28-October-2018
3Arena
Dublin, Ireland

Brendan reports from Dublin
Van Morrison and Robert Plant at 3 Arena, Dublin, 28th October 2018
This Bluesfest show brought together two genuine music legends on the one bill and they did not disappoint a near capacity audience in what is a very large arena venue.

Van kicked off proceedings with a lively How Far From God which was followed by Days Like This and the fast version of Have I Told You Lately. The usual Baby Please Dont Go medley only included Don't Start Crying Now tonight and was quickly followed by Here Comes The Night. Symphony Sid unsurprisingly made another appearance and Dana Masters excelled on joint vocals to considerable audience acclaim and also on Sometimes We Cry which followed. Real Real Gone raised the tempo before a very strong Carrying A Torch featured both Van and Dana sharing impressive vocals. Talk Is Cheap was followed by the always promising sight of Van strapping on his electric guitar as he treated us to a nice version of Why Must I Always Explain although I would have welcomed a longer finishing guitar solo from Van. Moondance saw Paul Moore being accompanied by an audience clap- along during a strong bass solo before Broken Record had another outing.Van looked very pleased at the audience reaction to the numerous repeated song title references but his good humour unfortunately didn't last beyond the next song which saw the return to the set of Not Feeling It Anymore. Van was clearly unhappy with the band performance of this song or at least how it was sounding to him and stopped the band after about one verse before starting it again which isn't the most impressive of sights. Van was clearly still unhappy and we had the sight of one of his crew members being beckoned on stage a few times and running around the stage much to the amusement of many in the audience. This brought back memories of a similar occurrence In York back in February 2012 but at least this time the song was concluded although it was a pretty short version which didn't really do it justice. Wild Night and Think Twice Before You Go saw the tempo raised again and were followed by Whenever God Shines His Light and The Party's Over. A majestic and extended In The Afternoon was the clear highlight for me and got the full Van treatment which included 'picking up the sack in the midday sun' and Van reciting over and over the phrase "walking and talking with my God and your God" towards the song's ending. Brown Eyed Girl was a clear indication that the end of the set was imminent and it was followed by Help Me with the band thundering along with Van and finally the encore of Gloria which saw the audience in full voice. There was no extended band jam session presumably due to the time constraints of the double bill.

Robert Plant's set consisted of a mixture of his solo work, re-workings of really old blues songs and classic Led Zeppelin material (played with a bit of a twist).Of the blues material, Gallow's Pole which Leadbelly brought to prominence before Led Zeppelin re-interpreted it many years later and Fixin' To Die were particularly impressive with the latter featuring some remarkable guitar work by Justin Adams at its core. Led Zeppelin songs featured included Ramble On, Black Dog, Going To California and finally Whole Lotta Love. It seems impossible that a 70 year old could sing with the incredible power and clarity displayed by Robert Plant and if there has even been a better male rock vocalist I have yet to hear him. He is a phenomenon!

The entire show ran to just over 3 hours and while a collaboration between both artists would have been nice it was nevertheless a really fine evening's entertainment aided in no small part by a great sound system which complemented the vocals of both perfectly.
-Brendan Hynes

Independent
There was a ‘whole lotta love’ at Blues Fest last night.

To my surprise, there is one man who unites the north and south of Ireland, with tremendous applause. Every seat was occupied before 7.30pm and I was surrounded by the northern lilt of all the fans who travelled across ‘no border’ to see Van the Man in Dublin.

Not that Van Morrison needs a review, but here goes. Everything went perfectly well, just a few seconds of feedback which he dealt with efficiently. Poised in his gangster style sparkly pinstripe suit and trilby, his throaty vibe had the audience hooked from ‘Days Like This.’

What really sparked the evening was his duets with Dana Masters, sounding like Aretha Franklin, crooning ‘Sometimes We Cry’ and ‘Jumpin’ with Symphony Sid.’ The glittery vibes of xylophone and Cuban style hand drums came from Teena Morcombe [flashing her tiara].

As someone who has never seen Van Morrison live, I found that the timbre of his voice has not changed from decades ago when we were all into ‘Tupelo Honey’. During the interval a N.I. woman turned to me and said she was speechless. ‘Why?’ I asked. ‘That was the best I’ve ever seen.’ She had been to multiple concerts, and apparently Van was at this most content last night. Times change for everyone.

Paul Moran on piano and Hammond organ made the gospel jazz sound impeccable. The combination of trumpet and sax players, Dave Keary on guitar, Paul Moore on bass, Mez Clough on drums gave a real Rat Pack sound to songs converted from rock to jazz, like ‘Brown Eyed Girl’, ‘Real Real Gone’. Van gave us 23 songs, the biggest cheer came for ‘Moondance’ and he thrilled the audience with several encores and music from his new studio album ‘You’re Driving Me Crazy’, which is released next month.

