21-February-2025
Whitla Hall
Belfast, Northern Ireland

via S, Corr

Brendan Hynes was at gig & sends in this review

As the band took to the stage for the first of Van Morrison's three shows this weekend at the venue it was very pleasing to see that the big band format assembled for the New Arrangements and Duets album launch shows in Brighton last year was once more followed. Also noteworthy was the return after many years of Neal Wilkinson on drums and Richie Buckley on saxophone with the latter's presence proving particularly significant as the show progressed. 

The show opened with lively renditions of Only A Dream and Back on Top before Van reverted briefly into skiffle territory with I Want A Roof Over My Head which was followed by a very impressive rendition of So Quiet In Here. Laughin' and Clownin' saw Van in full flight aided in no small measure by the excellent big band and backing vocalists Jolene O' Hara and Dana Masters. Down To Joy was introduced by Van as the new single and apparently it is included on his new forthcoming album. Green Rocky Road represented a further skiffle selection before Days Like This, Enlightenment and Precious Time saw a return to more regular set selections. 

The sight of Van proceeding to sit at the piano often promises something special and sure enough we were treated to a superb Vanlose Stairway featuring a great Richie Buckley saxophone solo and lovely big band brass. There was understandably a huge ovation at the end of the song whereupon Van uttered the word 'Summertime" before embarking on a magical journey back through Summertime in England. This one got the full treatment as we visited the mystic church and had Van telling Mr. Lawrence that he read his book with Richie Buckley repeating Van's utterances at breakneck speed during the 'call and respond' segment before unleashing a savage piece of saxophone playing as the song reached a crescendo with the backing singers singing "Soul Is A Witness" over and over towards it's conclusion. There was unsurprisingly an audience eruption followed by a standing ovation at the end of the song. 

Whenever God Shines His Light was followed by a terrific rendition of Ain't Gonna Moan No More featuring superb solos by Dave Keary on guitar, Guy Barker on trumpet, Sam Burgess on bass and John McCullough on organ. Come On In and Moondance were followed by a powerful Help Me on which the backing vocalists excelled before the encore of Gloria brought proceedings to an end but not before a quite incredible trombone solo by Trevor Mires which brought the house down. 

Van was in fine voice and quite jovial throughout the show and there was a strong dynamic evident with his superb band. 

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist 

Only A Dream

Back On Top 

I Want A Roof Over My Head 

So Quiet In Here 

Laughin And Clownin' 

Down To Joy 

Green Rocky Road 

Days Like This 

Enlightenment 

Precious Time 

Vanlose Stairway 

Summertime in England 

Whenever God Shines His Light 

Ain't Gonna Moan No More 

Come On In 

Moondance 

Help Me 

Gloria

Set Length: 1hr 47m

Big Hand For The Band!

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

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

Richie Buckley (Saxaphone)

Christopher White (Saxaphone)

Matt Holland (Trumpet)

Trevor Mires (Trombone)
Guy Barker (Trumpet)

17-September-2016
Culloden Estate & Spa
 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Setlist (Thanks Dan Murray)
Back On Top
By His Grace
Baby Please Don't Go
Here Comes The Night
Whenever God Shines His Light
Precious Time
Wild Night
Real Real Gone
Have I Told You Lately (Vegas Version)
Moondance
Cleaning Windows
Jackie Wilson Said
Think Twice Before You Go
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

16-March-2015
Europa Hotel
 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Here's Brendan's thoughts on night two in Belfast
The opening instrumental piece was quickly followed by a straight forward Close Enough For Jazz before the first real highlight was delivered in Higher Than The World. In The Midnight saw guitarist Dave Keary once again put through his paces on impossibly high vocals before Precious Time provided an early reality check. Playhouse moved along at breakneck speed before a really nice Centrepiece featuring a lovely extended instrumental opening was performed and the song later merged with Corrina Corrina. Back On Top was the rather jazzy version and was quickly followed by Baby Please Don’t Go/Parchman Farm/Don’t Start Crying Now which were more or less as played the previous night and again went down a treat. More and More may have been appreciated by country fans in the audience (if there were any) but I am not among them (precious time is ticking away being an apt description of what I was feeling at this point).I Can’t Stop Loving You was then strongly delivered by Van to get things back on course.

I’m Carrying A Torch got another welcome airing and was a real tour de force before Van strapped on the guitar and started to play the opening notes of And The Healing Has Begun. No sooner had he done so than the guitar came off again with Van clearly unhappy with what he was hearing. A stage crew member took it away and returned after a while with what appeared to be a different guitar before retreating slowly and nervously backwards off the stage all the time looking straight at Van for a reaction. Luckily all was well and Van continued on to perform an extended and quite wonderful version bringing us all down the back streets and doing that singing over his guitar playing that so many of us love so much and which is somewhat of a trademark for Van. The song was also notable for some lovely bass playing by Paul Moore.

