24-March-2022
 Sage Gatehead
 Gateshead, England

Setlist (Thanks Richard P.)

Caledonia Swing
Latest Record Project
Deadbeat Saturday Night
Up County Down
Days Like This
Someone Like You
Forgot That Love Existed
And it Stoned Me
These Dreams of You
Wild Honey
Dead or Alive
Carrying a Torch
Cleaning Windows / Be Bop a Lula
Precious Time
Symphony Sid
Broken Record
Down to Joy
In The Afternoon
Help Me
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

Big Hand for The Band!

Chris White (Saxophone)
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Richard Dunn (Keyboards)
Teena Lyle (Percussion)
Colin Griffin (Drums)
Elle Cato (Vocals)

16-February-2017
Nells Jazz And Blues
 London, England

via Matthew Jeffrey

Brendan's review of third and final night at Nells
The third and final night of Van's stint at Nell's was not prefaced by a statement from him that this would be a total blues set but he commenced once more with Goldfish Bowl which tonight featured a great extended guitar solo from Dave Keary. This was followed by the jazzy Symphony Sid and the lively Keep Mediocrity At Bay before Van slowed things down for Beautiful Vision featuring Sumudu on some shared vocals. Playhouse raised the tempo once more before Sometimes We Cry afforded Dana the opportunity to excel on vocals during a really good version. Bo Diddley's I Can Tell got another airing tonight and, if anything, was even better than the previous night. The Baby Please Don't Go etc. medley got a further outing before In The Midnight brought some order to proceedings once more. When Think Twice Before You Go was followed by Precious Time we had most definitely entered the 'hits' territory that Van had told us we wouldn't be entering on the first night. Corrective surgery was clearly urgently required and a momentary lull afforded dedicated Van fan Pamela Kendix (who was seated right in front of Van in the front row) the opportunity to request Why Must I Always Explain. Van responded by saying "Give Me A Rest" before adding that they needed to slow things down and picking up his electric guitar. And so it came to pass that Van delivered a top class version which included both backing singers finishing Van's lines and an excellent extended guitar solo by Van at the end. I Can't Stop Loving You featured both backing singers once more before another fine rendition of In The Afternoon which included nice guitar and trumpet solos. When All In The Game made a welcome return to the set list it was evident that Van was now firmly 'in the zone' and so it proved as he once more confirmed that he still has no Plan B and no safety net. Having thanked the band Van departed before returning for an incredible 15 minute version of Help Me which included a brilliant extended harmonica solo from Van which had the audience roaring and the band members smiling at one another in admiration. When Van had departed, the band members did their party pieces which included an excellent understated trumpet solo by Paul Moran ,fine bass from Paul Moore and great vocals from Dana and Sumudu.

This show was the best of the three in my view with the final 40 minutes or so in particular reminding us why we keep coming back for more.
-Brendan Hynes

via Matthew Jeffrey

Set List
Goldfish Bowl
Symphony Sid
Keep Mediocrity At Bay
Beautiful Vision
Playhouse
Sometimes We Cry
I Can Tell
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now/Custard Pie
In The Midnight
Think Twice Before You Go
Precious Time
Why Must I Always Explain
I Can't Stop Loving You
In The Afternoon
All In The Game
Help Me

Set Time 1h 29m

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

15-February-2017
Nells Jazz And Blues
 London, England

via Matthew Jeffrey

Brendan's take on night two at Nells
As on the first night, Van announced at the outset that it would be a blues set given the name of the venue and he commenced the show once again with Goldfish Bowl which featured a great trumpet solo from Paul Moran. Playhouse moved things along at a brisk pace followed swiftly by Talk Is Cheap with Van first making a reference to "fake news". Fame was very strong once again and was followed by two covers in Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket (which saw Van chuckling merrily for the first couple of verses) and I Believe To My Soul. The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword from the new album then got a further airing followed by the most welcome inclusion of Beautiful Vision which featured Sumudu extensively on shared vocals and fine steel guitar from Dave Keary. Going Down to Bangor put us all in holiday mode and was followed by a great cover of Bo Diddley's I Can Tell which saw fine guitar and organ solos from Dave Keary and Paul Moran respectively. I Can't Stop Loving You featured both Sumudu and Dana Masters on vocals and they featured individually to great effect on Sometimes We Cry(Dana) and Whenever God Shines His Light (Sumudu).Van reprised his Maritime blues medley of Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now/Custard Pie to bring us all back with him to share his 1964 memories. In The Afternoon followed to great acclaim and once more was the highlight of the night featuring lovely guitar and trumpet solos and lovely backing vocals from Dana and Sumudu who repeated the phrase "it's my life, it's your life baby" over and over to complement Van's extended and quite superb vocal workout. It was quite magical. Help Me and Gloria brought proceedings to a most lively conclusion once more.
-Brendan Hynes