The Dublin Blues Fest is dovetailed with the London Blues Fest and we were here to see two men in their [early] seventies who had played at the O2 the night before. It had been 50 years since Robert Plant first shared the stage with Van Morrison, and here they were lighting up Dublin. The very fit and curly-haired Plant took to the stage in a burgundy silk shirt and long legged leather trousers, rocking the arena, with ‘Ramble it On’ and shouting ‘C’mon Dublin, ‘Turn it Up.’

In respect for the band, many men in the audience turned up in long ponytails and beards, particularly pairing with Skin Tyson who performed an amazing combination of finger picking acoustic and Spanish classic guitar.

Though Robert Plant is best known for his Led Zeppelin era, he says he is influenced by black America, and cited Buck White, Sonny Boy Williams, Lead Belly and many others as his inspiration. The group on stage, known as The Sensational Shape Shifters combine legendary Led Zeppelin numbers with Plant’s creative interest in immigrant communities.

The group has been evolving for 18 years, playing a combination of African tribal sound, Asian sitar-sounding guitar riffs, classic rock and some folk-like tunes. Last night they included keyboardist John Baggott (Massive Attack), drummer John Blease, bassist Billy Fuller, guitarist Justin Adams, and country fiddle with Seth Lakeman, with a setlist including Black Dog, May Queen, Rain Song, California, Gallows Pole, Carry Fire, Babe, Little Maggie, Fixin’ to Die, Levees, New World, and of course ‘Whole Lotta Love.’

Both Blues Fest performances were like poetry in motion, art of the guitar, art of the musician, art of the frontman.
-Deirdre Conroy

Setlist (Thanks John C.)
How Far From God
Days Like This
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Baby Please Don't Go/Don't Start Crying Now
Here Comes The Night
Symphony Sid
Sometimes We Cry
Real Real Gone
Carrying A Torch
Talk Is Cheap
Why Must I Always Explain
Moondance
Broken Record
Not Feeling It Anymore
Wild Night
Think Twice Before You Go
Whenever God Shines His Light
The Party's Over
In The Afternoon
Brown Eyed Girl
Help Me
Gloria

Set Time
90 minutes

22-October-2018
Bristol Hippodrome 
Bristol, England

via Fumiko I.

Brendan was in Bristol for the gig
Van Morrison at Bristol Hippodrome, 22nd October 2018
Tonight's show followed a similar pattern to the recent UK shows in that it started at a very brisk pace and with a broadly similar set of opening numbers with the exception of the inclusion of All Saints Day on this occasion. The Baby Please Don't Go routine saw the return of Got My Mojo Working complete with Van's comedic mumbling and stuttering of the word Mojo. Van also signalled a couple of times with his right hand for the sound of Dana Masters vocals to be turned up and it had the desired effect as her vocal input was very prominent thereafter. I Can Tell followed immediately and was really good with the band firing on all cylinders. Moondance was followed by Steal My Heart Away which included beautiful trumpet playing throughout by Paul Moran and a short piano solo by Teena Lyle on her own small piano. This got me thinking at the time that perhaps Teena could cover for Paul Moran on piano every time he has to jump up to do a trumpet solo but on reflection the question then arises as to who would cover for Teena on percussion and vibraphone while she is covering for Paul on piano so where would it all end? Symphony Sid seems to be always lurking and swung into action at this stage followed by Broken Record which by my calculation included 28 song title references in its latter stages and a really clever loud scraping percussion sound throughout by Teena. I Believe To My Soul was very strong and was followed by a couple of 'hits' in Wild Night and Days Like This. Cleaning Windows went down well with the audience but suffers for me from the absence of its integral brass section sound.All In The Game was the highlight for me as Van took it right down and gave it the workshop treatment while reminding us that there is No Plan B, No Safety Net and This Is It (and for a certain USA based Van fan who likes to keep count Van uttered the word "caress" ten times during the song by my calculation). Think Twice Before You Go increased the tempo considerably before The Party's Over slowed proceedings down again. The opening notes of Help Me indicated that the end was nigh and it was followed in quick succession by a couple of 'hits' in Jackie Wilson Said and Brown Eyed Girl before Van briefly departed only to return one more time for Gloria which saw Dana get the loudest ovation during the band's jam session.

A rather extraordinary statistic from the concert is that out of a total of twenty four songs performed exactly half were cover versions of mainly jazz and blues material by other artists. It's not as if Van has any shortage of high quality material of his own to draw upon but for whatever reason he has largely not done so of late and those of his own songs which are performed tend to be primarily the three to four minute 'radio hits' so the really special moments one always hopes for and indeed expects at a Van Morrison concert are currently in pretty short supply unfortunately.
-Brendan Hynes

Bristol Post
Review: Van Morrison at Bristol Hippodrome - legend excels ahead of Bluesfest performance
Morrison brings his many different styles to Bristol

Even his most ardent fans never really know which Van Morrison will turn up for what are now becoming annual Bristol concerts.

One year it might be Morrison the soulster, the next it could be a performance based around his more mystic, transcendental music. And then there’s Van the jazz man and the blues master.

