20-December-2015
Nells Jazz And Blues
 London, England
Evening Show

Brendan sends in this review
After all the excitement surrounding the afternoon show it was perhaps unsurprising that the evening show started in a very sedate manner. However, when the opening three numbers consisting of Celtic Swing, Sack of Woe and Centrepiece/Corrine Corrina(none of which rose above the level of mediocre) were followed by Days Like This and Precious Time the prospect of a really disappointing set list loomed largely. Mercifully, Van then played Enlightenment and following repeated requests by dedicated fan Pamela Kendix he finally capitulated and performed the always treasured Foreign Window to great acclaim. When a terrific Tore Down A la Rimbaud followed, the concert was back on an upward curve. Sometimes We Cry was well delivered and enthusiastically received quickly followed by What Am I living For? from the country album. Early In the Morning/Rock Me Baby were powerfully delivered and really lifted proceedings. The only song repeated from the matinee show followed in the form of In The Afternoon which once more was fantastic and was thankfully afforded total reverence by the audience. There were also a couple of comedic moments included on this occasion with Van telling us the ancient highway was actually the MI 5 before quickly correcting the reference to the M5 but not before the band and audience had erupted with laughter. When Van had moved into a segment of Don't You Get Me High and referred to 'when you feel my leg' an enthusiastic chap appeared to be volunteering and shouted up to Van who quickly retorted "not you" much to everyone's amusement! Cleaning Windows was good to hear again but suffered significantly once more from the absence of the brass section. In my view the band are restricted considerably by the reduced band numbers as there is a predictability and inevitability which sees every musical break in songs consist of a guitar solo followed by a piano/organ solo (or vice versa) apart from the occasional trumpet solo by Paul Moran who obviously has to stop playing the piano/organ at that point in the song to the detriment of the overall sound. From a musical viewpoint it is hard to understand why Van chose to eliminate the brass section which has been a constant and I daresay key element of his music throughout almost the entirety of his career but the decision has certainly not resulted in enhanced concert performances.

Van strapped on his guitar for Why Must I Always Explain but didn't really bring it to the level of previous renditions and Ballerina which followed was dogged by some sound problems which Van was clearly unhappy with but it nevertheless included a fine trumpet solo from Paul Moran. In The Garden brought proceedings to an end but Van departed quite early without ever getting really engrossed leaving the band to play out the last six minutes without him which they did with each taking extended solos and Paul Moore's one on bass being particularly good.

Set time was 84 minutes with Van really pushing the boat out by staying on stage for 78 minutes.

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist
Celtic Swing
Sack O Woe
Centerpiece/Corina
Days Like This
Precious Time
Enlightenment
Foreign Window
Tore Down A La Rimbaud
Sometimes We Cry
What Am I Living For
Early in the Morning/Rock Me Baby
In the Afternoon/Raincheck/Burn Baby Burn
Cleaning Windows
Why Must I Always Explain
Ballerina
In the Garden

Big Hand for The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Bobby Ruggiero (Drums)
Dana Masters (Vocals)

20-December-2015
Nells Jazz And Blues
 London, England
Matinee Show

Brendan sent in his review
Early arrivals for the third of Van Morrison's four weekend shows were met by closed doors and signage indicating a repossession of the premises. There was talk of bailiffs inside the premises and I had a vision of Van throwing himself in front of the doors to stop the band's equipment being seized but with the show eventually going ahead we were denied such a sight!

The show started with an alternative instrumental apparently called Bags Groove which was followed by Who Can I Turn To? which featured a great trumpet solo from Paul Moran. Moondance also saw Paul excel on piano and he was really hogging the limelight as he also excelled on trumpet during a powerful I Believe To My Soul. Sometimes I Feel Like A motherless Child went down a storm with Van's electric guitar contribution getting an ovation. Things I Used To Do was a pretty pointless addition to the set but Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket which followed was certainly welcomed and featured great guitar from Dave Keary and an absolutely incredible organ solo from Paul Moran (is there no end to this man's talent?). Think Twice Before You Go and Whenever God Shines His Light raised the tempo and were well received before Carrying A Torch afforded Dana Masters a chance to shine on vocals. Van briefly alluded to the bit of drama earlier in the afternoon before appropriately playing In The Afternoon.Yet again this was the show stopper as Van took us an extended journey down the ancient highway to the overpass before finishing with the repeated line"sitting pretty at the end of the line "to an enraptured ant totally hushed audience. Phenomenal! Magic Time and Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now were well performed but contained no surprises. All In The Game included some Hawaiian guitar sounds from Dave Keary which greatly pleased Van who departed the stage shortly after leaving the band to play on for a further 5 minutes or so. Paul Moore played some intricate bass but the drum solo which followed was simply a time filler.

