29-May-2016
Town Hall 
Late Show
 Warrenpoint
 Northern Ireland

Brendan sent in this review
The second of Van Morrison’s shows was again opened in fine fashion by the Bluez Katz Bluez Band who were afforded a warm reception not enjoyed too regularly by support acts.
After the all too predictable Celtic Swing opener we were then treated to a really strong I Believe To My Soul which featured Dana Masters prominently on shared/backing vocals and a great trumpet solo from Paul Moran. Symphony Sid was once again reprised to be followed by Early in The Morning/Rock Me Baby which featured a great organ solo from Paul Moran, fine harmonica from Van and really good guitar throughout from Dave Keary. The rarely performed Kingdom Hall went down a treat after which Van put on his acoustic guitar for the even rarer The Beauty Of The Days Gone By. Moondance, featuring several band solos, was followed by another rendition of Travelling Light. A great version of Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child followed to great acclaim and led into Real Real Gone featuring nice vocals from Dana. A couple of excited ladies proceeded to dance in front of the stage during this song only to be ushered to the side by an over - zealous steward. Van seemed quite amused and at the commencement of Carrying A Torch which followed joked that if they wanted to dance during this song it wouldn’t be a problem. It was a great version with both Van and Dana excelling vocally. Bright Side Of The Road was very well delivered and featured Van doing his Louis Armstrong impression at some length. Cleaning Windows kept up the high tempo and it increased further with a powerful Wild Night. Whenever God Shines His Light highlighted Dana’s vocal abilities once more before Van brought the show towards finality with Help Me. After Van briefly departed he returned one more time for Gloria which saw Paul Moran go into overdrive on synth and organ and Dana deservedly bring the house down with her brilliant vocal contribution after Van had exited the stage.

This show was in my view much superior to the first one but was far from a vintage performance nevertheless.

The set time was 1h 23m.

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist (Thanks Al B.)
Celtic Swing
I Believe To My Soul
Symphony Sid
Early In The Morning
Kingdom Hall
The Beauty of the Days Gone By
Moondance
Travelling Light
Motherless Child
Real Real Gone
Carrying A Torch
Bright Side of the Road
Cleaning Windows
Wild Night
Whenever God Shines His Light
Help Me
Gloria

Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Mez Clough (Drums)
Dana Masters (Vocals)

29-May-2016
Town Hall 
Early Show
 Warrenpoint
 Northern Ireland

Brendan sent in this review
This was the first of Van Morrison’s two concerts at what has by now come to be his annual appearance as part of the Blues on the Bay festival. The show was once again opened by the Bluez Katz Blues Band which are very much a family affair with half of the six piece band consisting of father, son and daughter and their four song set of blues/jazz rock classics was highly entertaining with a nice brass section augmenting the overall sound to considerable effect.

Van’s set opened in very predictable fashion with Celtic Swing and Close Enough for Jazz while the jazz theme was continued with Symphony Sid which featured Dana Masters on extended vocals. Magic Time and Playhouse followed in quick succession before Van told us that these type of shows gave them the opportunity to do songs they wouldn’t normally do. What followed were covers of Miss Otis Regrets (featuring a nice trumpet solo from Paul Moran) and Travelling Light which Van told us was a Billie Holliday song with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The usual medley of Baby Please Don’t Go/Parchman Farm/Don’t Start Crying Now went down well and was followed by In the Midnight which was well delivered and included a nice organ solo by Paul Moran.Both Whenever God Shines His Light and Sometimes We Cry saw Dana feature prominently on shared vocals. Think Twice Before You Go moved at a fair pace with the band in full flow before Days Like This calmed everything down again. By His Grace featured a nice organ sound throughout before we were returned once more to the ‘hits’ territory with Brown Eyed Girl and Precious Time, neither of which did much for me personally. Wild Night was powerfully delivered after which Van entered the finishing straight with Help Me before departing the stage only to return once more for Gloria which was notable for Dana’s great vocals after Van had finally departed.

My overall feeling was that this was a very disappointing show with none of the really outstanding or spine tingling moments that one normally associates with a Van Morrison concert and a distinct absence of any hint of the celtic mysticism for which Van is so well renowned. There was quite a degree of over- reliance on the radio friendly ‘hits’ which are arguably mainly of appeal to ‘occasional’ fans of Van’s music .

