17-October-2024
Kia Forum
Los Angeles, USA
Robbie Robertson Tribute

Setlist 

Tupelo Honey 

Days Like This 

Wonderful Remark

13-October-2024
Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club
 Portsmouth, USA

Setlist  

Only A Dream/No Prima Donna

Raincheck

Ain't Gonna Moan No More

Days Like This

Domino

Laughin' & Clownin' 

In The Afternoon/Ancient Highway/Don't Get Me High/Sittin' Pretty

Moondance

I Want a Roof Over My Head 

Down To Joy 

Enlightenment

Precious Time

Magic Time 

Green Rocky Road

Into The Mystic

Wild Night

Gloria

28-September-2024
Brighton Dome
 Brighton, England

Photo: Pam K.

Brendan Hynes reports on Night 2 in Brighton

Van Morrison at Brighton Dome, 28th September 2024. 

The second album launch show followed a similar pattern to the first night with select members of Van Morrison's band doing a short support set featuring Jolene O'Hara on two of the numbers namely You Are Mine At Last and I Just Want To Make Love To You which again got a great audience reaction. 

Van Morrison's own set didn't deviate too much from that of the first night. Only A Dream featured a fine extended saxophone solo from Van while the song ended with Van exclaiming "No Prima Donna" and "All Change" over and over towards the song conclusion with the backing vocalists also joining in nicely. So Quiet In Here was really powerful and got a great audience reaction as Van mouthed the words  "Can You Feel The Silence" over and over at the song's conclusion. 

Chris Farlowe guested once more starting with Ain't Gonna Moan No More which featured another fine long saxophone solo by Van. Stormy Monday was merged with Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket and Lonely Avenue in what turned into a blues masterclass with the band in full flow throughout. The roar from the audience when it ended nearly blew the roof off the Dome! 

Someone Like You was delivered spectacularly by Van who was aided in no small measure by the really nice vocal contribution of Sumudu. The song concluded with Van repeating "You" "You" over and over to great effect. It was a wonderful version. 

Laughin' And Clownin' featured superb solos from Chris White on saxophone and Guy Barker on trumpet while Sumudu's powerful vocal contribution was accompanied by Van singing the words "Night and Day" over and over in response. It was great. 

Jackie Wilson Said benefitted hugely from the large brass ensemble on stage while Broken Record featured some scatting from Sumudu and Chris Farlowe which clearly met with Van' s approval as he repeatedly said "That's Right" over and over in acknowledgement. Green Rocky Road brought the show into skiffle territory and was followed by Worried Man Blues which was merged with Down By The Riverside. The latter song saw Van unfortunately and repeatedly bellow "G" "G" at band members throughout as he was clearly dissatisfied with the key in which they were playing it. While Van told the audience at the songs conclusion that they had got there in the end it wasn't exactly conducive to enhancing anyone's enjoyment of the song's performance!. 

The concluding Gloria brought the show to more familiar closing territory with Dave Keary producing some fine guitar work and an exceptional extended trombone solo by Alistair White being particular highlights of the selected band solos performed. 

As on the first night the overall impact of the large band assembled for these album launch shows was huge and it would be nice to see a repeat at some stage in the future. 

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist (Thanks Brendan Hynes)

Choppin' Wood 

Only A Dream 

You Gotta Make It Through The World 

I Want a Roof Over My Head 

So Quiet In Here 

Ain't Gonna Moan No More (w/Chris Farlowe)  

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

Close Enough For Jazz (w/ Chris Farlowe) 

Steal My Heart Away (w/ Chris Farlowe) 

Symphony Sid

Someone Like You 

Laughin' & Clownin' 

Jackie Wilson Said 

Broken Record (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Green Rocky Road (w/Chris Farlowe)

Worried Man Blues/Down By The Riverside (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Gloria (w/Chris Farlowe) 

Set length 1h 45m

27-September-2024
Brighton Dome
 Brighton, England

Brendan Hynes was at Night 1 in Brighton & shares his thoughts 

Van Morrison at Brighton Dome, 27th September 2024. 

The first of the two shows to launch Van Morrison's latest album, New Arrangements and Duets, began with a short support set from members of Van Morrison's band and featured a couple of instrumental numbers including Green Onions (featuring the returning Paul Moran on keyboards) before backing vocalist Jolene O' Hara sang a couple of songs including a powerful rendition of I Just Want To Make Love To You which got a great response from the audience. 

