16-January-2016
Shrine Auditorium
Los Angeles, USA
Van Morrison’s amazing list of musical accomplishments -- songs like “Brown-Eyed Girl,” “St. Dominic’s Preview,” “Gloria” and “Tupelo Honey,” as well as the albums Moondance and Astral Weeks -- have earned the Belfast, Ireland, native a deserved place in both Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
So a rare tour from Morrison should be treated as a momentous event. And it felt that way at night two (Saturday, Jan. 16) of his sold-out stand at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium, even before he brought out fellow icon Sir Tom Jones in the middle of the set for two songs of music royalty uniting.
Fans were understandably excited as Morrison, saxophone around his neck, was brought onto the Shrine stage by his five-piece backing band just moments after the 8:00 p.m. start time. “Ladies and gentlemen, Van Morrison,” his drummer said, welcoming the icon on stage.
At the top of his game Morrison is equal to any act. This was one of those nights. Opening with the jazz instrumental “Celtic Swing” followed by “Close Enough For Jazz,” which found Morrison ending the song with a resounding, “Oh yeah,” showing his jazz cat status, Morrison and his band established they could have just as easily been on stage at the Village Vanguard or Blue Note as the Shrine on this night.
Considered maybe the greatest “blue-eyed soul singer,” Morrison showed why repeatedly on this night, from the playful back and forth exchange he showed with his backup singer on the Ray Charles cover “I Believe To My Soul” and the gorgeous following number “Magic Time.” Other early highlights included a magnificent “Love in the Afternoon” and a raucous “Baby Please Don’t Go.”
The one question with Morrison shows in the past has been how engaged the singer would be.
Notoriously press shy Morrison has sometimes shown that same private side on stage, so when he does open up it is a big deal. Tell diehard Morrison fans that on this night he stood in the middle of the stage and did movie star impressions and you’ll see jaws drop on the floor.
Maybe it was having longtime friend Jones join him for the magnificent “Sometimes We Cry” and “I’m Not Feeling it Anymore” or maybe it was daughter Shana Morrison accompany him vocally on “Rough God Goes Riding” and “That Old Black Magic,” but Morrison was as playful as you’ll see him in concert, showing off his impressions of actors Clint Eastwood, Robert De Niro and Cary Grant at one point.
While the impressions and special guests were both fun and invigorated the crowd, Morrison’s voice is all that is needed for a magical night. In the same way musicians, as they get older, learn control of their instrument, his voice was in peak form, as he showed during one impressive stretch in the medley “It’s All in the Game/Time Is Running Out/Waiting Game/No Plan B/Burning Ground,” taking his vocals intentionally from smooth to gravelly and back within seconds.
Morrison’s voice remains one of the greatest musical instruments in rock today. So much so that if you are compiling a musical bucket list sitting in the audience watching Van “The Man” stand in the center of stage, his voice effortlessly soaring as he delivers “Into the Mystic” should be top ten for sure. So a lot of fans in L.A. got to cross something special off their list on this unforgettable night.
-Steve Baltin
Setlist
Celtic Swing
Close Enough For Jazz
I Believe To My Soul
Magic Time
Wild Night
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now
In the Afternoon
Enlightenment
Sometimes We Cry w/Tom Jones
I'm Not Feelin It Anymore w/Tom Jones
Moondance
Rough God Goes Riding w/Shana Morrison
Old Black Magic w/Shana Morrison
All In The Game/Time is Running Out/Waiting Game/No Plan B/Burning Ground
Ballerina
In the Mystic
Big Hand for The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Bobby Ruggiero (Drums)
Dana Masters (Vocals)
Shana Morrison (Guest Vocals)
08-November-2015
The O2
London, England
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| Photo via Alan L. |
Brendan Hynes sent in this review
Van Morrison and Tom Jones at O2 Arena, London 8th November 2015.
This was a much anticipated concert which brought together two septuagenarian music legends still performing great music so late in their careers.