What we got at this sell-out Hippodrome show was essentially all the different faces of Morrison rolled into one, although the emphasis was more on the jazz and blues, possibly because he was warming up for a headline Bluesfest performance with Robert Plant at London’s 02 later in the week.

Morrison was clearly eager to crack on with things, walking on stage a couple of minutes before the scheduled 8pm start as many fans were still finding their seats in the darkness.

Morrison’s forthcoming new album, The Prophet Speaks, is his fourth in just over a year and his 40th studio album in a career that spans more than half a century. At 73, he’s as prolific as ever and not in the mood to waste time.

Ever the contrarian, he stuck to his back catalogue rather than preview new material, the evening starting at a leisurely pace as Morrison and his six-piece band cruised through crowd-pleasers like Magic Time and Have I Told You Lately.

Dressed in a pinstripe suit and with his wide-brimmed hat and aviator sunglasses covering his face, the 73-year-old singer may resemble a Prohibition gangster but his voice recalls the New Orleans jazzmen and ageing blues singers he was first inspired by.

A master of improvised scat singing, he uses his versatile voice as an extra instrument as he growls and yodels sections of certain songs.

Morrison switched from his gold-plated saxophone to his harmonica, blowing the instrument like a train for the opening railroad-style strains of Baby, Please Don’t Go, the 1964 Them classic with one of the most recognisable intros in pop history.

He also drilled deep into his solo career for Moondance from 1970 and Wild Night from the following year.

Morrison barely drew breath between songs as he shoehorned as many favourites into the 100-minute set: a spritely Cleaning Windows morphed into the Gene Vincent classic Be-Bop-a-Lula and it was followed by Days Like This, Broken Record, Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In Heaven When You Smile) and a stand-out reworking of All In The Game with its mesmerising refrain of ‘no safety net, no plan B’.

As always, the curmudgeonly Morrison barely said a word, other than a mumbled ‘thanks’ but fans, many of whom paid £85 for tickets, were eventually rewarded with Brown-Eyed Girl and an encore of Gloria that saw the house lights being turned on and Morrison indulging in some rare ‘call and response’ with his audience. At one point he may have even smiled.

By 9.30pm, Morrison had left the stage, his superb band staying for another ten minutes to finish an extended version of Gloria, complete with brilliant individual solos.

He may not have stuck around to see the standing ovation or to milk the applause but Morrison’s work was clearly done.
-Mark Taylor

Setlist
Let's Get Lost
All Saints Day
How Far From God
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Baby Please Don't Go/Don't Start Crying Now/Got My Mojo Working
I Can Tell
Moondance
Steal My Heart Away
Symphony Sid
Broken Record
I Believe To My Soul
Wild Night
Days Like This
Cleaning Windows
All In The Game
Think Twice Before You Go
The Party's Over
Help Me
Jackie Wilson Said
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

Set Time
1h 40m (Van on stage 1h 30m)

17-October-2018
Princess Theatre 
Torquay, England

Brendan's take on night 2 in Torquay
Van Morrison at Princess Theatre,Torquay - 17th October 2018
The second show started with two different songs to those which started the previous night's show in Let's Get Lost and Benediction. The next five songs overlapped with the previous show with How Far From God,Magic Time (a really good version with lovely guitar and trumpet solos), Have I Told You Lately, Baby Please Don't Go medley and Here Comes The Night following in quick succession. Cleaning Windows was well performed and was very well received. Van then announced that the next song was being played as it had been requested earlier (by long time Van fan Pat Corley aided in no small measure by Nell who had travelled all the way from Australia and had approached Van in her role as co-ordinator with the song request and some others put together by co-conspirators Jane and Corinne). This turned out to be When the Leaves Come Falling Down and it was quite exquisite and altered the whole mood and direction of the show. The brilliant Tore Down A la Rimbaud followed to great acclaim before Van kindly acceded to a second of the requests (Corrine's) in the form of Little Village which was really good and featured a great trumpet solo by Paul Moran. Just when the gates to mystical heaven seemed to be opening Symphony Sid arrived on cue to bring some order to proceedings. Bring It on Home To Me was very strong and was followed by Ride On Josephine. The most welcome Steal My Heart Away made another appearance and featured a lovely trumpet solo again by Paul Moran.Days Like This was followed by Enlightenment, Broken Record (still stuck on 29)and Moondance. A really good Carrying A Torch featured Dana Masters prominently on shared vocals. Whenever God Shines His Light included a really good bass solo by Paul Moore which pleased Van greatly as he shared a joke regarding same with Dana. The Party's Over, Brown Eyed Girl and Gloria brought proceedings to a close with the latter included in the main set so there was no encore.

This show was quite an improvement from the previous night aided in no small measure by the inclusion of the two special requests. The pity is that Van doesn't include such quality material in his set as a matter of course rather than only responding to requests to play them. Either way, Van's positive response in acceding to the requests was greatly appreciated by the fans who had made them and enhanced their enjoyment (and that of the rest of the audience) of the show considerably. Van seemed much more engaged and relaxed throughout tonight's show.