The first thing to strike me as Van Morrison's full band took the stage was the sheer size of the ensemble including multiple saxophone players, trumpet players and trombonist and two backing vocalists in Sumudu and the aforementioned Jolene O' Hara. The stage was hardly large enough to accommodate them all and it was somewhat reminiscent of the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra in full flight and all the better for it. The musicianship and big band arrangements were quite magnificent and more than did justice to Van' s compositions. As was to be expected the show relied largely on songs from the new album with Only A Dream, Someone Like You, Steal My Heart Away and Beauty of Days Gone By being particularly memorable. Chris Farlowe joined Van to duet on several numbers including the old reliable Stormy Monday. On this occasion however Chris had his thunder stolen somewhat by Sumudu who produced such a stunning vocal that Van got her to repeat it before joining with her to bring the song to a thunderous conclusion that brought the house down. It was simply magnificent! It was very pleasing to see the return of former band stalwarts such as Chris and Alister White, Matt Holland and Paul Moran who all performed superbly while the guesting Guy Barker was quite scintillating and Van couldn't hide his delight with his numerous musical interventions. Indeed both Van and the entire band seemed to be feeding off one another's energy and the sense of enjoyment and exuberance on stage was palpable. 

The show's closing number, Flip Flop and Fly featured numerous excellent solos from the band members and backing vocalists following Van's departure and got a great audience reaction. One slight disappointment for me was that The Master's Eyes which features on the new album was not performed on the night as I had anticipated it would but perhaps it will feature at the second show on Saturday night.

As album launch shows go this was a really memorable one and the extended band really added another dimension to proceedings. 

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist (Thanks Brendan Hynes)

Choppin Wood 

Only A Dream 

You Gotta Make It Through The World 

Roof Over My Head 

So Quiet In Here 

Ain't Gonna Moan No More (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Close Enough For Jazz (w/ Chris Farlowe) 

Steal My Heart Away (w/ Chris Farlowe) 

Someone Like You 

Beauty Of Days Gone By 

Green Rocky Road 

You Are My Sunshine 

When Will I Be Loved 

Stormy Monday (w/Chris Farlowe) 

Early In The Morning (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Broken Record (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Jackie Wilson Said (w/Chris Farlowe) 

Worried Man Blues/This Loving Light Of Mine (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Flip Flop and Fly(w/Chris Farlowe)  

Set length 1h 47m

04-June-2024
Iveagh Gardens
 Dublin, Ireland

Setlist

You Are My Sunshine
I Want a Roof Over My Head
When Will I Be Loved

The Shape I'm In

Lucille

Flip, Flop & Fly

I'm So Lonsome I Could Cry

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

Lonesome Train (w/Chris Farlowe)

No Other Baby

Cold Cold Heart

I Wish I Was An Apple On A Tree

Green Rocky Road

Crazy Jane on God
For Mr. Thomas

Days Like This

Benediction

Wild Night

Worried Man Blues (w/Chris Farlowe)

Stand By Me (w/Chris Farlowe)

Gloria (w/Chris Farlowe)

Big Hand for The Band!

Dave Keary (Guitar)
Pete Hurley (Bass)
John McCullough (Keyboards)
Tony Fitzgibbon (Fiddle)

Colin Griffin (Drums)
Chris Farlowe (Vocals)
Dana Masters (Vocals)
Jolene O'Hara (Vocals)

03-June-2024
Royal Albert Hall
 London, England

Brendan Hynes checks in with this review
Van Morrison at Royal Albert Hall, London, 3rd June 2024. 

Support act tonight consisted largely of Van Morrison's band who after playing a funky instrumental by The Meters were joined by Dana Masters for one song and Jolene O'Hara for a further two culminating with a really powerful rendition of I Just Wanna Make Love To You which got a great audience response. 

Van Morrison took to the stage to the opening bars of You Are My Sunshine and then embarked on the now customary raft of songs from the recent Accentuate The Positive and Moving on Skiffle albums.There was a decided but brief shift in emphasis subsequently when Van introduced Chris Farlowe for a powerful rendition of Stormy Monday/ Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket which really went down a storm (pardon the pun). Chris also duetted on Lonesome Train which followed. Tony Fitzgibbon featured to great effect on fiddle on Cold Cold Heart and made several other significant contributions which got much audience acclaim. He really brings a distinct added dimension to the band's overall sound. 

Van was quite talkative tonight and introduced and credited the writers of several songs such as Crazy Jane On God which received a large ovation. Wild Night featured some extensive humming by Van while playing harmonica simultaneously which was something to behold before Chis Farlowe featured once more on It Takes A Worried Man, Stand By Me and finally the show closing Gloria which once more highlighted the entire band's proficiency with extended and quite superb individual contributions once Van had departed the stage. 

