Van Morrison Alumni Band
07-December-2023
London Coliseum
 London, England

Brendan Hynes checked out Leo Greene and his Van Morrison Alumni Band 

The pre- show publicity promised a night of celebration of the words and music of Van Morrison but few could have expected the quality of performance delivered on the night. The show ran for the best part of three hours including a short interval (there was definitely no count down clock at stage side!). 

Leo Green(saxophone) set the tone from the outset as he individually introduced the core members of the band(Matt Holland on trumpet, Robin Aspland on piano, Ralph Salmins on drums and Alec Dankworth on bass) to the joyful sound of And The Healing Has Begun featuring beautiful violin playing. The core band was augmented by a further four musicians and four backing singers, two of whom took lead vocals on s number of songs. There were four guest lead vocalists, namely Mim Grey,Wayne Hernandez, Jill Marie Cooper and Emma Smith. All four did each song they performed more than justice with Emma Smith who is an upcoming jazz vocalist of great promise delivering particularly powerful renditions of Moondance and I Will Be There. 

On a night when just about every song was a highlight it is difficult to choose particular ones but there are a few notable for particular attention. Saint Dominick's Preview immediately followed the opening number And The Healing Has Begun and was performed meticulously. Caravan was a particularly welcome inclusion although Van's high kicks of 1970's vintage were obviously missed but it is unlikely than anyone else could emulate such acrobatics anyway. The final two numbers of the opening half featured an outstanding Tupelo Honey and a really magnificent Philosopher' Stone with Leo Green very much to the forefront on saxophone. 

The second half of the show followed the tone set in the opening half with classic after classic following in quick succession. Dweller On The Threshold featured some great brass interplay between Matt Holland and Leo Green while they were both also prominent on You Make Me Feel So Free. An incredible The Healing Game brought the show towards it's conclusion with Leo Green stealing the show on saxophone. It seemed to go on forever and quite honestly I wanted it to. Following an ecstatic audience response all the lead vocalists joined the band for a resounding version of In The Garden to bring proceedings to a close. 

This concert exemplified the wealth of brilliant songs written by Van Morrison that are sadly neglected by him when choosing his own setlists. He has reportedly endorsed the Alumni Band and is quoted as saying that these songs are meant to be sung and heard which to me begs the obvious question as to why he doesn't sing them himself in his own shows! Judging by the audience response tonight his fans would certainly be quite ecstatic if he did.

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist 

And The Healing Has Begun 

Saint Dominic's Preview 

Days Like This 

Wild Night 

Sometimes We Cry 

Queen of The Slipstream 

Have I Told You Lately 

Into The Mystic Caravan 

And It Stoned Me 

I've Been Working 

I Forgot That Love Existed 

Brown Eyed Girl 

Tupelo Honey 

Philosophers Stone 

Real Real Gone 

Domino 

Bright Side Of The Road

Moondance 

I Will Be There 

Someone Like You 

Carrying A Torch 

Crazy Love 

Wonderful Remark 

Dweller On The Threshold 

Jackie Wilson Said 

You Make Me Feel So Free 

Warm Love 

The Healing Game 

In the Garden