Things I Used To Do featured Paul Moran prominently on organ and was followed by a rare but well received thumping version of Wild Night. Wild Honey got another rare airing and featured a wonderful organ solo from Paul Moran. However Dana Masters’ backing vocals were for some reason almost totally inaudible and this was a recurring problem on the night which detracted somewhat from the overall performance. After strong renditions of Whenever God Shines His Light and Early In The Morning Van brought the concert to it’s conclusion exactly as on the previous night with Help Me, Think Twice Before You Go and finally Gloria which was quite a funked up version once Van had departed and saw Dave Keary give us a few bars of Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll before finally Paul Moran indulged himself on his new favourite toy in the form of a synthesizer.

I felt this was the stronger of the two shows without ever reaching the heights(with a few notable exceptions) that one always hopes for when attending a Van Morrison concert.
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist (Thanks to John Z.)
Yo
Close Enough for Jazz
Higher Than the World
In the Midnight
Precious Time
Playhouse
Centerpiece/Corinna Corrina/Centerpiece
Back on Top
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchment Farm/Cry Cry Baby
More and More
I Can't Stop Loving You
Carrying a Torch
And the Healing Has Begun
Things I Used To Do
Wild Night
Wild Honey
Whenever God Shines His Light
Early in the Morning
Help Me
Think Twice Before You Go
Gloria

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

15-March-2015
Europa Hotel
 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Brendan sent in this review
The first night of Van Morrison’s two night stint got off to a fairly mundane start with the instrumental Caledonia Swing being followed by a rare performance of Hey Mr. DJ and then Moondance. Things picked up considerably with another fine rendition of I Believe To My Soul and then Magic Time which included a nice organ solo from Paul Moran. Sometimes We Cry featured another great organ solo and was a really strong rendition which got a great audience response. You Don’t Know Me featured great vocals from both Van and Dana Masters and a great trumpet solo from the versatile and somewhat overworked Paul Moran. Baby Please Don’t Go/Parchman Farm/Don’t Start Crying Now were powerfully delivered as usual to great acclaim. The welcome intro to In The Afternoon was met with several shouts of ‘Ancient Highway’ from some of the more excitable attendees and Van delivered a wonderful version while Paul Moore delivered some lovely bass towards the song’s conclusion. This song was probably the highlight of the night but we were soon brought down to earth with Precious Time which at least pleased those hoping for ‘the hits’.I’m Carrying A Torch featured a great exchange of vocals by Van and Dana and was a welcome addition to the set. Things I Used To Do fairly chugged along before Days Like This was produced apparently as a Mother’s Day tribute. Real Real Gone has got a new lease of life since one of Van’s musical heroes, Michael Buble dueted with him on it for the new album and it really went down well as did Whenever God Shines His Light which followed. A nice Enlightenment was followed by Van saying we would now have some rock and roll and he proceeded to play Jambalaya which was nothing special. In The Garden was a much shortened 3-4 minute version which proved pretty disappointing as a result. Brown Eyed Girl was just what one would expect and led towards the fast paced conclusion consisting of Help Me, Think Twice Before You Go and finally Gloria with no encore to follow.

This was a pretty average show in my view but one which nevertheless had some moments of real high quality. For anyone hoping for plenty of blues numbers and a high volume of the so called hit songs this was just the show to go to.
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist (Thanks John Z.)
Caledonia Swing
Hey Mr. DJ
Moondance/My Funny Valentine
I Believe To My Soul
Magic Time
Sometimes We Cry
You Don't Know Me
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchment Farm/Cry Cry Baby
In The Afternoon/Ancient Highway
Precious Time
Carrying a Torch
Things I Used To Do
Days like This
Real Real Gone
Whenever God Shines His Light
Enlightenment
Jambalaya
In the Garden
Brown Eyed Girl
Help Me
Think Twice Before You Go
Gloria

26-October-2014
Europa Hotel
 Belfast, Northern Ireland

via Pablo G.

