15-April-2025
Mandela Hall
Belfast, Norther Ireland

Brendan Hynes was at gig & sends in his thoughts
This special show titled 'The Blues Project' and featuring special guests Paul Jones and Chris Farlowe promised a night of jazz and blues and that is exactly what was delivered. Chris Farlowe got proceedings off to a stomping start with a lively rendition of the Ray Charles classic Unchain My Heart on which the band excelled. Chris followed this with an acapella version of a Lee Roy Parnell song called The Rock which was certainly something different. Van Morrison then took to the stage and performed Broken Record which was notable for Van uttering the song title 29 times as the song concluded thereby equalling the previous record (which therefore actually remains unbroken!). Going Down to Bangor proceeded impressively at breakneck speed as Van armed himself with his bucket and spade for the journey! Baby Please Don't Go/ Streamline Train upped the tempo again before the Centrepiece jazz standard which followed. Laughin' And Clownin' was a particular highlight featuring great guitar, saxophone and trumpet solos by Dave Keary, Chris White and Matt Holland respectively.

When Van made his way to the piano I sensed something special would ensue and sure enough he delivered a superb version of the Ray Charles song What Would I Do which Van of course covered on his Sense of Wonder album.The version performed tonight was enhanced by some wonderful harmonica playing by Paul Jones who entered from the wings of the stage about half way through the song and his playing encouraged Van to issue his infamous "one more time" invite! The backing vocals of Dana Masters and Jolene O' Hara, which were excellent throughout the show, were particularly haunting on this song as they complemented Van's own vocals beautifully. This song and other notable covers such as All In The Game exemplify the particular ability that Van has to put his own particular stamp on a song so that it surpasses the original version and sounds like one of his own compositions!

Paul Jones performed a solo version of Work Song before being joined by Sam Burgess on bass to perform a song called Sonny Boy Williamson which Paul informed us he had recorded back in the 1960s with the late great bassist Jack Bruce of Cream fame as a tribute after the death of blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson.

Van was joined by Chris Farlowe for a very strong version of Stormy Monday which was merged with Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket and which featured some great guitar playing by Dave Keary including the replication of the police siren sound made famous by John Plitania of the Caledonia Soul Orchestra during the It's Too Late To Stop Now shows. There were great saxophone and trumpet solos performed as well in the song's delivery. Ain't Gonna Moan No More was very strong once again and featured some fine extended saxophone playing by Van towards the song's conclusion.Rock Me Baby which followed once more featured the brass section prominently aided in no small measure by Paul Jones on harmonica.

Van introduced Fame as a song he had recorded with Paul Jones before going on to say that Paul had played the part of a rock singer in a film many years ago. When Paul clarified that the part was that of a pop singer Van as quick as a flash jokingly asked him if he had to practice to play the part!! This song was very well performed and another highlight of the show.
Help Me indicated that the end was nigh and featured Paul Jones once more on vocals and harmonica before being followed by lively versions of Think Twice Before You Go and Worried Man Blues/ This Loving Light Of Mine which brought the main set to a close.

Van did return for Gloria which was a somewhat surprising song choice given the nature of the particular show and it as usual saw the band play extended solos before Jolene O 'Hara impressively showcased her vast vocal range as the song concluded.

Van was in great voice throughout the show and seemed to really enjoy the collaboration with his two musical guests enormously. 
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist
Unchain My Heart (Sung by Chris Farlowe)
The Rock (Sung by Chris Farlowe)
Broken Record
Going Down To Bangor

Baby Please Don't Go/Streamline Train
Centerpiece
Laughin' & Clownin'
What Would I Do
Work Song (Sung by Paul Jones)
Sonny Boy Williamson (Sung by Paul Jones)
Stormy Monday/Take your Hand Out of My Pocket (w/Chris Farlowe)
Ain't Gonna Moan No More
Rock Me Baby (w/Chris Farlowe (vocals & Paul Jones (harmonica))
Fame (w/Paul Jones)
Help Me (w/Paul Jones (vocals & harmonica))
Think Twice Before You Go
Worried Man Blues/This Little Light of Mine (w/Chris Farlowe & Paul Jones)
Gloria (w/Chris Farlowe (vocals & Paul Jones (harmonica))

Set Length I h 45m.

Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Sam Burgess(Bass)
John McCullough (Keyboards)
Neal Wilkinson (Drums)
Dana Masters (Vocals)
Jolene O'Hara (Vocals)
Alan 'Sticky' Wicket (Percussion)
Christopher White (Saxaphone)
Matt Holland (Trumpet)

31-March-2025
Usher Concert Hall
Edinburgh, Scotland

 

Brendan Sends in His Thoughts
Tonight's show was, as the setlist indicates, broadly similar to the Glasgow show the previous night with just a few different song choices so for brevity I will pick out some of the highlights as I saw them. After opening once more with Skye Boat Song,Van quickly played the unmistakable opening saxophone intro to Did Ye Get Healed which was quite superb once more with the brass section and backing vocalists very much to the fore. After Van had performed Cold Cold Heart with great gusto he informed us that it was a Hank Williams song with a Louis Prima twist before introducing the next song as a Ray Charles one which was of course What Would I Do Without You with Van once more on piano. This was even better than the previous night and a brilliant organ solo by John McCullough clearly gained Van's approval as he said " that's it" a couple of times. Van became totally immersed in the song' s delivery and left the piano to sing standing sideways facing the backing vocalists while performing various hand movements of emphasis in doing so.It was quite magnificent! An extended Little Village which followed had the audience totally enraptured by it's brilliance and it would be hard to get more reverential audience behaviour in a church setting! 

 

Someone Like You with Van on piano once more was quite sublime and would have been even more enjoyable for me were it not for the intervention of an over zealous usher shouting loudly across the row where I was seated at someone who may apparently have been filming some of the song on his phone. Somewhat to my disappointment Northern Muse did not feature tonight but the inclusion of another gem in Dweller On The Threshold was rich compensation with Matt Holland on trumpet and Chris White on saxophone making huge contributions. 

 

Snatch It Back & Hold It was unleashed once more on an unsuspecting audience and was even better than the previous night with Van and his band really on fire with Van contributing some great harmonica and brilliant solos by John McCullough on organ and Chris White on saxophone. The audience absolutely loved it as did I and it got probably the biggest ovation of the night which is really saying something given the quality of Van's own compositions performed. Playing the blues doesn't get much better than this and I could see this song becoming a real fan favourite. Star of the County Down was a pretty rare set inclusion complete with Van's arms flailing north, south, east and west just like he used to do in bygone years with the great Georgie Fame! Unsurprisingly Gloria brought proceedings to an end as part of the main set with John McCullough's organ solo the winner for me of the many great band solos performed after Van had departed. This was another fine show with Van in fine voice throughout and his band reaching great heights in delivering the songs he chose to include in the set. 

 

One noteworthy aspect of both tonight's show and the Glasgow show the previous night was the level of respect for and indeed reverence towards Van shown by the audience throughout as they sat enraptured with a decided absence of people talking annoyingly during songs (apart of course from the unruly usher who interrupted Someone Like You tonight) which so often ruins concert attendance in modern times for real music fans.
-Brendan Hynes

 

 Setlist
Skye Boat Song
Did Ye Get Healed?
Cold Cold Heart

What Would I Do

Little Village

Enlightenment
Days Like This

Have I Told You Lately
Someone Like You
No Other Baby

Dweller On The Threshold 

Green Rocky Road

Snatch It Back & Hold It

Only A Dream
Real Real Gone/You Send Me

Star Of The County Down
Gloria

Set Length I h 49m.

Big Hand For The Band!

Dave Keary (Guitar)
Sam Burgess(Bass)
John McCullough (Keyboards)
Neal Wilkinson (Drums)

Dana Masters (Vocals)
Jolene O'Hara (Vocals)

Alan 'Sticky' Wicket (Percussion)

Christopher White (Saxaphone)

Matt Holland (Trumpet)