Van Morrison: The Princess Theatre Torquay 28/10/2026

After Storm Austen had been battering the south coast in recent days, I was relieved on Wednesday morning to see that the wind and rain had abated and the trains were running on time. One of the reasons I like going to concerts in Torquay is because the train journey is so pleasant. Once you get past Exeter the train runs right along by the sea with some great views from the train window. I couldn’t check into the hotel until 3pm, so I left my bag at reception and went for a saunter along the seafront. There were hundreds of people out and about, walking their dogs, and enjoying the late October sunshine. I sat outside a café enjoying a glass of wine and watching the world walk by, until finally strolling back to the hotel. 

Once I checked in, I had a nap until 5.30 when I met up with Jane, and we walked to a pub/restaurant place called the Offshore Bar where John had booked a table for three. We ordered some food and it was great to have a chat and a catch-up, but the service was painfully slow. Time was getting on and I had told Mary we would see her in the theatre bar. We were just on the verge of walking out when the food finally arrived, and it was actually quite delicious. After that we hurried to the Princess Theatre which is another reason I like coming back to Torquay because it is a lovely little theatre right next to the harbour. We met up with Mary, and it was nice to meet her friend Annie for the first time, so our little gang was now complete.

Unusually for a Van concert there was a support act this time who was a West Country singer called Andy Quick who played guitar and sang three songs, but I must confess that I didn’t pay a lot of attention to him. After he finished his short set, I went outside into the fresh air until it was time for Van the man. Van’s eight-piece band shuffled on stage which consisted of Sumudu and Jolene on backing vocals and percussion instruments, David Hayes on bass, Bobby Ruggerio on drums, Dave Keary on guitars, Paul Moran on trumpet, Chris White on saxophones and other wind instruments, and John McCullough on keyboards and piano. Then the band announced, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Van Morrison!’, and on strolled Van looking as dapper as Bill Nighy on a night out. As in Bath when I last saw Van he began with one of the greatest songs of all time Into The Mystic. This great opening was followed by three songs from the recent Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge blues album which were Kidney Stew Blues, Snatch It Back And Hold It, and a song I didn’t recognise, but Jane told me later was called Can’t Help Myself originally by Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee. All those songs I thought were Ok, but the next song for me was a highlight of the night, from the great Remembering Now album. Van sat at the keyboard and performed Haven’t Lost My Sense Of Wonder. 

In the pub later we all agreed that it sounded even better live than on the album with Van repeating ‘Peace be still’ accompanied by Chris on sax. After that ethereal experience it was back down to earth with Symphony Sid which isn’t one of my favourite songs, but Sumudu breathed new life into it with her excellent vocal ability. I have seen Van perform Enlightenment on countless occasions, but I never tire of hearing it, unlike some other songs I could mention. Dave was excellent on steel guitar as was Van on harmonica. Another great song with a spiritual message was Full Force Gale. Green Rocky Road is always great to hear, but especially so in Torquay with Chris excelling on flute and Van bring the song to a close by repeating ‘And she moves on solid ground, she moves, she really moves’. The mood changed again then with Going Down Geneva/Brand New Cadillac which I’m not all that enamoured with. After that Van reminded us that we’re all going to die with Precious Time. It’s good to know the fire's still in him, and the passion it burns ‘til hell freezes over and the rivers run dry. Ain’t Gonna Moan No More was hip to the tip as ever, with Van telling us about his heroes Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Jon Hendricks, Satchmo, and even Willie the Shake. The low point of the show for me was Broken Record which I have never liked. The next song was a nice surprise. Van said he was going to sing a skiffle song that was originally by Dickie Bishop who I had never heard of before. It was called No Other Baby with Dave playing some real twangy rockabilly style guitar and Van and Chris both playing sax. This was followed by an old favourite Cleaning Windows, and he had to perform Moondance beneath October skies. Two more songs which the Torquay audience obviously enjoyed were Wild Night followed by Real Real Gone. The finale was as usual Gloria. Van left the stage and the band played on as I made for the exit.

Annie, Mary, Me, John, Jane.

We all met up outside and agreed that it had been a very enjoyable concert. After some of the setlists I have seen recently, I thought the show exceeded my expectations. We all went for a last drink in a pub which I think was called Viva before going our separate ways. I’m looking forward to the next time already. This morning I had a nice surprise while waiting for my train. Who should come strolling along the platform but Sumudu!. I thanked her for the concert, and we had a little chat. She was happy for me to take a photo, what a nice lady she is. That brought a very enjoyable visit to Torquay to a close.

Sumudu.

PS: I’d like to dedicate this review to our dear friend and long-time Van fan Fumiko who sadly passed away in June this year.

PPS: Thank you very much to John Prideaux for the photos.

Nightfall by Quercus.

It was in 1992 that I first became aware of June Tabor. I bought a compilation album of folk music called Folk Heritage 2. I still listen to that album quite regularly because it is packed with great music by the likes of Richard Thompson, The Albion Band, Martin Simpson, Dick Gaughan, Martin Carthy, Nic Jones, The Watersons and many others. One of my favourite songs was a wonderful acapella version of Eric Bogle’s great anti-war song The Band Played Waltzing Matilda by June Tabor. I can’t say I paid much attention to her career after that until a Yorkshire friend of mine gave me a copy of Ragged Kingdom by June Tabor and Oysterband. It is a great album. Two tracks particularly stood out for me, the soul classic Dark End Of The Street and their version of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart. 

