy Monday', the otherwise often gruff Van gets a giggle twice. And as he exchanges sexual innuendos with Farlowe during 'Gloria', he shouts: 'And afterwards even the furniture was in a different place!' 

The second evening the Voluminous Man sits next to me in the front row again. Saint Dominic's Preview! he suddenly shouts. "Okay, for once we'll do request numbers," Van grumbles, and he's still playing it. During a fierce, blistering medley of 'Baby Please Don't Go' and 'Got My Mojo Working' he sings something like 'When I hit (shit?) my wife'. To which the Voluminous Man yells a little too enthusiastically: 'Yeah!' Again Van has heard: 'Did you call that? Maybe you like that?' 'Yes!' replies the Voluminous Man. 'You too?' 'No comment,' Van sneezes. 

'Vanlose Stairway' is beautiful, although it contains 'Orgel! Organ!' must yell at the pianist, who is on the wrong instrument. And also tonight 'Gloria' is an irresistible steamroller. The backing band adds a steaming, ten-minute jam to it. 

After the concert I get to see the set list. There are gems on it like 'In the Afternoon', 'Enlightenment', 'Brown Eyed Girl', 'Moondance' and my favorite 'Did Ye Get Healed?' — he skipped them all. Van is impulsive: if song 12 on the set list is a ballad and he feels like uptempo at that moment, song 12 is not played. All evening you saw the six musicians glance at each other and say: 'What now? We didn't even rehearse this!' Van has that fickleness in common with Dylan. These were two good concerts, and for a 76-year-old they were miraculous.

-SERGE SIMONART 

Setlist 
Latest Record Project 
Deadbeat Saturday Night 
Double Agent 

Thank God For The Blues 

Up County Down 

Days Like This 

Precious Time 

Baby Please Don’t Go/Got My Mojo Working 

I Can Tell 

Sometimes We Cry 

Cleaning Windows/Be-Bop-A-Lula 

Magic Time 

Have I Told You Lately (Swing version) 

Transformation (w/Chris Farlowe) 

Hey Mr. DJ (w/Chris Farlowe) 

And The Healing Has Begun 

Vanlose Stairway 

Carrying A Torch 

Ain’t Gonna Moan No More 

Stormy Monday (w/Chris Farlowe) 

Help Me (w/Chris Farlowe) 

Gloria (w/Chris Farlowe)

Big Hand For The Band! 

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

Paul Moore (Bass) 

Paul Moran (Keyboards)

Teena Lyle (Percussion) 

Elle Cato (Vocals)

Colin Griffin (Drums)