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)

24-May-2015
Town Hall 
Late Show
 Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland

Brendan's review of the 2nd Warrenpoint gig
After opening yet again with Celtic Swing Van Morrison shifted very much into jazz mode with Centrepiece/Corinne Corrina ( featuring a really good instrumental intro and brilliant trumpet playing by Paul Moran) followed by Sack Of Woe, St.James Infirmary and Mondance.Little Village then got a rare airing and provided a welcome change of emphasis.As in the early show Van then performed his BB King tribute with Early In The Morning/Rock Me Baby to great acclaim. Think Twice Before You Go kept things lively and was followed by Jambalaya which Van introduced by saying they were going to play some rock and roll and emphasising that it wasn’t rock as rock doesn’t roll!. Things I Used To Do immediately followed and the concert was beginning to feel like an informal blues/ rock and roll session but normal business was somewhat restored with In The Midnight. Whenever God Shines His Light not only allowed Dana Masters to shine on shared vocals but also featured great guitar and bass solos from Dave Keary and Paul Moore respectively to such a degree that Van got a bit excited and started to clatter along on tambourine towards the end.Somewhat surprisingly Van once again performed an extended In The Afternoon and this time he conducted a Q and A session with what he considered a blues audience asking in turn who had heard of Big Joe Turner, TV Mama, Flip Flop and Fly etc.etc. This song was followed by Van’s stage departure only to return for Gloria.

This show was very much geared towards a blues/jazz audience and was pretty lacking in classic songs from Van’s extensive repertoire with around half of the songs performed being cover versions of other people’s work.The concert was again disappointingly very short at 1 hour 19 minutes.

-Brendan Hynes

Set List
Celtic Swing
Centrepiece/Corrine Corrina
Sack Of Woe
St.James Infirmary
Moondance
Little Village
Early In The Morning/Rock Me Baby
Think Twice Before You Go
Jambalaya
Things I Used To Do
In The Midnight
Whenever God Shines His Light
In The Afternoon
Gloria

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

24-May-2015
Town Hall 
Early Show
 Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland

Brendan Sends in his thoughts on First of two gigs
After the unsurprising opening Celtic Swing, Van Morrison moved firmly into jazz territory to deliver Close Enough For Jazz and If You Only Knew before performing a rare rendition of Meaning Of Loneliness which featured nice organ from Paul Moran and guitar from Dave Keary. As a tribute to the late BB King Van then performed stirring versions of Early in The Morning (which Van recorded with BB some years back) and Rock Me Baby. Van was in great form during these numbers aided in no small measure by his excellent band who fairly motored along.An extended In The Afternoon followed and provided the high point of the performance for me with Van taking things right down before bringing the song towards it’s conclusion as he repeated the phrase Burn Baby Burn over and over to the hushed audience. I Believe To My Soul was brilliant as always and saw Paul Moran excel on trumpet. Talk Is Cheap and Sometimes We Cry were followed by a rendition of a Chuck Willis number in What Am I Living For? which was pretty ordinary. Baby Please Don’t Go/Parchman Farm/Don’t Start Crying Now were lapped up by the blues appreciators who made up the majority of the audience before Van brought things way down for a really good In The Midnight which saw Dave Keary’s high pitched vocal range put to the test again much to Van’s apparent amusement. Rapid fire renditions of Things I Used To Do and Help Me incredibly triggered Van’s departure before a quick return for Gloria.

This show was solid and enjoyable without reaching too many lofty heights. As always with these double shows in one evening (but hopefully not at the forthcoming Cyprus Avenue concerts) the show was shortened considerably clocking in at a pretty miserly I hour 18 minutes leaving the audience somewhat short changed to say the least.

-Brendan Hynes

Set List
Celtic Swing
Close Enough For Jazz
If You Only Knew
Meaning Of Loneliness
Early In The Morning/Rock Me Baby
In The Afternoon
I Believe To My Soul
Talk Is Cheap
Sometimes We Cry
What Am I Living For?
Baby Please Don’t Go/Parchman Farm/Don’t Start Crying Now
In The Midnight
Things I Used To Do
Help Me
Gloria

25-May-2014
Town Hall
 Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland

Setlist Early Show (Thanks Pablo)
Celtic Swing
Talk Is Cheap
Roving Rambler
Open The Door (To Your Heart)
Keep Mediocrity At Bay
Choppin' Wood
St. James Infirmary
Playhouse
Foggy Mountain Top
I Can't Stop Loving You
Into The Mystic
That's Life
Baby Please Don't Go
Ballerina
Help Me


Setlist Late Show
Celtic Swing
Talk Is Cheap
Back On Top
Choppin' Wood
Keep It Simple
Keep Mediocrity At Bay
Who Can I Turn Yo
So Quiet In Here
Magic Time
Baby Please Don't Go
All In The Game/Burning Ground/No Plan B
Georgia
Ballerina
Help Me

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