One unusual sight over the two nights was that of the several rows of empty unsold seats. This was hardly surprising given that Torquay is primarily a summer seaside resort. I suspect that the individual who felt that it made sound commercial sense to book Van to play two shows at a seaside venue heading into the winter months a mere eleven months after he had played the same venue previously may just miss out on a 2018 nomination for outstanding contribution to the music industry!
-Brendan Hynes

Set List
Let's Get Lost
Benediction
How Far From God
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Baby Please Don't Go/Don't Start Crying Now
Here Comes The Night
Cleaning Windows
When The Leaves Come Falling Down
Tore Down A La Rimbaud
Little Village
Symphony Sid
Bring It On Home To Me
Ride On Josephine
Steal My Heart Away
Days Like This
Enlightenment
Broken Record
Moondance
Carrying A Torch
Whenever God Shines His Light
The Party's Over
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

Set Time: 1h 45m

16-October-2018
Princess Theatre 
Torquay, England

Brendan was in Torquay for the gig
Van Morrison at Princess Theatre,Torquay - 16th October 2018
The night began on a disappointing note for me as it quickly became evident as the band took to the stage that it was a scaled back version of the band which toured the USA with Van recently. The excellent Jay Berliner on guitar and Tony Fitzgibbon on violin who were so prominent on the USA dates were very conspicuous by their absence. Apart from the obvious diminishing of the quality of the overall band sound arising from their omission there was also little likelihood of Astral Weeks material being heavily featured tonight and this indeed transpired to be the case unfortunately as there was, in fact, to be none in this the year of its 50th anniversary.

The show itself started in fairly routine manner with Van racing through Hold It Right There, Back On Top, How Far From God, Magic Time and the fast version of Have I Told You Lately. All were performed competently as you would expect with How Far from God being the strongest in my view. Raincheck got a relatively rare complete airing and this featured nice backing vocals from both Dana Masters and Teena Lyle.

The Baby Please Don't Go medley was immediately followed by Here Comes The Night which featured Van sauntering over to Paul Moran on keyboards to seemingly complain about the sound being too loud from Dave Keary's guitar. A selection of blues numbers followed consisting of Roll With The Punches, Talk Is Cheap and Think Twice Before You Go and it was the latter which impressed most and featured really good guitar and organ solos.
The most noteworthy thing about Days Like This was that it ended with Van appearing to say to Dave Keary that he couldn't hear his guitar which was somewhat ironic given his earlier complaint. Moondance was included yet again and saw the various band members take solos of which Paul Moore's on bass was the most impressive. Broken Record has become somewhat of a misnomer as the record for the number of times Van sings the title in the song's conclusion continues to be stuck in the groove on 29 with the result that the record, in fact, and somewhat ironically remains unbroken. Enlightenment raised the quality level somewhat followed by Symphony Sid which featured Dana Masters prominently on vocals.

Sometimes We Cry was very strong on a night of few highlights and was followed by Steal My Heart Away which got another welcome airing. A frenetic and powerful Wild Night was followed by the night's real highlights for me in a brilliant rendition of Tore Down A La Rimbaud and then Did Ye Get Healed.

The Party's Over summed the show in general up pretty accurately and it ended in an all too predictable manner given what had gone before with Brown Eyed Girl and Gloria which probably pleased the attendees with the least knowledge and appreciation of Van's outstanding body of work most of all.

This show can probably charitably be described as workmanlike as Van raced through the songs without a word for the audience and his only interaction with the band was to either shout out the next song title or to complain about the sound from the instruments. As the setlist indicates the show was entirely devoid of the spine tingling moments that one associates with a top quality Van show, no 'workshops', a distinct lack of mystical or transcendental material just Van singing and playing the songs routinely as opposed to really performing and there is a world of difference between the two in my view.

One would optimistically hope that the second show at the same venue tomorrow night will provide a marked contrast and redress the balance somewhat.
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist
Hold It Right There
Back On Top
How Far From God
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Raincheck
Baby Please Don't Go/Don't Start Crying Now
Here Comes The Night
Roll With The Punches
Talk Is Cheap
Think Twice Before You Go
Days Like This
Moondance
Broken Record
Enlightenment
Symphony Sid
Sometimes We Cry
Steal My Heart Away
Wild Night
Tore Down A La Rimbaud
Did Ye Get Healed
The Party's Over
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

Set Time
1h 42m

12-October-2018
St. Davids Hall 
Cardiff, Wales

South Wales Argus Source
VAN Morrison is no fan of onstage banter. The audience at St David's Hall didn't even get a cursory 'Hello.' What they got instead was a back catalogue reinvented by swinging jazz musicians.

With no time for pleasantries, Van the Man adopted his familiar pose at the front of the stage. Standing bolt upright, the Belfast balladeer threw his head back and belted out lyrics.

Dressed in black, with sunglasses and a wide-brim hat, his quickfire, shouting delivery demanded attention. The six-piece band were red hot, lighting up classics like Moondance.

