I went to see the legendary Van Morrison tonight. Having long been a fan of Van, I knew I would never get to see him. See, Van is known for not touring. The reason is (or was) that he had horrible stage fright, and would only get onstage if he was drunk. Now, that seems like an awful generalization... but I have bourn witness. Not personally of course, because Van hasn't been to Colorado in 28 years. Van is also very well known for his rock star temperament. It was well described in a thorough piece by Mark Brown of the Rocky Mountain News. He said that Van was in his top 5 concerts ever, and this is a guy who goes to rock concerts for a living. He also said that Van was in his worst 5 concert experiences.
That being said, I plunked down my $100 (for the cheat seats, in fact I had to stand in the aisle all night) and got ready to see the man. He gave the radio stations fair warning and told all that 'Van will play promptly at 7:30 pm with no opening band and will be offstage at 8:45 pm.
So the band enters at 7:35 and does some jazz. I should emphasize the jazz point. His band was a jazz band, and a terrific one at that. He had about a 6 piece band, horn section and all. Everyone was in suits, and played their asses off. After the intro jam piece, Van saunters out looking like he does in those pictures you see, suit, sunglasses, and pork pie hat. It was off to a classic Van start when he berated the drummer to play harder. Trust me, this was not a 'let's kick it up a notch', but a firm scolding. I think Van forgot he had the mike in his hand. The first few songs were terribly bland. Keep in mind that Van's voice was in amazing top form... flawless... but there was little passion felt. As I told my buddy, I wanted more Van and less band. He did a couple of epic classics in this early part, which to me totally fell flat. There was 'Have I told you lately' which he reconfigured to be a shitty mid tempo lounge song.
Then, the band kicks into 'Moondance'. Let's be honest, this is the moment we were all waiting for. It was a craptacular phoned in formula piece. I was getting really disappointed at this point, fearing just an hour of Van going through the motions and picking up a paycheck. I think somehow Van felt our complacency, because he went to an audible. He turned to the band and said 'Brown eyed girl'. I know this wasn't the setlist because the dudes all dropped their instruments and scrambled to compensate. With 'Brown eyed girl' Van tore the sold out house apart. It was a powerful and (most importantly) rendered just the way we remember it from the radio. After that, everything got better. His song choices seemed more interesting, and his passion was fully there. Here are some highlights of the setlist as I remember them: back on top, days like this, moondance, have I told you lately, gloria, jackie wilson said, and certainly a few from his terrific new disc 'Magic Time'.
Article comments
1 - Cerulean
Congrats on seeing a good Van Morrison concert. I'm on record here for saying he is a genius. I saw him over twenty years ago in San Francisco. At his best, he's magic.
2 - crooked spine
I've never seen Van in concert, but It's Too Late to Stop Now is one of my favorite live albums.
3 - meg
Hello...I saw the concert as well and thought it was awful. I have loved Van for well over 20 years and was so disappointed that he charged what he did and couldn't play any longer. It was still light outside and the crowd was just getting ramped up. I noticed half of the crowd still standing, looking confused when it was over. This was his time to shine and in my opinion...he didn't. How could he not play "Into the Mystic", "Tupelo Honey", "And it Stoned Me"....he could have done better.
4 - Vanessa
My best friend flew me, her mom and her mom's best friend in to see Van and we were so excited to see him play, but we were all so disappointed when he only played a few of his popular songs. What a ripoff for the price that he charged for tickets. I am sorry to say that this whole experience has turned me off of Van Morrison
5 - Jamie
I also attended the concert...equally disappointed!
6 - Lono
To be fair to Van (which I know is it a bit out of step these days), I did a whole bunch of research on Van shows. I learned a lot:
He is mostly a dick
He does not acknowledge the audience
he does not pander to the audience
he does not play more than an hour
his set is far from a greatest hits fest
Plus, before the show Van's people told the city of Denver (they own Red Rocks) that Van would only play for exactly 75 minutes.
That being said, I was pleasantly surprised. The show was 90 minutes and decently filled with hits. Plus, Van still has his voice and sound terrific.
7 - babo
I heard the show was good if you were a hardcore fan, but sucked if you were just a casual fan.
8 - Lono
Oh, and the calculation was roughly a dollar a minute for the show. Cheap seats started at $100 (before Ticketbastard fees)and the good seats were somewhere in the 200's.
As the Duke would say "That's a lotta fuckin' quid, mate!"
9 - Dr Bill
I've seen Van 3 times and just missed him last week in England. That is where I saw him a year ago at Hampton Court outdoors and then a week later at the Olympia in Paris. I've been a fan since I was a kid listening to Brown Eyed Girl and as a high school senior buying Warm Love as a 45 and then the LP Hard Nose the Highway.
I first saw Van in 1991 in Dublin.
That night was the closest he came to the type of jazz/chant/mantra/soul search one finds in the 90s lp(Hymns to the Silence).
Last year's sets were straight from his then new CD What's Wrong with this Picture.
All that said true fans love him for who he is not what he does. Never go expecting a greatest hits list. We heard Brown Eyed Girl as well but he migh bore of it and not play that or Moondance for another 5 years.
The key is that he still will be there on stage, rolling with the "youth of a 1000 summers" and trying to "feel the silence." If your lucky you can feel it too.
10 - Romie
I've read all of the above comments and have to say, Whad'ya people all expect? If you are a Van Fan, then you should know his past with his 'recluse' ways and just be thankful you got to see him at all! How special of an evening and the weather was fantastic...
The only thing I'd change would be to have the guy sing in my living room for 2 hours...
11 - Steve
I wasn't able to attend the Red Rocks Show. Does anybody have a set list of the show? Thanks,
Steve