My overall feeling was that the show which lasted just 81 minutes was very short but also very sweet.

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist
Bags Groove
Who Can I Turn To
Moondance
I Believe To My Soul
Motherless Child
Things I Used To Do
Take Your Hand Outta My Pocket
Think Twice
Whenever God Shines His Light
Carrying A Torch
In the Afternoon/Burn baby burn
Magic Time
Baby Please Don't/Go Parchman/Don't Start Crying Now
It's All in the Game

Big Hand for The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Bobby Ruggiero (Drums)
Dana Masters (Vocals)

19-December-2015
Nells Jazz And Blues
 London, England
Evening Show

Brendan Hynes sent in this review
This show had a somewhat erratic start as an instrumental number was quickly abandoned after a few notes to be replaced by Celtic Swing. Unlike the previous runs of shows at this intimate venue the setlist did not deviate greatly from the standard and pretty predictable shows of recent months with the exceptions being Sack of Woe, Wild Night and Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket (which included a great organ solo from Paul Moran). Highlight of the show was undoubtedly In The Afternoon which saw Van become totally engrossed and providing us with one of those moments we always hope for and savour. The ancient highway was certainly fully utilised tonight and after Van went into Burn Baby Burn territory it ended with him humming for quite some time to the band's laid back accompaniment. Wonderful! The rest of the set was somewhat predictable but was played with considerable vigour by both Van and the band so the energy level never flagged.

After Brown Eyed Girl was somewhat surprisingly played,the opening strains of Gloria which followed indicated that the show was over already. Set time was a paltry and unacceptable 80 minutes (Van was gone after 74 minutes) and quite honestly if Van is either unable or unwilling to do two full shows he should confine himself to one show per day as the audience at each show just end up being shortchanged. The much criticised standard 90 minute set length is miserable enough without cutting it even further.

Two more shows await on Sunday and one hopes for a few rare nuggets to be unearthed during them.

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist
Celtic Swing
Sack O Woe
Motherless Child
Carrying A Torch
Wild Night
Sometimes We Cry
Think Twice Before You Go
Take Your Hand Outta My Pocket
Keep It Simple
Whenever God Shines His Light
In the Afternoon/Burn Baby Burn
Baby please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now
I'm Not Feeling It No More
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

Big Hand for The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Bobby Ruggiero (Drums)
Dana Masters (Vocals)

26-January-2015
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
 Glasgow, Scotland

Brendan sent in his thoughts on gig
From the opening Celtic Swing when a fine bass solo from Paul Moore was met with an approving "Yeh!"from Van my instinct told me he was really up for the show tonight and so it proved.Having moved smoothly through Close Enough For Jazz and Magic Time(which Van clearly loves as he nearly always includes it) a blistering Baby Please Don't Go really brought the crowd to life and featured some great harmonica from Van. Dana Masters was great on backing/shared vocals during I Believe To My Soul which was a real powerhouse performance from Van and the band. Following a well received Moondance Van delved into his celtic mysticism songbook in keeping with this show being part of Celtic Connections festival and delivered a wonderful Raglan Road which featured beautiful organ playing by Paul Moran and Van hopping up and down on the spot as the sheer beauty of the music seemed to flow through his veins.Irish Heartbeat duly followed to keep the mood going before I Can't Stop Loving You moved us briefly into country territory. Following Sometimes We Cry and Whenever God Shines His Light which were both powerfully delivered and featured Dana prominently on vocals another surprise followed with the return of In The Afternoon. This was the centrepoint of many concerts some years back and the good news is that Van safely negotiated us all onto the ancient highway one more time briefly stopping by A Town Called Paradise along the way. Van allowed Dana the latitude to unleash her soulful tones on a couple of verses and she really delivered brilliantly. Enlightenment, Days Like This and Precious Time followed in swift succession before a really strong In The Midnight which featured another great organ solo from Paul Moran and Dave Keary bringing a smile to Van's face with his seemingly impossible high pitched vocal which Van made him repeat one more time. The opening notes of In The Garden confirmed that this was no ordinary show and Dana again got to sing solo and quite angelically on this. Dave Keary's beautiful Spanish guitar solo was of such quality that even Van seemed overcome as he shouted "woah!"when it finished. The song finished somewhat abruptly just when Van had taken it down to a whisper but it was fantastic while it lasted. We were now nearing the finish line and what better way to finish than with fine versions of Celtic Excavation/Into The Mystic and then Ballerina for the encore to the great delight of the highly appreciative audience.