Over five decades and 40 albums, the Celtic crooner has dipped into many genres, including folk, swing, pop and more.

For this show, familiar hits were given extended jazz reworkings, with Van joining in with the improvising on sax. The audience bobbed along to Brown Eyed Girl, his signature 1967 hit.

These new versions mostly worked well, although those who hoped for straight-up recreations of the records would have been disappointed. Bar a single, muttered, "Thank You", he didn't talk to the Cardiff crowd at all.

During the final number, he shuffled off stage, leaving his band to jam for a further 15 minutes. The sold-out crowd waited patiently for him to return, but Van had vanished.
-Declan Harte

Setlist (Thanks Pamela K.)
Hold it Right There
Talk Is Cheap
Magic Time
Baby Please Don’t Go/Don’t Start Crying Now
Here Comes The Night
Sometimes We Cry
Tore Down A La Rimbaud
Foreign Window
New Symphony Sid
Have I Told You Lately
Carrying A Torch
Moondance
Broken Record
Wild Night
Why Must I Always Explain
Days Like This
Precious Time
Steal My Heart Away
In The Afternoon/Ancient Highway/Joe Turner Sings/Raincheck/Sittin’ pretty
The Party’s Over
Brown Eyed Girl
Ballerina

Time
105 minutes

04-October-2018
Europa Hotel
 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Setlist Thanks (Mike S.)
Hold it Right There
Got to Go Where the Love Is
Ain’t Gonna Moan No More
Send You Back To Where I Got You From
The Prophet Speaks
The Way That Young Lovers Do
Roll With the Punches
Laughin and Clownin
Love Is Hard Work
Everyday I Have the Blues
Centerpiece
Magic Time
Goldfish Bowl
Party’s Over
Moondance
Into the Mystic
Gloria

03-October-2018
Europa Hotel
 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Setlist (Thanks Mike S.)
Hold It Right There
Got to Go Where the Love Is
Ain’t Gonna Moan No More
Have I Told You Lately
Laughing and Cryin
Magic Time
Worried Blues Rollin and Tumblin
Close Enough for Jazz
Traveling Light
Miss Otis Regrets
Broken Record
Teardrops
5am Greenwich Mean Time
When the Prophet Speaks
Moondance

02-October-2018
Europa Hotel
 Belfast, Northern Ireland

Setlist (Thanks Mike S.)
Hold It Right There
Got to Go Where The Love Is (From The Prophet Speaks)
Miss Otis Regrets
Gonna Send You Back To Where I Got You From (From The Prophet Speaks)
Teardrops (From The Prophet Speaks)
Dimples/Green Onions (From The Prophet Speaks)
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately
Broken Record
Rollin and Tumblin (From The Prophet Speaks)
Spirit Will Provide (From The Prophet Speaks)
Moondance
Laughin and Clownin/Lonely Ave (From The Prophet Speaks)
Things I Used To Do
Everyday I Have the Blues

12-September-2018
Forest Hills Stadium
 New York, USA

New York's Michael Fishman on Van in Queens, NY

Van figuratively blew the roof off the open air Forest Hills Stadium Tuesday night. With a band that included Jay Berliner and David Hayes, Van opened with The Way Young Lovers Do, the first of four songs he would perform in a nod to the 50th Anniversary of Astral Weeks .A tight Sweet Thing followed with lots of focused singing and improvisation from Van, followed by Mose Allison’s Benediction, a wistful Magic Time, a swinging Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, One Irish Rover, whose measured rhythm nicely captured the mood of the original recording, a taste of the blues with Baby Please Don’t Go -- Here Comes The Night that had a few people near me dancing, followed by Wonderful Remark, which remarkably kept one of the people dancing, a nice surprise in Enlightenment, which while not particularly special was striking to hear in the open (and misty wet with rain) air in the packed little stadium. Then came Beside You, striking on an altogether different level, impressive in Van’s commitment: gesturing, telling a story, painting a picture, hearkening back to 1968 yet infused with the past five decades of Van’s wide-ranging musical explorations. Jazzy, soulful, bluesy, folky, aching. The performance was aided mightily by the classical guitar of Jay Berliner, who masterfully recreated his work from the original album.

What better to follow this momentary bit of transcendence than a rousing Wild Night that proved a surprisingly smooth transition and had the by-now beyond appreciative audience singing “Ooooooooooowheee” to Van, no doubt taking many back to their first spins of Tupelo Honey. Moondance followed with Van on sax taking the music into serious jazz, So What/My Funny Valentine territory. There’s a particular magic to Van’s original recording that could never be recreated but it’s a testament to the strength of the melody that the main theme can be improvised upon so easily and segue so smoothly into the slow swing of So What. Broken Record followed with the audience laughing in delight. By now, certainly, it was apparent that Van’s voice is in fine shape and his timing impeccable; no shouting, on top of the beat but not rushed, deep, round, aged like a fine wine and, as ever, pushing and pulling the words along, stretching out vowels, alternating fast and slow line readings. Van then strapped on the guitar and what could have been Vanlose Stairway proved to be Why Must I Always Explain. A fine version but I can't deny I was hoping for a Vanlose Stairway.

