Hello,

My second Van show after a break of three years and it was one of those nights that I wasn't quite sure which side the coin was going to fall: in the event I needed have given such matters a second thought!

Pretty much bang-on 7.45pm his ace seven-piece band fired-up and played about a minute's worth of 'Baby Please Don't Go' before the Wee Man strode onstage playing the mouth harp. If he had have acknowledged the audience who clearly were ecstatic at seeing him then he would have seen more than a few gaps in the 2300-seat auditorium despite there only being about 150 seats unsold at showtime. Consider this a lesson Manchester: a "Van Morrison 7.45pm" means just that! For the next 30 minutes there was a steady trickle of anguished punters trying to find their seats and wondering which gems that they had missed because of that extra pint...ouch!

I wish I could tell you what songs where played but I'm ashamed to 'fess up that I am a greatest hits-Van-tourist really: this situation will be changing. What I do know is that things absoulutely clicked from the fourth song onwards ('Fair Play'), with Van's sometimes wild gesticulations and surprisingly powerful vocals carrying you along. Marvellous stuff, and everyone on that stage knew it too.Even more thankfully they carried us for the next 100 minutes too.

Previously I had taken Van's pointing at various members of his band when he wanted a solo from them to be borderline ignorant behaviour: "...yeah, if he tried to do that to me then I'd shove my guitar up his...", but in reality it was me who didn't quite understand what was going on up there on stage. Last night I could hear him cajoling and shouting at them occasionally and yes, even forcing a smile when a solo was especially pleasing.
To be fair he seems at least as hard on himself as he took quite a few solos on mouth harp and sax too: his concentration was fierce!

All I can tell you is that way too soon he left the stage to a standing ovation: this was a good one for sure. One aside: there are no photos of Van from me as last night the venue staff actually threw-out two guys who were sat beside us for persistent photography. Mind you, the twats were using flash and had been warned twice...not clever. After a surrender of cameras and much grovelling they were let back in. Sheepish was not the word, hah-hah! I have pinched a recent photo of Van from Google instead...

Baby, Please Don't Go
Here Comes The Night
Brown Eyed Girl
Higher Than The World
Magic Time
The Mystery
Fair Play
Real Real Gone
I Can’t Stop Loving You
Crazy Love
Young Lovers Do
Moondance
All In The Game
In The Garden
Ballerina
Into The Mystic
Help Me









Cheers,

Simon.

Edited because clearly I cannot check my own drivel. Disgrace.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-14 11:10 by SimonN.

Saw him at Finsbury in June and he was excellent, but he's taking the piss with the ticket prices he's looking now for a 90-minute set. Lots of unsold seats at recent shows (even in theatres) and to ask a top price of £115 for an arena show in Belfast in February (cheapest seats at £56) is ludicrous.

Hi Gazza,

No doubt that those prices are not realistic: we paid £45 and considered that to be about right. Mind you, 'free' would've been even sweeter, hah-hah!

Amazingly enough, on Saturday all-bar-one of the £100 seats were sold which will unfortunately probably only encourage Kennedy Street. Swings and roundabouts for them as they had to cancel his Blackpool show, mind. I suppose those Fylde folk swelled the crowd in the Bridgewater.

Next up? Motorhead on Friday, I hope. Earplugs on standby...

Cheers,

Simon.