The show ran for I hour 43 mins.and featured Van in great voice, really animated and into the music while urging and cajoling the band to greater heights all the time. The sound system was incredibly good and undoubtedly enhanced the overall performance.
-Brendan Hynes

The Scotland Herald
With a packed house and folk standing at the back upstairs, the appropriate support provided for Van Morrison in gospel quartet The McCrary Sisters should have made a few friends prepared to turn out for their own gig tomorrow (Wednesday) in the Old Fruitmarket. Between them Regina, Ann, Alfreda and Deborah have worked with some of the top names in music (and have Dylan's personal approval to cover Blowin' in the Wind), and together - and accompanied by an all-Scottish quartet of instrumentalists - they make fine contemporary praise indeed.

There was a slice of gospel in Morrison's set too, in Shine A Light from the Avalon Sunset album, but then there was a little bit of everything in it, including a nod to country in I Can't Stop Loving You, and some fine jazz trumpet and flugel horn doubling from his MD behind the keys, as well as the vocal improvisation of the man himself. His sax playing is not his strongest suit, and he did blow his alto a lot, but that was a small price to pay for a good-humoured Van the Man, whose thick, chewy voice was in top form, and who added some mean blues harp. Accompanied by a similarly compact combo, with the addition of female backing singer, this was a lean approximation of a Too Late To Stop Know set, that ranged right back to Them's Baby Please Don't Go, and included Moondance, Into the Mystic, and even an encore of Ballerina from Astral Weeks. Directing the band with a waving right fist, when he is channelling Big Joe Turner, you can forgive Morrison that he can't do Cannonball Adderley as well.
-Keith Bruce

Setlist
Celtic Swing
Close Enough For Jazz
Magic Time
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now
I Believe To My Soul
Moondance
Raglan Road
Irish Heartbeat
I Can't Stop Loving you
Sometimes We Cry
Whenever God Shines His Light
In The Afternoon
Enlightenment
Days Like This
Precious Time
In The Midnight
In The Garden
Into The Mystic
Ballerina

Big Hand for The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Bobby Ruggiero (Drums)
Dana Masters (Vocals)

Van Morrison Signs With RCA For 35th Studio Album, Due Early 2015

George Benson & Van Morrison recording session for "Higher Than The World" duet in August 2014. 

Breaking news from Billboard Van has signed with RCA and will release new album in 2015.

Van Morrison will release his as-yet-untitled 35th studio album on RCA Records in early 2015, the label confirmed Tuesday. The set will be a follow-up to 2012’s Born To Sing: No Plan B, which was released via Blue Note and debuted and peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200.

“We are thrilled to have Van Morrison, the iconic musical visionary and legend, join the RCA roster,” RCA President and COO Tom Corson and CEO Peter Edge said in a joint statement. “He is one of the most prolific and talented songwriters and performers in music today and we are honored to have him join us at the label and work with him on his forthcoming new album.”

Added Morrison in a statement, “I am looking forward to working with Tom, Peter and the RCA team as we plan release of the new project for next year.”

The upcoming set will mark Morrison’s first set for Sony Music, following a long stint with Warner Bros. in the 1970s (Astral Weeks, Moondance), a 7-year run with Mercury in the 1980s and stints with Polydor, Exile, Virgin/Point Blank and Blue Note. Though he continues to tour extensively through Europe, Morrison hasn’t performed in the States since a U.S. tour wrapped in November 2013.