And then, and then...In The Afternoon. An absolute powerhouse, Van delving deep, opening the door to the workshop, showing us how the works gets done, picking up the sack, Flip Flop and Fly, the Ancient Highway, the factories, “We’ll be walking and talking on miles of golden sand,” stage darkened towards end of hushing song then a spotlight on Van “Take my hand and SQUEEEEZE!” Wow. But as usual with Van, no time to float on that particular heaven because Symphony Sid followed immediately. Well, anyone’s who’s seen Van knows he’s not one to bask in applause. It’s a job, you know, and he has to get on with the show. So, bing bang bing bang...hard to not tap your feet or bob your head to this jazzy chestnut. Then finally Brown-Eyed Girl for all the Brown-Eyed Girl fans waiting patiently. This perhaps over-played chart-topper was surprisingly followed by a grand Ballerina, another wow, harkening back to the evening’s Beside You. Van the troubadour again gesturing, performing the song, bringing the images to life, the alternately gentle and insistent lines sung with deep passion, yet the approach and voice naturally changed from the years, Van’s humor coming through, “Here come the fuzz!” and a voice that still growls like a lion but it’s an older lion, five decades worth of blues, jazz, soul and folk returning, the voice still rich, still eternal, but more rooted in sold ground than clouds on high, a tale of youth filtered through the prism of time. Not only is Van’s voice still as strong as ever but his unique searching continues; he still takes single words and stretches them out, twisting and turning the vowels, holding a note until all meaning starts to disappear, moving into pure sound. As far as that Voice is concerned, even just the passion that Van earlier injected into a single and very singular “Yo!” in Have I Told You Lately That I Love You was worth the price of admission and sitting in the rain. Well, we were in the garden, after all, and the garden is often wet with rain. It’s where we go to get clean.
-Mike Fishman

Setlist
The Way Young Lovers Do
Sweet Thing
Benediction
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately (Vegas version)
One Irish Rover
Baby Please Don't Go
Here Comes The Night
Wonderful Remark
Enlightenment
Beside you
Wild Night
Moondance
Broken Record
Why Must I Always Explain
In the afternoon/Ancient Highway/Raincheck/Burning Ground
Symphony sid
Brown Eyed Girl
Ballerina
Gloria

Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Jay Berliner (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards/Trumpet)
Mez Clough (Drums)
Teena Lyle (Percussion, Vocals)
Dana Masters (Vocals)

11-September-2018
Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
 Boston, USA

Improper (Source)
Van Morrison comes with a mercurial reputation – and he doesn’t come often enough, despite a fervent following in Boston. At his best, the Celtic soul singer channels a mystic spirit, nearly speaking in tongues when he loses himself in his songs. At other times, he can seem more detached and frustrate audiences with his song selection. And it’s easy to muse that, at age 73, his best nights must be behind him.But Morrison lived up to his mythic billing at Blue Hills Bank Pavilion on Tuesday (if not the hundreds of dollars per ticket on the resale market for the waterfront venue’s hottest show in a busy summer). Taking the stage exactly on time in his trademark fedora, sunglasses and pinstriped suit, he covered the bases with a sure spread of hits, other favored nuggets and even a surprise or two, backed by a reverentially supportive eight-piece band that even added violin and vibes. If not entirely transcendent, the show found the mostly stoic Morrison in fine voice, clearly invested in the evening and inscrutably himself.After a dashed-off duet of standard “That Old Black Magic” with daughter Shana, who opened the show, Morrison wasted no time dipping into 1968’s hallowed Astral Weeks (birthed in Cambridge and the subject of a recent book by local musician Ryan Walsh), scatting into “The Way Young Lovers Do” and “Sweet Thing.” But he was just warming up. Manning his alto sax with punctuation, Morrison segued from “Magic Time” into the balled “Have I Told You Lately,” which eased into a swinging buildup and a spritely sax/trumpet tradeoff.Two tunes from Morrison’s mid-60s band Them lent a surprise jolt, as the singer brandished his harmonica and steered “Baby, Please Don’t Go” into a virtual Sun Records session before dropping into “Here Comes the Night,” his voice purring across that song’s lively bars. Then he dove into the flow of “Cleaning Windows,” ad-libbing into the rockabilly standard “Be-Bop-a-Lula,” and finally brought the crowd to its feet for the “sha-la-la-la” sing-along of “Wild Night.” It was already one of those for the Van faithful – and the show was only 40 minutes old.From there, Morrison relaxed a bit within the folds of the band, imitating a vinyl skip in “Broken Record,” and donning an electric guitar for relative rarity “Vanlose Stairway” and an emotive cover of “I Can’t Stop Loving You” complete with pedal-steel solo. And yes, fans returned to their feet — if frustratingly to the obvious — for the jazzy “Moondance” and “Brown-Eyed Girl,” with house lights up for its “sha-la-la-la” sing-along. The same reaction greeted a predictable encore of “Gloria,” yet Morrison didn’t mail in that classic, navigating the feeling in each line before he gestured credit to the musicians and left the stage for the last time after nearly 90 minutes. The band impressively vamped and soloed (with glances over the shoulder) for another 10 minutes, but the Belfast Cowboy had left the building.
-Paul Robicheau