The set time was 1h 20 m.

-Brendan Hynes

via Meg M.

Setlist (Thanks Al B.)
Celtic Swing
Close Enough For Jazz
Symphony Sid
Magic Time
Playhouse
Miss Otis Regrets
Travelling Light
Baby, Please Don't Go/Parchment Farm/Don't Start Crying Now
In The Midnight
Whenever God Shines His Light
Sometimes We Cry
Think Twice Before You Go
Days Like This
By His Grace
Brown Eyed Girl
Precious Time
Wild Night
Help Me
Gloria

Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Mez Clough (Drums)
Dana Masters (Vocals)

30-October-2013
Royal Albert Hall
London, England

The Telegraph (Source)
Legendary grump, Van Morrison, was in unusually jovial spirits as he lit up the Albert Hall with a stunning performance

One can never be sure quite what to expect from a Van Morrison performance. Will it be the blues Van? The Celtic soul Van? The mystic Van? More crucially, will it be the committed Van - or, has as often been the case in recent years - the perfunctory one?

One thing that can usually be safely predicted is a self-absorption, a reluctance to acknowledge the audience on any level as befits a performer who in one of his most recent songs expressed the sentiment that "Sartre said hell was other people/I believe that most of them are". But remarkably - delightfully - that is precisely what we did not get.

Midway through this performance Morrison was joined on stage by the redoubtable Chris Farlowe, for a series of blues standards - fittingly enough, given that this was part of the week’s Blues Fest. Trading phrases during Rock Me Baby, Farlowe did something that probably no-one else has ever accomplished on stage with Van Morrison - breaking him up in laughter. The Albert Hall lit up in surprise.

Morrison is an artist who has always pleased himself. With a repertoire going back more than 50 years to draw upon, this performance included relatively few of his own songs, and most of those lesser known ones. Instead we had the blues, standards torn from the Las Vegas songbook, tributes to his favourite singers, and a couple of Morrison classics, all superbly crafted by an 8-piece band.

The evening began at a measured pace; a warm alto-sax instrumental, a couple of songs from his more recent albums - Open The Door To Your Heart and Sometimes We Cry - and a lovely, gently swaying version of Ray Charles’s I Can’t Stop Loving You, where Morrison seemed to be both warming up his vocal chords and lubricating them with copious amounts of water swigged from a pint glass.

The arrival on stage of Farlowe, a man who evinces all the barrel-chested bonhomie of a pub landlord, trading phrases on Rock Me Baby, Hoochie Coochie Man, and Boom, Boom, turned up the temperature.

By now it was apparent that something remarkable was happening. Van Morrison was visibly enjoying himself.

Then came an excursion into standards - a warm, finger-snapping reading of the Bricuse and Newley song, 'Who Can I Turn To’, was followed by 'That Old Black Magic’ in bossa nova time. Into The Mystic was recast in a mellow, jazzy mood, while a glorious version of Moondance emphasised its cool, bop qualities, quoting phrases from the Miles David copybook.

What all of this affirmed is what a supremely commanding singer Van Morrison is, a man who does not so much perform a song as take possession of it, bending and pushing its shape in a series of growls, cries, slurs and moans.

The end piece of this performance was All In The Game , with Morrison’s scat vocals fluttering around the melody like a butterfly, seguing into You Know What They’re Writing About - "the poetry section" as he gruffly announced - its stream of consciousness phrases "meet me down by the water... I’ve got no safety net... going to the burning ground’, building to a thrilling climax.

Artistry at work. And - astonishingly - with a smile.
-Mick Brown

Setist
Celtic Swing
Open The Door (To Your Heart)
Sometimes We Cry
I Can't Stop Loving you
Fire In The Belly
Baby, Please Don't Go
Early In The Morning
Rock Me Baby
Hoochie Coochie Man (w/Chris Farlowe)
Dimples/Boom Boom
Who Can I Turn To
Old Black Magic
Philosopher's Stone
Saint James Infirmary
Celtic Excavation/Into The Mystic
Moondance
Jackie Wilson Said
All In The Game/Burning Ground/No Plan B
Stand By Me (w/Chris Farlowe)
Gloria