Set List
Goldfish Bowl
Playhouse
Talk Is Cheap
Fame
Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket
I Believe To My Soul
The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword
Beautiful Vision
Going Down To Bangor
I Can Tell
I Can't Stop Loving You
Sometimes We Cry
Whenever God Shines His Light
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now/Custard Pie
In The Afternoon
Help Me
Gloria

Set Time 1h 30m

via Matthew Jeffrey

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

14-February-2017
Nells Jazz And Blues
 London, England

via Matthew Jeffrey

Brendan Hynes checks in with review of night one at Nells
Right from the outset Van laid down a marker as he stated that the only reason they were playing Nells was because it is a jazz and blues club so they would be playing a mainly blues set. His announcement that there would be no 'hits' was quite enthusiastically received by a sizeable number of attendees which seemed to surprise Van who retorted "that's good?". Before opening with Goldfish Bowl, Van likened the song's theme to the new term "alternate facts" before delivering quite a good version which was followed by a really strong Fame. Look Beyond The Hill and The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword from the new album followed in quick succession but in my view these are two of the weakest tracks and I was hoping for a first live performance of In Tiberon but it was not to be tonight. It may have been Valentines Day but Van was in no mood for sentiment as a request for Someone Like You was summarily dismissed with a rebuke that if one wanted to hear such songs then the large concerts were the place to hear them (this was quite a departure from previous shows at Nells where Van has often invited requests and been quite happy to play some of his more creative and lesser played material with no insistence that it be strictly blues or jazz material!) I Believe To My Soul which followed featured a great trumpet solo from Paul Moran while Dave Keary excelled on guitar during Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket which ran into Stormy Monday and Lonely Avenue. Going Down To Bangor raised the tempo considerably and gave Van the opportunity to reminisce about his bucket and spade while singing "tra la la tra la lee"! Rock Me Baby/Early In The Morning fairly rocked but at this stage we had probably reached 'blues overload' so a really powerful version of Sometimes We Cry(which saw Dana Masters get a deserved ovation for her vocal contribution) was quite a welcome diversion. We were quickly brought back to blues territory with Talk Is Cheap with Van once more making reference to alternate facts. Van then announced a blues medley from his time playing The Maritime in Belfast back in 1964 and featured Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now/Custard Pie(which saw Van became quite amused and to wonder whether lyrics which may have been acceptable in 1964 still are). A second deviation from the blues trail followed and brought us instead down the ancient highway with a quite magnificent In The Afternoon which went on for an age and was far and away the highpoint of the night and fully deserving of the extended ovation it received. The opening bars of Help Me indicated that the end was nigh and so it proved as Van asked for "a big hand for the band" before departing only to return one more time for Gloria which inevitably featured the band much more than it did Van as he beat a hasty retreat and left them to it as they kept playing for quite some time to stretch out the set time.

via Matthew Jeffrey

Van was in good form throughout and in fine voice in what was a committed performance albeit somewhat restricted by the overwhelming adherence to the 'blues only' theme which resulted in exactly half of the songs performed being cover versions of other artists' work.
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist
Goldfish Bowl
Fame
Look Beyond the Hill
The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword
I Believe To My Soul
Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket/Stormy Monday/Lonely Avenue
Going Down To Bangor
Rock Me Baby/Early In The Morning
Sometimes We Cry
Talk Is Cheap
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now/Custard Pie
In The Afternoon
Help Me
Gloria

