Van Morrison has a special affinity with Bristol,"Won't you meet me down by Bristol",sang Van on his epic song Summertime In England.So we did, and set off on a golden sunny evening in the Indian Summer.It took nearly two hours to travel the 31 miles from Westbury to the Colston Hall crawling through the rush hour traffic.The Colston Hall has been refurbished with a splendid new foyer area and bars.I hardly recognised the place.Sitting outside in the evening sunshine we met Mike and Lori Seltzer who had travelled all the way from Detroit to see Van.It was great to see them and Smithy took our photo.Then it was time for the show.
Vans concert was the most expensive ever held at this venue,£100 for front row tickets.A far cry from 1982 when he appeared here for £5.50 (See picture).I think that is the reason for all the empty seats in the balcony where we were sitting.As soon as the show started Smithy and i moved forward to the vacant seats nearer the front.Van came on stage and he has dispensed with the suit which is good and was wearing a real bad boys tight leather jacket.The opening song was MOONDANCE and i was happy to see the great Jay Berliner back on guitar with Vans band of
Paul Moran on keyboards piano and trumpet, Paul Moore on bass Jeff Lardner drums Chris White sax, flute Alistair White trombone and Dave Keary on guitar.It was a nice surprise to hear HIGHER THAN THE WORLD next from Vans Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart album and Jay excelled himself with some mesmerising guitar playing.Van drank copious amounts of water during the concert and wiped his nose several times.I don't know if he had a cold or just needs to keep his pipes lubricated but his voice is quite magnificent at the age of 66.SONG OF HOME from his last studio album was next and i think Jay played banjo on this one
FAIR PLAY from the brilliant Veedon Fleece album followed and it was superb,"Take it where you get it",sang Van repeatedly at the end.My second favourite Van song of all time followed,IN THE GARDEN.The knowledgeable Bristol audience applauded spontaneously to the opening notes and Van said "Thank you",politely.He was really in the zone on this song which was spiritual and sanctified.Jay and the young brass section all got warm applause during their solos.The piano playing was excellent as well.At the end Van brought it right down to a whisper until he was just breathing into the microphone.It was spine-tingling.Then he sang "Then you bring it up!",and the band brought it back to a crescendo that Tchaikovsky would have been proud of. MAGIC TIME followed which was good with Van blowing some nice saxophone but sandwiched in between the other epic songs it paled by comparison.The masterclass of ALL IN THE GAME/YOU KNOW WHAT THEY'RE WRITING ABOUT followed and for me this was the highlight of the evening as Van made it real one more time.The full range of his vocal pyrotechnics were on display with Van Scatting,gargling, roaring and making noises like a caged animal.I haven't seen him this animated in years."There is no plan B,no turning back,there is no plan B",he kept repeating at the end.REAL REAL GONE was next and all the band took solos to show what they could do and Van sang a bit of You Send me by Sam Cooke.TALK IS CHEAP followed and i don't like this song on the studio album but live in Bristol is was really funky.Van blew his harp and had a real bash at the tabloid newspapers who he hates with good reason.CRAZY LOVE followed which took me right back to my very first Van concert 32 years ago at this same venue when Katie Kissoon was in the band.Tonight it was righteous and mellow down to it's very soul.
The great songs continued with BALLERINA.with more dazzling guitar work by Jay .Instead of 'Here comes the man",Van sang "Here comes the fuzz!'.I CAN'T STOP LOVIN'YOU the Ray Charles classic was next with the multi talented Paul Moran taking a solo on trumpet.It was great but for the only time tonight i wished he had some backing singers like the Raelettes.Another classic followed, LITTLE VILLAGE with Jay,Van on sax and Paul Moran all excelling themselves.HELP ME followed and i have seen Van do this song dozens of times but tonight he found new depths to the song with Paul switching to the organ and Van blowing some mean harmonica and repeating "It's too late to stop now" over and over which shows Van has no intention of fading away until he wants to,Then it was the traditional finale GLORIA with Van leaving the stage still blowing his harp and the band played on in a frenzy giving Van time to make a sharp exit from the building.
Smithy timed the show at 95 minutes.We had a swift pint in a pub next to the Hippodrome Theatre and headed home.It only took 50 minutes to drive back to Westbury after a great evening.Tonight Van is in Cardiff and i hope Mike and Lori are treated to another show as good as Vans magnificent performance in Bristol.