First onstage was Van Morrison who started rather tamely with Celtic Swing and Close Enough For Jazz before a wonderful Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child got the show properly under way. A powerful Early In The Morning/Rock Me Baby went down a storm with the blues festival audience and featured a great organ solo by Paul Moran. In the Afternoon which followed was a great extended version the early part of which was marred for me by the now almost obligatory group of ignorant people talking loudly until I asked them to desist in no uncertain terms which mercifully had the desired effect. Playhouse fairly moved at pace and included nice guitar from Dave Keary and piano by Paul Moran. Days Like This and Precious Time brought somewhat of a lull to proceedings for me but were well received. Baby Please Don't Go/ Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now went down a storm as usual and featured Van singing the first two songs in the medley almost entirely through cupped hands and harmonica. I Can't Stop Loving You and Magic Time were well delivered but nothing exceptional but that cannot be said of All In The Game which followed and it was once again magnificent. This version saw Van return to the mantra of No Plan B/No Safety Net/This Is It before telling us over and over that Time Is Running Out. Van shuffled off stage still singing in the wings only to return for an encore and telling us he wanted to bring on his old friend Tom Jones. While waiting for Tom's arrival on stage Van informed us that for this show he had given us a mixture of the club sets and the bigger concert sets which pay the bills. Former band member Leo Green also joined proceedings on stage to play some great saxophone which certainly enhanced the band's sound. The first duet with Tom was a really strong slow blues number Sticks and Stones(I've Been Abused) which was followed by That Lonesome Road which saw Van become very amused by the depth of Tom's vocals. Finally we got a terrific performance of Not Feeling It Anymore which of course Tom also recorded back in the 1990s.As the song came to it's conclusion Van and Tom departed to great acclaim leaving the band to finish off aided in no small part by a blistering extended saxophone solo by Leo Green. I thought this song was the end of Van's involvement for the night but surprisingly this did not prove to be the case.
Tom Jones set opened with an incredible Burning Hell from his Praise and Blame album and his set drew heavily on material from that album and his Spirit In The Room and Long Lost Suitcase blues/soul/gospel albums . Tom's voice is simply phenomenal and at 75 really defies human logic. A cover of Leonard Cohen's Tower of Song was absolutely superb while Didn't It Rain brought the audience to their feet. Tom still managed to include a bluesy version of Sex Bomb while a calypso version of It's Not Unusual had the unfortunate effect of encouraging a troop of women to try to storm towards the stage only to be turned back by security staff who may have had worries on health and safety grounds about the possibility of injuries being caused by flying underwear.
When Tom returned for his encore he told us that Van was coming on to sing some more songs which was quite a surprise. The first duet performed was a fine version of the Chuck Willis number What Am I living For with both in fine voice as they traded vocals. The second number was the dreaded Goodnight Irene. This is a song I never desire to hear and whenever I do I hope it's the last time a singer will feel the need to say goodnight to Irene but alas.... Tom reminisced about first meeting Van in London in 1965 and attempted a number of times to engage Van in conversation but quite hilariously most of Van's responses were of the one word variety such as 'yes'and 'no'. Van kept asking after each song "what's next" and they were about to do the up tempo Strange Things from Tom's Praise and Blame album when the drummer intervened and said they had forgotten Sometimes We Cry. I for one am most grateful for his intervention because while I have heard Van sing this song with various singers over the years none come anywhere close to the sheer power with which Tom delivered his contribution. Van was suitably impressed too as he shouted "one more time" for a repeat chorus at the end. The aforementioned Strange Things brought the night's proceedings to a very lively end after almost 3 hours of top quality music leaving the audience very satisfied at the unique experience they had enjoyed which may never be repeated.
-Brendan Hynes
Setlist (Thanks Lynn C.)
Celtic Swing
Close Enough for Jazz
Motherless Child
Early In The Morning
In The Afternoon/Burn Baby Burn
Playhouse
Days Like This
Precious Time
Baby Please Don't Go/Parchment Farm/Don't Start Crying Now
I Can't Stop Loving You
Magic Time
All In The Game/No Plan B/The Waiting Game
Sticks And Stones w/Tom Jones
Lonesome Road w Tom Jones
I'm Not Feeling it Anymore w/Tom Jones
Tom Jones Set
What Am I Living For w/ Tom Jones
Goodnight Irene w/ Tom Jones
Sometimes We Cry w/ Tome Jones
Strange Things w/ Tom Jones
Big Hand for The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Bobby Ruggiero (Drums)
Dana Masters (Vocals)
Leo Green (Saxophone)