Set Time-1h 28m

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

09-November-2016
Philharmonic Hall
 Liverpool, England

Brendan Hynes take on night 2
In contrast to the previous night’s show this one included six songs from the new album opening nicely with the instrumental Caledonian Swing and followed briskly by Too Late and Look Beyond The Hill. Going Down To Bangor raised the tempo considerably before the inclusion one more time of what is clearly a favourite of Van’s in Magic Time. Every Time I See A River got a welcome airing and was pretty impressive to be followed by the speeded up Have I Told You Lately which wasn’t. The sublime Someone Like You saw Dana Masters share some of the limelight with impressive shared vocals while Beautiful Vision was reprised once more and this time featured steel guitar from Dave Keary. Other notable inclusions in the set( which again drew fairly heavily on ‘the hits’) were a full throttle version of Think Twice Before You Go, another nice version of In The Midnight, an even more powerful Tore Down A La Rimbaud than the previous night’s one and a fine though again somewhat shortened In The Garden which drew some screams of delight from female members of the audience as the song commenced. As on the first night, Gloria closed proceedings with another terrific version more or less on a par with the previous night’s one and getting the same stamp of approval from the audience which were entirely on their feet by then.

Set List
Caledonian Swing
Too Late
Look Beyond The Hill
Going Down To Bangor
Magic Time
Every Time I See A River
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Someone Like You
Beautiful Vision
Baby Please Don’t Go/Parchman Farm/Don’t Start Crying Now
Think Twice Before You Go
In The Midnight
Cleaning Windows
Moondance
Sometimes We Cry
Precious Time
Share Your Love With Me
Jackie Wilson Said
Tore Down A La Rimbaud
Brown Eyed Girl
In The Garden
Gloria

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

Set Time 1h 40m.

08-November-2016
Philharmonic Hall
 Liverpool, England

Brendan Hynes sent in this review
Van Morrison opened the first concert of his two night stint at this venue with Too Late from the new album followed in quick succession by Close Enough For Jazz and Look Beyond The Hill which is also on the new album. Rather surprisingly there were to be no more songs from the new album tonight with much of the rest of the show drawn largely from the ‘greatest hits roadshow’ as evidenced by the rather uninspired set list with Van’s more creative work largely unexplored. There were thankfully some exceptions however including the welcome inclusion of Beautiful Vision which featured a great guitar solo from Dave Keary and beautiful backing vocals from Dana Masters. Tore Down A La Rimbaud was terrific and featured great organ playing by Paul Moran.In The Midnight again featured Dana on vocals while Dave Keary played some nice steel guitar and contributed his seemingly impossibly high vocal range towards the song’s ending all of which drew an acknowledgement from Van by way of an outstretched arm. In The Garden made a welcome return although Van didn’t really get immersed in what was a fairly short version and he departed the stage as the song drew to a conclusion. He returned for what turned out to be a pretty terrific version of Gloria as the band really cut loose once Van had departed with Paul Moran adding an extended and quite brilliant trumpet solo into the mix while Paul Moore added to his fan base with a terrific bass solo which was accompanied by the entire audience clapping along while Dana’s terrific vocal/chant at the end drew a rapturous audience response.

While Van was in great voice throughout aided by a superb sound system this was largely a workmanlike performance by him devoid of any real transcendental moments for the audience to savour.

Set List
Too Late
Close Enough For Jazz
Look Beyond The Hill
Magic Time
Baby Please Don’t Go/Parchman Farm/Don’t Start Crying Now
Sometimes We Cry
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Precious Time
Enlightenment
Whenever God Shines His Light
Cleaning Windows
Beautiful Vision
Tore Down A La Rimbaud
Carrying A Torch
Moondance
Saint James Infirmary
Jackie Wilson Said
In The Midnight
Brown Eyed Girl
Help Me
In The Garden
Gloria

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


Set Time: 1h 39m.