THE END.
Vans concert was the most expensive ever held at this venue,£100 for front row tickets.A far cry from 1982 when he appeared here for £5.50 (See picture).I think that is the reason for all the empty seats in the balcony where we were sitting.As soon as the show started Smithy and i moved forward to the vacant seats nearer the front.Van came on stage and he has dispensed with the suit which is good and was wearing a real bad boys tight leather jacket.The opening song was MOONDANCE and i was happy to see the great Jay Berliner back on guitar with Vans band of 
FAIR PLAY from the brilliant Veedon Fleece album followed and it was superb,"Take it where you get it",sang Van repeatedly at the end.My second favourite Van song of all time followed,IN THE GARDEN.The knowledgeable Bristol audience applauded spontaneously to the opening notes and Van said "Thank you",politely.He was really in the zone on this song which was spiritual and sanctified.Jay and the young brass section all got warm applause during their solos.The piano playing was excellent as well.At the end Van brought it right down to a whisper until he was just breathing into the microphone.It was spine-tingling.Then he sang "Then you bring it up!",and the band brought it back to a crescendo that Tchaikovsky would have been proud of. MAGIC TIME followed which was good with Van blowing some nice saxophone but sandwiched in between the other epic songs it paled by comparison.The masterclass of ALL IN THE GAME/YOU KNOW WHAT THEY'RE WRITING ABOUT followed and for me this was the highlight of the evening as Van made it real one more time.The full range of his vocal pyrotechnics were on display with Van Scatting,gargling, roaring and making noises like a caged animal.I haven't seen him this animated in years."There is no plan B,no turning back,there is no plan B",he kept repeating at the end.REAL REAL GONE was next and all the band took solos to show what they could do and Van sang a bit of You Send me by Sam Cooke.TALK IS CHEAP followed and i don't like this song on the studio album but live in Bristol is was really funky.Van blew his harp and had a real bash at the tabloid newspapers who he hates with good reason.CRAZY LOVE followed which took me right back to my very first Van concert 32 years ago at this same venue when Katie Kissoon was in the band.Tonight it was righteous and mellow down to it's very soul.
9 comments:
thanks Pat for sharing - always a pleasure to read your stories.
Dear Pat,
Thank you for making it real one more time!
Cheers, Julia
Nice review. Really enjoyed the show too.
Pat
I check your website everyday...wish I could have been there...desparately seeking Van.
Patti from Kansas City
thanks for a beautiful review of this concert Pat! Youre blog is so nice to read!
Great review, Pat! What a joy to read and feel so close to being there. Glad you had such a great concert.
irene
Having been to a fair few concerts and gigs of all shapes and sizes, am I alone in thinking that Van was disappointing? His performance did not justify the £160 I spent on two tickets? He spent most of the time coordinating solos, probably due to his apparent cold. How can people think his diffident style is cut - he made no effort to interact with the audience, and only mumbled one comment that I heard. I'll be quite happy from now on listening to him in the car or at home - at least then I'll get to hear Brown Eyed Girl, a pleasure denied me at the Colston.
Loved your review Pat - as usual you were the great rememberer.
I thought it was a magic time at the concert.Van's vocal performance seemed remarkably unaffected by an evident heavy cold.When he had to, he seamlessly coughed off-mike beteween vocal phrases - very professional.
The whole dynamics of the concert were superb,Van taking the excellent band up,down and back again - from a pin-drop to a roar.The presence of virtuoso guitarist Jay Berliner was the cherry on the icing of a very special cake,er concert!
I am genuinely amazed that dave was disappointed, i was quite prepared to scream and shout if the concert didn't match the price tag, but it was not only the best Van Morrison gig I'd seen, it was as good it gets. I also sat in the balconey and moved from the cheap seats to the expensive ones. Van's prescence at the front of a circle of musicians made complete sense and the songs say everything that ever needs to be said, i thought his leading of the band was in the mode of all the great band leaders, duke ellington, count basie and even BB King. ace ace gig
and thanks for your accurate and knowledgeable review. I've been told to catch Bill Wyman with Mary Wilson next
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