Setlist
Black Magic w/Shana Morrison
The Way Young Lovers Do
Sweet Thing
Benediction
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately
Warm Love
Baby Please Don't Go/Don’t Start Cryin’ Now
Here Comes The Night
Cleaning Windows
Wild Night
Days Like This
Broken Record
Vanlose Stairway
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Whenever God Shines His Light
Moondance
Symphony Sid
Help Me
Brown Eyed Girl
In The Garden
Gloria

Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Jay Berliner (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards/Trumpet)
Mez Clough (Drums)
Teena Lyle (Percussion, Vocals)
Dana Masters (Vocals)

07-September-2018
KeyBank Pavilion
 Burgettstown, USA

Times Online Source
Well, it was a marvelous night for a moon dance Friday, with Van Morrison at KeyBank Pavilion singing many of his classic songs.

Not that the lazy fans in the second-tier seats got up on their feet to shake and groove until the very end, though it looked rather lively on the lawn.

Granted, Morrison’s 90-minute performance got off to a slow start, bringing initial fears of, wow, what if the 45-year wait to see the Northern Ireland legend on a local stage didn’t meet expectations? Morrison and his band sounded too quiet, especially compared to the guitar-shredding set of alt-country artist Sturgill Simpson that had preceded them.

Morrison seemed to notice it, too, making a few upward pointing gestures, as in, hey, turn up the volume. Morrison played sax on “Benediction (Thank God For Self Love),” and he and his lightly jazzy pop-rock band sounded OK on “Magic Time,” but they were still too quiet and in need of more energy. Sporting a dark suit, tinted glasses and stylish hat, Morrison added harmonica to the blues standard “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” which perked up things. Everything finally started to click — evidently volume adjustments were made — as Morrison’s signature, soulful voice got good and peppy on “Here Comes The Night” by his 1960s band Them.

From there, it truly was a marvelous experience, as the band began to assert itself, including soothing female backing vocals on “Carrying a Torch” then the classic “Moondance,” somewhat re-arranged, with a prominent bass line behind Morrison’s jaunty vocals.

Van The Man even cracked a smile during “Broken Record,” where he and the band imitated a broken record, complete with a scratching, stuck needle sound effect, and him repeatedly singing “broken record, broken record, broken record...”

The excitement grew with a back-to-back “Days Like This” and the classic “Wild Night,” while Morrison played piano for “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

And talk about an epic ending, with the famed “Brown Eyed Girl” sparking the crowd to sing “Sha la la la la la la la la la la, dee dah” — just like that — and then a spry “Gloria,” in all its G-L-O-R-I-A glory, getting even those spectators in the pavilion’s second tier to stand and dance.

Not only did local Morrison fans get to a cross an item off their bucket list, they saw a fine performance.
-Scott Tady

Setlist
The Way Young Lovers Do
Benediction
Magic Time
Baby, Please Don't Go
Here Comes the Night
Cleaning Windows
Carrying a Torch
Moondance
Broken Record
Days Like This
Wild Night
Sometimes We Cry
Enlightenment
I Can't Stop Loving You
Vanlose Stairway
Warm Love
Wonderful Remark
Whenever God Shines His Light
Jackie Wilson Said
Help Me
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

Big Hand For The Band!
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Jay Berliner (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards/Trumpet)
Mez Clough (Drums)
Teena Lyle (Percussion, Vocals)
Dana Masters (Vocals)

31-August-2018 
Wrest Park 
Silsoe, England

Brendan checks in again with review of Van's gig on his 73rd birthday

Van Morrison/The Waterboys/Hot House Flowers at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire, 31st August 2018

I usually avoid these festival shows like the plague but as it was Van Morrison's 73rd birthday I hoped that he might produce a special show to mark the occasion but it was a forlorn hope as it transpired.

Hot House Flowers commenced proceedings with a rather sedate set consisting of some of their better known material including Don't Go along with some traditional Irish material. The Waterboys by contrast hit the stage running and played a brilliant set culminating with The Whole of the Moon and Fisherman's Blues. Apart from Mike Scott on vocals,guitar and piano the band also features the incredible Steve Wickham on violin and an organ player who goes by the name Brother Paul and is a real throwback to days of yore with long blond hair flowing as he was virtually hanging over the edge of the keyboards while delivering several outstanding solos. The band also features the outstanding former Van drummer Ralph Salmins.

