14-November-2016
Festival Hall
 Glasgow, Scotland

Brendan Hynes sent in this review
In keeping with the precedent set the previous night in Edinburgh Van Morrison varied the set list once again with seven different songs included on this occasion. The first of these was the pleasant instrumental Caledonian Swing from the new album while Memory Lane from the album was later performed and was really impressive. The Beauty of The Days Gone By saw Van on acoustic guitar and it seemed to catch the band by surprise as Van started more or less unaccompanied before turning around to see if the band were going to join in which thankfully they did with Paul Moran adding a fine extended trumpet solo to the rendition. A rare and most welcome Domino followed and Van and Paul Moran manfully added some brass sounds which are pretty integral to this song but they were obviously restricted to doing so only when Van wasn’t singing and Paul was not playing keyboards. Mose Allison’s Benediction (Thank God For Self Love ) was a rather poignant inclusion in the set given that his death was announced the following day and the reason for the exclusion of the Parchman Farm(a song long associated with Mose) comedy routine after Baby Please Don’t Go now seems apparent. In The Garden was the final set list change from the previous night but was once again quite a shortened version so Van didn’t really get too immersed in it but it was beautiful nevertheless while it lasted and he departed into the wings at its ending only to return once more for Gloria which saw the band cut loose once again to great acclaim.

Highlights among the remainder of the concert included Someone Like You, Tore Down A La Rimbaud and Beautiful Vision once more, the magnificent Haunts of Ancient Peace (which ventured into Summertime in England territory down by Avalon with even Mr. Lawrence getting a mention along the way) and The Mystery which was wonderful once again but was somewhat blighted towards its conclusion as Van attempted a harmonica solo only to find the first harmonica he tried to be out of tune so he promptly flung it back down. The second one Van tried was even worse and suffered the same fate while the third one didn’t sound much better but he persevered as we all kept our heads down and prayed(to The One of course).

While not quite reaching the heady heights of the previous night’s Edinburgh concert with Van appearing somewhat subdued this was nevertheless another really good show which was loudly acknowledged by a captive audience at its conclusion.

-Brendan Hynes

Set List
Caledonian Swing
Sack of Woe
Back On Top
Too Late
Memory Lane
The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Beautiful Vision
The Mystery
Tore Down A La Rimbaud
Haunts of Ancient Peace/excerpts from Summertime in England
The Beauty of the Days Gone By
Domino
Carrying a Torch
Lonely Avenue
Benediction (Thank God For Self Love)
Moondance
Someone Like You
Brown Eyed Girl
Baby Please Don’t Go/Don’t Start Crying Now
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.

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)