Review: Van Morrison, The Forum Bath,November 19th 2012

It was a dark,rainy and windy night when i boarded the 5.38 train from Westbury to Bath which i thought was a shame because i think Bath is one of the most beautiful cities in England and i wanted the fans who had travelled from all over Europe to see Van's first concert in this city for 47 years to have a good time and see Bath in all its glory.The Romans first built a city here and they called it Aquae Sulis which means The Waters Of Sulis.She was a Celtic goddess who guarded the entrance to the underworld which you entered by the  springs for which Bath is famous.The Romans built the  baths which attracted people from all over to get the healing done.In the Georgian era Bath became one of the most fashionable places to live and visit and has been a centre of culture ever since.It has everything for the visitor to admire such as the magnificent architecture and has the Theatre Royal but the one thing Bath has lacked until now is a great Venue for top music acts.This has been rectified by the restoration of the Forum to its original art -deco glory and its transformation into a wonderful concert venue
My sister Margaret got on the train at Bradford On Avon and we were soon in Bath and headed to the Lamb & Lion to meet our friends.The ubiquitous Nosey was already there.Nosey has been to almost as many Van concerts this year alone as i have in my entire life.Its always great to see him.It was nice to see Alan Lloyd as well and to meet Jesper from Denmark for the first time.We were soon joined by Alan 'The Whelk Man' Randall and his lovely wife whose name i have forgotten, sorry.Later on we met a couple called Bernard and Patricia from the south of France and a couple from the Netherlands but unfortunately i can't remember their names either.
Soon it was time to head for the Forum and Margaret and i took our seats in the front row right in front of Van and i pulled out my trusty moleskine notebook and my pen.so i could write down the setlist.I was a bit worried that Van wouldn't like me writing things down and would get grumpy but he didn't seem to care.The band started with an instrumental and Van joined in on sax.I think i recognised it but i'm damned if i can remember what it is called.Then it was 'A Town Called Paradise' from the No Guru album which has featured a lot in Vans recent concerts.Another song from that album followed, ' Thanks For The Information' which isn't one of my favourite Van songs by any means.Van was lifting the mike stand up and banging it on the floor in time to the music which was unusual and you have to say that his voice sounds magnificent after all those years of singing.'Open The Door (To Your Heart) 'followed.I can take it or leave it but Margaret said she really liked that one.

Then it was back to the No Guru album for one of my favourite songs,'Got To Go Back'.It was great but maybe a tad too jazzy for my liking.I wish it had been more true to the original.This was followed by 'Baby Please Don't Go' which Van must have sung the last time he performed in Bath in March 1965 when 'Them' played at Bath Pavilion and they were riding high in the charts with Here Comes The Night.( See my story below about Van and Bath for more info).When the intro to the next song started i whispered to Margaret,"This is brilliant".It was 'All In The Game' but sadly it wasn't quite as brilliant as i hoped because Van cut it short before he made it real one more time.Van was racing through the set,poor old Dave Keary hardly had time to change his guitars between the songs.I must say that this band have really evolved over the last couple of years into a really tight unit.They all deserve a mention.The brass section of Alistair White and Chris White,drummer Jeff Lardner, Paul Moore on bass,Dave Keary on guitars,Paul Moran on keyboards and trumpet and Bobby Ruggerio who has reappeared  on percussion.I hope i have got that right.

'Close Enough For Jazz' was next which was ok but not one of my favourite tracks from the new album.The band seem to enjoy playing it though.The next three songs i thought were great and the highlight section of the show for me.'Enlightenment','Haunts Of Ancient Peace' and 'Mystic Of The East'.This is the Van music i had come to hear.During Haunts Of Ancient Peace my mind went back to the day that Kim and i had walked up Glastonbury Tor and i had bought the CD of Common One in the record shop in Glastonbury town.Another reference to Avalon that Van made in Bath was singing 'These Are The Days' from the Avalon Sunset album which was recorded right here at Wool Hall Studios in Beckington just a stones throw from this venue..In all my years of seeing Van perform i have never heard him sing 'Drumshanbo Hustle ' before.I really enjoyed hearing that one.Then it was 'Moondance'.This is a great song but i have heard it too often and i get fed up with the solos.I like to hear the band playing together behind Van.Anyway, i did what i usually do during Moondance and nipped to the loo for a wee."That's better", i said to Margaret when i got back to my seat.This was followed by 'Brown Eyed Girl' which i don't usually pay much heed to but for personal reasons i found quite poignant tonight.

Then it was a real crowd pleaser 'Jackie Wilson Says'.This was followed by 'Ballerina' from the best album of all time Astral Weeks.Van has funked it up now from where he sings"Here comes the fuzz".It was great.Up to this point i had really enjoyed the concert but then Van did something i found quite infuriating.He sang 'Help Me' the song that is always in his reportoire and then he said,"A big hand for the band",bowed and walked off.The band played on and i said to Margaret,"He will be back in a minute to do Gloria".The band obviously thought he would as well because they started bringing the song to an end but he didn't reappear so they carried on whilst looking towards the wings but Van by now was in his car heading to the airport.I looked behind me at the audience and they looked quite confused.Much as i like Van's band i did not pay £75.00 + to hear them bashing away at drum solos etc to make up the 90 minutes contractual obligation.Also Van has written songs about the rip offs of the music business and then treats the audience with disdain.It would not have killed him to do one more song.
Anyway, back at the pub Nosey said that he thought it was an average gig but i think he is spoiled by going to too many great ones.Bernard and Patricia said that Cardiff the night before was a lot better.Margaret hadn't seen Van since Glastonbury 2005 and she thought it was really good.On the train on the way home i thought that although it wasn't as good as Bournemouth in March the concert did have some great moments and i was glad i went and i hope Van returns to the beautiful city of Bath before too long.

THE END.