Setlist
Celtic Swing
New Symphony Sid
Baby Please Don't Go
Rough God Goes Riding
Queen of the Slipstream
Sometimes We Cry
Think Twice Before You Go
Days Like This
Whenever God Shines His Light
I Can Tell (You Don't Love Me)
If You Only Knew
That's Life
Philosopher's Stone
It's All In The Game
Glad Tidings
Boogie Chillun
In the Garden
On Hyndford Street

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

24-August-2014
Orangefield High School
 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Belfast Telegraph

I have a confession to make. I'm not really sure it's a wise move to confess it in this newspaper, but here goes. I never really got Van Morrison. When I was young, I took the road signposted punk rock, garage and New York, stuff like Talking Heads and Velvet Underground plus a lot of reggae. R'n'B, Caledonian/Celtic soul and all that sort of thing was another musical highway heading in another direction.

When friends said Astral Weeks, I said White Light/White Heat in the sort of uncompromising, boneheaded arguments that the young have over music.

Coming to Northern Ireland, you have to be careful, though. Van is yours and, no matter how often he has failed to return your affection, that far-away look in your eye when his music is mentioned is a warning sign not to be flippant.

Certainly not to suggest in jest, as I did once, that if Van was playing in my back garden I'd pull the curtains and put on the snooker. People in this office have still not forgiven me for that.

But in recent times I have been fascinated by his story arc. He's given so much back to Belfast lately and gigged so often I think he might actually be due to play my back garden soon.

We'll never know why he's come back to us big-style, because he'll never tell us. But his co-operation with the new Mystic Of The East heritage trail, which takes us to The Hollow, Connswater River, Cyprus Avenue and all the places that formed him and figure in his songs is perhaps a sign that, as we get older, those of us who have spent much of our lives "getting away" at some point spiritually or physically long to return.

We begin to forgive home for the sins we attached to it, recognise that in our impetuous, grab-at-life youth we were partially to blame for our acrimonious separation and start to make our peace. And perhaps Van has now turned this life journey into one of the most artistically poignant performances we are likely to witness.

The chance to see this is why, together with hundreds of others, I am crammed into the plastic moulded chairs of our school-day nightmares as Van plays the last of his gigs at Orangefield School's assembly hall on Sunday night.

Surreal isn't really the word. The place is closing down almost before our eyes, the last pupils having left last term. The fixtures and fittings are being taken down. You half expect the doors to be removed from their hinges by the time you come to leave.

But here we are in the hall where the young Van probably sat dreaming of escape while the headmaster droned on up on the stage. Now we are in Van's place and he is up there. Except we do not take our eyes off him nor refrain from listening.

On the tiny stage he is delivering what might be one of the gigs of his life using a voice of such astonishing lustre and beauty it's like he's stolen it from a man half his age.

He doesn't really acknowledge us, but nobody expected him to. The songs, full of the loving references to this place and its surrounds, are moving even to this sceptic's ears.

Around us all is changing and soon, when the bulldozers come, this gig will join the ghosts of thousands of kids being ordered not to run in the corridors, in detentions, winning sports days, just vague outlines, hazy memories.

Sunday night's audience know how lucky they are to have such a chronicler for their small part of the world. Van's songs are timeless even as buildings are reduced to dust.

Would you still pull your curtains, my companion asks as we head out into the night? Probably not, I admit.
-Mike Gibson

Setlist (Thanks David K.)
Celtic Swing
Got To Go Back
Joyous Sound
Centrepiece
Orangefield
Magic Time
Someone Like You
Northern Muse
Whenever God
Cleaning Windows
Too Many Myths
Talk is Cheap
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm
Sometimes We Cry
Brown Eyed Girl
Precious Time
Enlightenment
Hyndford Street
Ballerina
In The Garden

Big Hand for The Band!
Chris White (Saxophone)
Alistair White (Trombone)
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Bobby Ruggiero (Drums)
Special Guest: Dana Masters (Vocals)

22-January-2014
Culloden Estate & Spa
 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Photo via Pablo

Brendan sent in this review
Over the past year or so many of Van’s concerts have involved an over emphasis on the old reliables of Brown Eyed Girl, Moondance, Days Like This, Precious Time, Gloria etc. which has left me hoping for a return to concerts of a more challenging nature involving material which more adequately reflects Van’s superb vocal ability and back catalogue. Well tonight was such a night as Van,aided by his superb band,stepped outside his comfort zone and delivered a terrific performance which was hugely appreciated by those lucky enough to be present.

