22-August-2016
Slieve Donard Hotel
 Newcastle, Northern Ireland

Brendan Hynes sent in his thoughts on gig
It was clear from the outset that Van Morrison’s set tonight was going to be a high powered one as he immediately launched into rip roaring versions of Wavelength and Wild Night, both of which featured great guitar and organ throughout from Dave Keary and Paul Moran respectively. A nice delivery of Magic Time was notable for a fine trumpet solo from Paul Moran and some saxophone from Van to finish.Baby Please Don’t Go went down a storm as usual and went straight into Don’t Start Crying Now thus bypassing Parchman Farm on this occasion. Here Comes The Night provided some nostalgia and was quickly followed by Precious Time before Dana Masters was afforded the opportunity to shine on vocals during Sometimes We Cry and Whenever God Shines His Light. Talk Is Cheap was strongly delivered by Van before two new songs off the forthcoming album got an airing in the form of Keep Me Singing which was pretty strong and Too Late. The latter has been released as a single presumably because of its up tempo beat but I can’t quite see it topping the charts. In The Afternoon which followed was (not for the first time) the highlight of the night as Van brought proceedings down to a whisper before repeatedly uttering the phrases “stretching out for miles and miles” and “it won’t be long child before we are sitting pretty” to a mesmerised and captive audience which almost unanimously gave Van a long standing ovation at the song’s conclusion. The rarely played Dylan cover It’s All Over Now Baby Blue was greeted ecstatically by the audience but suffered from some initial turbulence as Van barked “D” followed by “A ” at guitarist Dave Keary and bassist Paul Moore who both seemed convinced they were playing it correctly. Real Real Gone lifted the tempo again and featured Dana on extended vocals including a snatch of You Send Me. Think Twice Before You Go saw the band in full flow before we were brought back down to earth with Brown Eyed Girl. Jackie Wilson Said saw Van and Paul Moran duet on saxaphone and trumpet respectively before a welcome rendition of Did Ye Get Healed. In The Garden featured some beautiful acoustic guitar from Dave Keary but Van didn’t really get as immersed in the song as one would have hoped which was probably down to some noisy over inebriated individuals in the audience. Van departed at this stage but as the 90 minute curfew had not yet been reached he quickly returned for strong renditions of Help Me and Gloria to send the fans home happy. The latter saw the usual extended band solos when Van had departed with Paul Moore on bass getting a somewhat frenetic response to his solo as he happily took the limelight and interacted at some length with his worshipers in the audience much to the amusement of the rest of the band.

Set time was 1h 36m.

-Brendan Hynes

Set List
Wavelength
Wild Night
Magic Time
Baby Please Don’t Go/Don’t Start Crying Now
Here Comes The Night
Precious Time
Sometimes We Cry
Whenever God Shines His Light
Talk Is Cheap
Keep Me Singing
Too Late
In The Afternoon
It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
Real Real Gone/You Send Me
Think Twice Before You Go
Brown Eyed Girl
Jackie Wilson Said
Did Ye Get Healed
In The Garden
Help Me
Gloria

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

21-August-2016
Slieve Donard Hotel
 Newcastle, Northern Ireland

Setlist (Thanks Al B.)
Moondance/Look Behind The Hill
Carrying A Torch
Magic Time
That's Life
Till We Get The Healing Done
Wild Night
Sometimes We Cry
Baby, Please Don't Go/Don't Start Crying
Here Comes The Night
Let It Rhyme
Too Late
Someone Like You
Precious Time
Out in The Cold Again
Going Down To Bangor
Whenever God Shines His Light
In The Afternoon
Help Me
Gloria

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

24-August-2015
Slieve Donard Hotel
 Newcastle, Northern Ireland

Brendan Hynes sent in his thoughts on night 2 at Slieve Donard
As on the previous night, the second concert by Van Morrison at this venue started well ahead of the scheduled start time but on this occasion as the band took to the stage we had the added bonus of seeing Irish broadcaster and game-show host Marty Whelan leap onto the stage to lead the audience in a rendition of Happy Birthday specially for Van. At this point I almost anticipated Van being carried shoulder high through the audience onto the stage but alas it didn’t materialise. Celtic Swing and Close Enough For Jazz gave the show itself a pretty predictable opening before By His Grace got proceedings properly under way. Wild Honey got a rare but welcome airing but suffered somewhat from an apparent breakdown in communications where Dana Masters stopped singing a verse as if she was expecting an instrumental solo but it didn’t materialise which resulted in the band just playing but no one singing. Playhouse got another airing to great acclaim with Dave Keary and Paul Moran excelling with guitar and organ solos respectively. Mystic of the East which followed was the highlight of the night for me with Van playing guitar and singing and humming over it as only he can do. Magical!.

The lively Guitar Slim number Things I Used To Do was followed by Van telling us he had a request which turned out to be Who Can I Turn To? (featuring a great Paul Moran trumpet solo) but not before a fan had shouted out looking for Not Supposed To Breakdown from the Philosopher’s Stone album. Van explained that they didn’t perform that song and hadn’t rehearsed it but encouragingly he did say ‘next time’ which would be a great treat as it is another neglected musical gem from his incredible repertoire that I would love to hear live.