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist

You Are My Sunshine
I Want a Roof Over My Head
When Will I Be Loved

The Shape I'm In

Lucille

Flip, Flop & Fly

I'm So Lonsome I Could Cry

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

Lonesome Train (w/Chris Farlowe)

No Other Baby

Cold Cold Heart

I Wish I Was An Apple On A Tree

Green Rocky Road

Crazy Jane on God
For Mr. Thomas

Days Like This

Benediction

Wild Night

Worried Man Blues (w/Chris Farlowe)

Stand By Me (w/Chris Farlowe)

Gloria (w/Chris Farlowe)

Big Hand for The Band!

Dave Keary (Guitar)
Pete Hurley (Bass)
John McCullough (Keyboards)
Tony Fitzgibbon (Fiddle)

Colin Griffin (Drums)
Chris Farlowe (Vocals)
Dana Masters (Vocals)
Jolene O'Hara (Vocals)

29-February-2024
Fox Theater
 Oakland, USA

Setlist

You Are My Sunshine
I Want a Roof Over My Head
Problems
Bonaparte's Retreat
Shakin' All Over
The Shape I'm In

Lucille

Red Sails In the Sunset

Bye Bye Johnnie

Sea of Heartbreak

Days Like This

Enlightenment 

Laughin' and Clownin' 

Think Twice Before You Go

Flip, Flop & Fly

Green Rocky Road

Bright Side of the Road

Cleaning Windows

No Other Baby

Help Me 
Gloria

Big Hand for The Band!

David Hayes (Bass)
John McCullough (Keyboards)
Robert Ruggeiro (Drums)

Jeff Taylor (Sax, Guitar, Vocals, Clarinet)
Omega Rae Brooks (Vocals)
Dave Keary (Guitar)

28-February-2024
Fox Theater
 Oakland, USA

Last night, Van Morrison and his band seamlessly merged into the slipstream at Oakland's historic Fox Theater. The last time we were here, Van concluded his performance with the captivating "Madam George," a gem from the 1968 album "Astral Weeks." This evening, Van and his ensemble shone brightly, performing a variety of engaging covers. These selections are reminiscent of their recent work on albums like "Movin on Skiffle," "What's It Going to Take" and Accentuate the Positive," encompassing genres such as jazz, rock, blues, and country, and weaving them into a rich tapestry that took us all into the music. There were several standout moments. The rendition of Sam Cooke’s "Laughin' and Clownin'" was notable, as was their interpretation of the traditional song "Green Rocky Road," which Van and the band infused with a mystical quality. Cold, Cold Heart by Hank Williams, Bye, Bye Johnny by Chuck Berry, the venerable Help Me, Sonny Boy Williamson, No Other Baby, The Vipers were covered exceptionally well and were made their own as only Van and the band can do. Van’s own Precious Time and Enlightenment punctuated the set along with the performance of "Gloria," first recorded by Van and Them in 1964. This is a timeless classic and was an exceptional finale. The band extended "Gloria" for an additional 15 minutes, skillfully integrating "Moondance" into the mix.

Van Morrison continues to evolve, both personally and through his band's lineup, which is currently, and always, remarkable. While I can't name everyone, members like Dave Keary, David Hayes (on bass) were instrumental to the night's success. Other members on piano and Hammond organ, multi-instrumentalist (including clarinet, sax and flute), percussion perfection and the beautiful, soulful sound of the backing vocalist put us all on the invariable wavelength for the entire evening. Tomorrow night two at The Fox and then to Carmel for two shows at the intimate Sunset Cultural Center. Thank you Van Morrison. 

-Dave Bartlett 

Setlist

You Are My Sunshine
I Want a Roof Over My Head
Accentuate The Positive
Bonaparte's Retreat
Shakin' All Over
When Will I Will Be Loved
Sea of Heartbreak
The Shape I'm In
Bye Bye Johnnie
Lucille
Cold Cold Heart
No Other Baby
Red Sails In the Sunset
Enlightenment 
Precious Time
Laughin' and Clownin' 
Have I Told You Lately 
Green Rocky Road
Flip Flop and Fly
Help Me 
Gloria

Big Hand for The Band!

David Hayes (Bass)
John McCullough (Keyboards)
Robert Ruggeiro (Drums)

Jeff Taylor (Sax, Guitar, Vocals, Clarinet)
Omega Rae Brooks (Vocals)
Dave Keary (Guitar)