After opening with Celtic Swing and Close Enough for Jazz, Van produced the first of many highlights for me in Rough God Goes Riding complete with the now mandatory Clint Eastwood impression. This was followed by a new, more jazzy arrangement of Back on Top which featured the brass section to great effect. Next up was the show stopper for me with a brilliant rendition of the rarely played Queen of the Slipstream which included a particularly brilliant organ solo from Paul Moran. Next up was a new and beautiful arrangement of So Quiet in Here. A new arrangement of Choppin Wood was followed by the seldom played Keep it Simple with Van seated and playing ukulele. As a special request Van then performed the seldom (if ever) played Green Mansions which Van told us he had written the first two lines of in the mid 1960’s before finishing it in the 1990’s. Other highlights were a brilliant Georgia(superb organ again from Paul Moran), Enlightenment,duets with Shana Morrison on Whenever God Shines His Light and Sometimes We Cry, Bulbs and finally an extended and brilliant version of All in the Game with Van in meditative mode going to the Burning Ground and confirming that he still has No Plan B and No Safety Net. After a quick acknowledgement of the band Van was gone and sadly did not return.

Van was quite chatty throughout and referenced the late Irish comedian Dave Allen while also telling us he had dinner with Billy Connolly last week. Van seemed quite pleased that Billy told him he thought he was funny. Indeed!

It is to be hoped that this show is a sign of things to come in 2014 with Van delivering more of his lesser played and classic material to give us further shows of this quality.

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist (Thanks Mike S.)
Celtic Swing
Close Enough for Jazz
Rough God Goes Riding
Back on Top
Queen of the Slipstream
So Quiet In Here
Choppin Wood
Keep It Simple
Green Mansions
I Get a Kick Outta You
Georgia
Enlightenment
Whenever God Shines His Light
Sometimes We Cry
Bulbs
All in the Game/This Is It/No Plan B- No Safety Net/Burnin Ground/When Heart is Open

Big Hand for The Band!
Chris White (Saxophone)
Shana Morrison (Vocals)
Alistair White (Trombone)
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Jeff Lardner (Drums)
Bobby Ruggiero (Percussion)

22-October-2013
& 23-October-2013
 Europa Hotel  
Belfast, Northern Ireland

Photo via Pablo G.

Our man in Ireland sent in this review of the gigs
Van returned to the Europa for two more dinner concerts this week. The first night was very disappointing with Van coasting through a festival type set with few highlights. Consider that the set included Brown Eyed Girl, Moondance, Days Like This, Choppin Wood Jackie Wilson Said and Gloria and you will get the picture. The highlight for me was a fine rendition of the rarely played I Forgot That Love Existed which was a new arrangement of the song. Van told us he nearly didn’t make it to the concert but didn’t expand other than to say it was one of those days (not to be confused with Days Like This).

The second night by contrast was much more uplifting. Starting with Celtic Swing Van then moved into a rarely played Come Running To Me from the Moondance album. When Van then produced a terrific version of You Gotta Make It Through The World If You Can from A Period of Transition it was obvious this was going to be much more like it. And it was! In the Midnight was well received with percussionist Bobby Ruggiero getting to do his high pitched vocal contribution twice at the end because Van reckoned he did it so well the first time. Other highlights included Celtic Excavation which merged into a beautiful version of Into the Mystic, thunderous versions of Baby Please Don’t Go and Early in the Morning/Rock me Baby and a very impressive re-worked version of Fire in the Belly. The concert finished with the usual high tempo Help Me and Gloria.

The concert was not without it’s disappointing moments however as a 100 mile per hour rhythm and blues version of Philosopher’s Stone(also played the same way the previous night) did a huge disservice to such a wonderful song. The general consensus among fans afterwards was that it would have been much better not to play the song at all than to play it like that.Sacrilege! A further low point was the abandonment(for the second time in recent shows) by Van of the magnificent In the Garden after a few seconds resulting in the audience’s shouts of exultation being quickly replaced by groans of disappointment. It was quite ridiculous really and very annoying for those of us who paid such premium. prices to attend.

Overall though it was a very enjoyable show and the couple of rarities included in the set certainly added to the occasion.
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist: 22-Oct-2013
Celtic Swing
Only a Dream
Days Like This
New Kind of Man
The Mystery
Stranded
Magic Time
Chopin' Wood
I Forgot That Love Existed
In The Midnight
Philosopher's Stone
Early in The Morning
Baby Please Don't Go
Brown Eyed Girl
Moondance
Jackie Wilson Said
Gloria

Setlist: 23-Oct-2013
Celtic Swing
Come Running To Me
You Got To Make It Through The World
In The Nidnight
A New Kind Of Man
Days Like This
Philosopher's Stone
Celtic Excavation/Into The Mystic
Got To Go Back
Fire In The Belly
Baby Please Don't Go
Early In The Morning
Whenever God shines His Light
Bobby Bland Tribute Song
Help Me
Gloria