Moondance was notable for a great piano solo by Paul Moran(one more time) and was quickly followed by another eminently forgettable version of Brown Eyed Girl.An outstanding Carrying A Torch was followed by a really good Cleaning Windows which saw the gentleman from the previous night reprise his John Travolta dancing role to great acclaim. The absence of the brass section was, however, particularly noticeable on this song and they would undoubtedly have enhanced it further but it nevertheless went down a storm and received a standing ovation from many of the audience .Days Like This and Precious Time rather surprisingly were played again tonight and were followed by an absolutely blistering version of Think Twice Before You Go with Van and the band perfectly synchronised and earning another standing ovation.Whenever God Shines His Light and Baby Please Don’t go/Parchman Farm/Don’t Start Crying Now kept the tempo up and got a great reaction yet again.

At this point Van told us he was going to slow things down and he embarked on It’s All In the Game.Van referenced Jimmy Witherspoon as having also recorded the song and told us that he had been an artist who used to engage in the old blues tradition of ‘testifying’.Van did some ‘testifying’ himself at this point to the extent that he didn’t get to bring us to the burning ground and the song delivery came nowhere near the heights reached the previous night.After departing the stage, Van returned for a brisk rendition of Gloria before leaving the band to bring proceedings to a close which they did to great effect, especially Dana doing some wonderful chanting over the music.

The set time was 1 h 38 m and while there were a number of outstanding moments I didn’t feel the concert matched the previous night’s quality.

Brendan Hynes

Setlist
Happy Birthday (sung from the audience)
Celtic Swing
Close Enough For Jazz
By His Grace
Wild Honey
Playhouse
Mystic of the East
Things I Used To Do
Who Can I Turn To
Moondance
Brown Eyed Girl
Carrying a Torch
Cleaning Windows
Days Like This
Precious Time
Think Twice Before You Go
Whenever God Shines His Light
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchment Farm
Cry Cry Baby
All in the Game
Gloria

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

23-August-2015
Slieve Donard Hotel
 Newcastle, Northern Ireland

Brendan Hynes sent in this review
And so it finally came to pass after many months of great anticipation for one of the largest ever gatherings of Van Morrison fans that the week long musical celebration of Van’s 70th birthday and career finally got under way in earnest with the first of two shows at the venue.

Arriving on stage around 15 minutes ahead of schedule, Van opened as usual with Celtic Swing before a welcome rendition of Higher Than The World which followed. Next up was a stirring Kingdom Hall which went down a treat although the sight of Van so obviously reading the lyrics as he sang was a bit off putting.Carrying a Torch featuring nice vocal exchanges between Van and Dana Masters was a treat yet again and hugely appreciated by the very enthusiastic audience.Magic Time,Days Like This and Choppin Wood followed in quick succession and were well performed without reaching any great heights.The same could not be said of Mystic Of the East which followed which was quite beautiful and so appropriate for the concert setting.Deep in the Heart of Down is right!. A fairly rip roaring Playhouse followed and when played live like this it certainly stands up well by comparison with other top songs in the country rock songbook. I Can’t Stop Loving You was well delivered as was Whenever God Shines His Light which featured a brilliant Dave Keary guitar solo.Another but quite different sounding guitar solo on Precious Time was met with laughter by Van who was quite clearly impressed.

At this stage we were treated to something quite different with Van performing a stunning cover of Cole Porter’s Miss Otis Regrets which quite rightly received a standing ovation from many of the audience. Enlightenment and HelpMe followed in quick succession with the latter being a particularly good version.Baby Please Don’t go/Parchman Farm/Don’t Start Crying Now went down an absolute storm so much so that one more senior audience member could supress his exuberance no longer as he leapt to his feet and engaged in some slick dance moves between the tables.What a mover and shaker!After all that excitement Van told us he had a request and what followed was a brilliant All In The Game with Van getting right into it and bringing us into You Know What They Are Writing About before heading to the Burning Ground.On and on it went as Van gave us one of those real magical moments that one yearns for when attending a Van concert.Van shuffled off stage to bring the song to it’s conclusion as the audience jumped to their feet and roared their approval. Van returned one more time to deliver Ballerina but with many of the audience now storming to the front of the stage Van seemed somewhat uneasy and he cut short his rendition leaving the band to finish the job which they did with fine extended solos.
The concert length was 1 h 39m and it provided a very encouraging start to the week’s proceedings.

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist
Celtic Swing
Higher Than The World
Kingdom Hall
Carrying A Torch
Magic Time
Days Like This
Choppin' Wood
Mystic of the East
Playhouse
I Can't Stop Loving You
Whenever God Shines His Light
Precious Time
Miss Otis Regrets
Enlightenment
Help Me
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchment Farm
Cry Cry Baby
All in the Game
Ballerina

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

19-July-2015
Slieve Donard Hotel
 Newcastle, Northern Ireland

Setlist (Thanks Niall C.)
Celtic Swing
Close Enough for Jazz
By His Grace 
Carrying a Torch
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Stop Drinking Wine
I Believe to my Soul
Blue Money
Once A Day
Days Like This
Precious Time
In The Afternoon/Burn Baby Burn
Whenever God Shines His Light
Moondance
In The Midnight
Things Used to Do
And The Healing Has Begun 
Help Me
Ballerina

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