06-August-2016
The Abbey Grounds
Glastonbury, England

via What's On Somerset

Setlist (Thanks Simon Gee)
Moondance > So What
The Way Young Lovers Do w/Clare Teal
Carrying A Torch w/Clare Teal
By His Grace
When Will I Ever Learn To Live In God
Precious Time
Wild Honey w/Joss Stone
Crazy Love w/Joss Stone
Wild Night
Have I Told You Lately
Baby Please Don’t Go > Don’t start Crying Now
Here Come The Night
Haunts Of Ancient Peace
Sometimes We Cry
Whenever God Shines His Light
In The Afternoon > Ancient Highway > Joe Turner Sings > Raincheck
Think Twice Before You Go
Rock Me Baby
I Believe To My Soul
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

Van Morrison: lead vocals, guitars, alto saxophone, harmonicas, tambourine, piano

The Van Morrison Band: Mez Clough : drums; Dave Keary : guitar; Dana Masters : backing vocals; Paul Moore : bass; Paul Moran : keyboards, trumpet

Special Guests: Joss Stone and Clare Teal: lead vocals

09-June-2016
Harrogate International Centre
Harrogate, England

Long time Van fan, James T., sent in this review:
It had been a while since I’d seen Van live. I have learnt over the 27 shows that I’ve seen since 1999, that it’s best not to have any expectations. Harrogate International Centre is by far the most infuriating venue to enter. A strange large spiral ramp led me to the bar area. I looked for the merchandise stall, nowhere to be seen. Back down the spiral staircase! I asked the front of House manager where was the stall . “The merchandise will be on sale after the show – it has been requested that we only sell after the show” – weird I thought! Was I actually in the right place, right town?

The auditorium itself is great – a plain large space with arena style raked seating, sweeping in a large semi-circle. Every seat has a great view and despite the fact that I had a “cheap” seat I was not at all disappointed. I settled down and waited for 8pm.
The band entered to a polite reception shortly followed by “Sir Van Morrison” launching into Celtic Swing. Van was blowing hard on the sax and I thought “this is it – we are in for a good one” Van leaned back, arching his back, forcing the sax to find the groove. Van was swinging the sax from side to side, he seemed quite animated, more animated that I had seen before. “Yes” I thought “we are going to get healed tonight”

Close Enough For Jazz and Centrepiece followed and it was remarkable how strong Vans voice is. It is quite phenomenal and certainly makes me feel immensely proud to be a fan. Van chose a very jazzy opening and I felt that this was not really a great start. It was very low – key and unfortunately it seemed as if it was going to be one of the nights where Van, band and audience were struggling to find the groove.

The night was not without its highlights though and Van certainly wasn’t phoning it in. He was trying in every song but something was not quite gelling. The band couldn’t be faulted, they were there for Van in every moment. A really strong group of musicians led excellently by Paul Moran. I felt sorry for Paul who seems to be getting hard time from Van at the moment. Van spoke to him several times throughout the gig and it seemed that Van was putting him through his paces. During one song Paul sat up and down 5 times to alternate between trumpet, cornet and keyboard. Dana Masters is wonderful and during her solos the audience around me gasped at the power of her singing. Dave Keary and Paul Moore on Guitar and Bass contributed many spirited solo. It was great to see Liam Bradley on drums, he’s fitted in very well.

Highlights for me were Wavelength, Magic Time, By his grace, The Beauty of days gone by, Did ye get healed? and Whenever god shines his light.

It seemed, at times, that Van was really rushing through the songs. In fact during Whenever God Shines his Light after the 1st chorus van launched straight in to the final “da dup, da dups” only to come back again to them later!
Did ye get healed was very welcome but the pinnacle had to be The Beauty of Days gone by. This was wonderful. When Van switches it’s on there is nothing better.

So overall I really enjoyed the night, the concert had its moment but it was definitely J-O-B rather than J-O-Y . A solid 7/10 in my opinion and we all know what a 10/10 is like!

I have to come back to that voice, trying hard to turn the lead into gold. Well, Van found a few nuggets in Harrogate and we have to keep remembering it’s been a very tough week. So I’m going to cut him a break and say a big thankyou to Van, the band and crew– see you further down the road!
-James Tennant

Setlist (John M.)
Celtic Swing
Close Enough For Jazz
Magic Time
By His Grace
Someone Like You
Baby Please Don't Go/Don't Start Crying Now
Here Comes The Night
Wavelength
Sometimes We Cry
Wild Night
Crazy Love
Whenever God
Keep It Simple
Enlightenment
Think Twice Before You Go
Moondance
Real Real Gone
The Beauty of the Days Gone By
Brown Eyed Girl
Did Ye' Get Healed
Gloria

Time ~ 1h 45m

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