05-April-2022
 Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

London, England

Brendan on 2nd night in London 

Night Two 

Chris Farlowe once more filled the support slot and really seemed to enjoy his time in the limelight as he at one point addressed the rhetorical question "He's not a bad singer is he,?" to the audience! His set was the same as on the previous night. 

From the outset Van appeared to be somewhat more energised than on the previous night He commenced with similar song choices but with Have I Told You Lately (with a strong vocal contribution from Elle Cato) included instead of Up County Down.Chris Farlowe once more joined Van starting with Mr DJ which worked really well and featured a deep voice contribution of the song title from guitarist Dave Keary which greatly amused Van. Stormy Monday/ Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket was really good with Van and Chris trading lines and verses and Dave Keary providing a terrific guitar solo. I Can Tell increased the tempo while Cleaning Windows benefited considerably from the subtle saxophone playing of Chris White in the background. 

And It Stoned Me and These Dreams of You were reprised once more much to the delight of the audience while Sometimes We Cry was very strong and featured Elle Cato to great effect once more. The opening notes of In the Afternoon prompted the necessity for the audience to fasten their collective seatbelts as Van transported us not only down the ancient highway but also on this occasion along the coastline on an extended mystical journey with the stage shrouded in darkness and the band sound level reduced to a minimal one apart from Elle Cato whose background vocals supplemented Van's beautifully. This was the clear highlight of the night for me as the audience sat in mesmerised silence throughout its delivery. 

The encore was limited to Gloria tonight with Chris Farlowe joining Van once more. The band did excellent extended solos following Van's departure with Elle Cato bringing the house down with her stupendous and seemingly near impossible vocal range while Teena Lyle in particular also got a huge response to her percussion acrobatics. It was notable that the response from the audience was more audible tonight which probably reflected the higher level of performance compared to the first night.
-Brendan Hynes 

Setlist (Thanks Brendan Hynes) 

Caledonia Swing 

Latest Record Project 

Double Agent 

Days Like This 

Have I Told You Lately 

Hey Mr. DJ (w/Chris Farlowe) 

Stormy Monday/Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket (w/Chris Farlowe) 

Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Got My Mojo Working 

I Can Tell 

Cleaning Windows 

And It Stoned Me 

These Dreams Of You 

Symphony Sid 

Ain't Gonna Moan No More 

Broken Record 

Sometimes We Cry 

Laughin' and Clownin' 

In The Afternoon 

Precious Time 

Down To Joy 

Help Me 

Gloria (w/Chris Farlowe)

Big Hand for The Band!

Chris White (Saxophone)
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Richard Dunn (Keyboards)
Teena Lyle (Percussion)
Colin Griffin (Drums)
Elle Cato (Vocals)