After the Waterboys set I reckoned Van would have to reach some great heights to emulate their performance but he came nowhere close. As the set list indicates, this show was a typical festival one featuring plenty of 'the hits' alongside several jazz standards and jazzy reworkings of Van songs none of which to my ears are an improvement on the original versions.The third song was the rarely played Start All Over Again which was emphasised by Van demanding the lyrics sheet at the song's commencement. Bring It On Home To Me was strong once again as was Carrying A Torch but it was only toward the end that the show picked up somewhat with the inclusion of Did Ye Get Healed,Why Must I Always Explain and In The Afternoon after which Van exited the stage singing the line 'Need A Shot of Rhythm and Blues' over and over. Van did return for an encore of Brown Eyed Girl and an extended Gloria which, in fact, got by far the biggest audience reaction of the night with the band really cutting loose after Van departed. Dana Masters did some great vocals, Paul Moore produced some really funky bass lines while Teena Lyle has undoubtedly added to her fan base after an extended percussion solo.

The audience incidentally was a typical festival one with virtually everyone in the unreserved area where most were congregated talking and laughing non stop throughout with the music of secondary importance and being purely of a background nature. It continues to fill me with a sense of wonder that people are prepared to travel such long distances and spend so much on concert tickets just to have a good chat and a few drinks with their friends. It seems that once they take a few photos to prove they were there to be shared with their friends (i.e.the other ones that they were not talking to throughout the concert) then their night is complete.

As the festival shows near completion for 2018 it is to be hoped that Van will then delve more deeply into his real quality material for future shows and perhaps deliver some more Llangollen type shows which would be much more representative of his outstanding musical legacy.
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist
Skye Boat Song (instrumental)
Benediction
Start All Over Again
Magic Time
Only A Dream
Bring It On Home To Me
Baby Please Don't Go/Don't Start Crying Now/Got My Mojo Working
I Can Tell
Carrying A Torch
Enlightenment
Jackie Wilson Said
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Moondance
Broken Record
Did Ye Get Healed
Why Must I Always Explain
Whenever God Shines His Light
In The Afternoon
Brown Eyed Girl
Gloria

Set Time 1h 39m

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

30-August-2018 
Bonus Arena 
Hull, England

Brendan is back with review from new venue in Hull

Van Morrison at the Bonus Arena, Hull -30th August 2018

This concert saw the official grand opening of this new venue and it was more or less filled to capacity. After quite a number of European outdoor festival shows which have consisted largely of the 'radio hits' I was hopeful that tonight's indoor show would feature much more of the real classic material that the dedicated Van fans yearn to hear as evidenced by the ecstatic reaction of fans to the quality material delivered at the Llangollen show in July. The opening half of this show however was pretty unremarkable and contained no real surprises although How Far From God and the Baby Please Don't Go medley were strongly delivered and went down really well with Dave Keary most prominent on electric guitar.A really strong Bring It On Home To Me was the first real indication of Van being really committed to the task at hand and this was followed by a fast but pretty ordinary cover of Benediction while Broken Record which followed was notable for Van increasing the number of consecutive times he uttered the song title towards its conclusion to 29.

Enlightenment and Carrying A Torch provided the first real indication of Van moving into a higher gear and while Days Like This saw a brief return to 'hits' territory a lovely Did Ye Get Healed picked up the tempo again. All In the Game was a most welcome addition and saw Van repeat over and over once more that "this is it" and there is "no plan B and no safety net". Warm Love was well delivered and received before a further trip down the ancient highway In The Afternoon brought the main show to a conclusion. When Van returned to the opening strains of In The Garden it seemed that more magic would ensue but sadly after a beautiful Dave Keary acoustic guitar solo this was a version cut brutally short as Van exited swiftly again mid-song only to return briefly to fit in what he apparently feels is the almost obigatory rendition of Brown Eyed Girl.

Van was in fine voice and sang with great power but there was no interaction with the audience throughout the show tonight.
-Brendan Hynes

Setlist
Skye Boat Song (instrumental)
Lets Get Lost
How Far from God
Magic Time
Back On Top
Baby Please Don't Go/Don't Start Crying Now/Got My Mojo Working
I Can Tell
Moondance
Have I Told You Lately (fast version)
Bring It On Home To Me
Benediction
Broken Record
Enlightenment
Carrying A Torch
Days Like This
Did Ye Get Healed
All In The Game
Warm Love
In The Afternoon
In The Garden
Brown Eyed Girl

Set Time 1h 38m

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

14-August-2018 
SF Masonic Auditorium 
San Francisco

Setlist
Hold It Right There
Ride On Josephine
Look Down the Road
Magic Time
Have I Told You Lately
Sometimes We Cry
Baby Please Don’t Go/Don’t Start Cryin/Got My Mojo Workin
Days Like This
Broken Record
I Believe to My Soul
Symphony Sid
I Can Tell
Think Twice Before You go
Carrying an Torch
Vanlose Stairway
I Can’t Stop Loving You
In the Afternoon/Ancient Highway/Burnin Ground
The Party’s Over
Whenever God Shines His Light
Help Me
Brown Eyed Girl

24-June-2018
Isle of Wight Festival
Newport, England

22-June-2018
Azkena Rock Festival
Azkena, Spain