Two friends told me recently that June was playing in Bradford On Avon in December with a group called Quercus. I thought I’d get a ticket for that. I had never heard of Quercus, So I ordered an album by them as I wanted to know what to expect on the night. A couple of days ago Nightfall the second album by Quercus popped through my letterbox. The album was recorded just down the road from here at Coopers Hall in Frome and released in 2017 on the prestigious German ECM label who are renowned for great jazz and experimental music. The artwork on the album’s cover is by the Czech artist Jan Jedlička. He has worked with ECM on more than 40 albums. The artwork does seem to capture the melancholy mood of the songs. 

I thought Quercus was an odd name for a group, so I looked up the meaning and Quercus is the name of a genus of trees including the oak tree. The album’s title of Nightfall is taken from a poem called In Memoriam (Easter 1915) by the poet Edward Thomas who was slain during the battle of Arras. Quercus are a trio of vocalist June, Huw Warren on piano, and Iain Ballamy on tenor and soprano saxophone. Huw has worked with June for many years as pianist and music director. Iain is a composer and one of the most distinctive saxophonists in world jazz. He is also a visiting professor currently at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. 

The tracks on the album contain two instrumental compositions by Huw and Iain plus Bernstein & Sondheim’s Somewhere from West Side Story, Bob Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright, the jazz standard You Don’t Know What Love Is written by Don Raye & Gene De Paul, and six traditional folk songs. A common theme running through the song selections would seem to be of loss in various forms. You would think that the world of modern jazz and traditional British folk songs would make strange bedfellows, but I find that Nightfall is a perfect marriage of the two genres. Robbie Burns Auld Lang Syne is usually sung by inebriated groups of people on New Year’s Eve. Here it is transformed into a sparse bluesy arrangement beginning with Huw’s piano joined by June’s smoky vocals and then Iain’s sax. Once I Loved You Dear (The Irish Girl) is a 19^th century lament for a lost love who is bound for America. 

On Berrow Sands is an eerie warning of the treacherous tides in the Bristol Channel. The cries of the seagulls represent the souls of the sailors who have perished there. Christchurch is an instrumental composition by Huw. You Don’t Know What Love Is was originally written for a film in the 1940s but has been covered by many jazz artists from Miles Davis to Billie Holiday. June interprets it as well as anyone. I love how she puts emphasis on certain words or phrases to bring out the emotion in the songs. The Manchester Angel refers to the Angel Inn in Manchester where soldiers were recruited in 1745 to fight with Bonnie Prince Charlie as his army marched south. A soldier meets a pretty young doxy but then deserts her to join the ill-fated adventure. Dylan’s folky Don’t Think Twice It’s alright is transformed into a seven-minute sparse jazzy blues epic. When the rooster crows at the break of dawn heralds a bleak reality. You just kinda wasted my precious time is sung quite angrily by June. 

Emmelene is an instrumental sax composition by Iain. The only Emmeline I know of is Emmeline Pankhurst, but I don’t know if it refers to her. The Shepherd And His Dog is like an aural sketch of a pastoral scene from early morning to dusk. The Cuckoo is a song which was collected from a Dorset gypsy singer called Caroline Hughes. It is another song of betrayal. Iain and Huw’s accompaniment to June’s vocals is perfect, almost like the song of a thrush and cuckoo in flight. Somewhere is another standard that has been covered by many people, but June manages to breathe new life into Sondheim’s words. A perfect song to bring this album to a close. I have loved listening to this music for the past few days and I’m really looking forward to seeing Quercus on December 12^th in Bradford On Avon.

An Evening Of Kate Bush Music In Bath Abbey.

It was a pleasant sunny October evening when I caught the train for Bath. The train was packed with young revellers heading to the city for a night of hen nights and suchlike, but I managed to find a seat for my sister Margaret when she boarded at Bradford On Avon. It was good to have a bit of a chat and a catch up, and we soon arrived in the fine historic city of Bath. Outside the abbey we were amazed to find a queue of at least a hundred yards long already waiting for the doors to open. This is because unlike most concerts the tickets didn’t have seat numbers, so it was first come first served for the best seats.  At my advanced age I wasn’t prepared to stand in a queue for over an hour, so we repaired to the nearby Crystal Palace pub. It is a nice pub, but the price of two G & Ts was outrageous, so I won’t be returning there in a hurry. Eventually it was almost showtime and we made our way back to the abbey. It was a sold-out show of 1,200 people and when we arrived all the seats facing the front were taken. We had to sit at the side where our view was partially obscured by the pulpit. Never mind, they also had quite big screens at the side so that everyone could see and hear the concert which began at 7.30. 

The first thing to say is that this group of musicians are no amateur tribute band. Let Me In are a collective of first-rate professional musicians. In previous years they have performed cathedral tours of the music of Radiohead and Pink Floyd. The ten-piece band includes Lydia Gardiner, Eleanor Kinsey, Amelia Harrison, Lucia Carmignani, Colleen Curran, Alfie Woods, Bruce Higgs, Daniel Anketell, Josh Semans and Musical Director Ewan Steady. They are augmented by the Mike Nowland String Quartet. The sound they produce is quite wonderful. I’m sure even Kate herself would enjoy this performance from her great body of work. I was especially impressed with the singing which didn’t just copy Kate’s voice but interpreted the emotion of her words beautifully. I was a bit ambivalent about holding music concerts in places of worship, but listening to this music in such ethereal surroundings is akin to a spiritual experience, so that is ok. In between the songs they played short extracts from interviews that Kate gave during her career. One thing I learned from the concert is how little I know about Kate’s music apart from the big hit songs like Wuthering Heights, Running Up That Hill and Cloudbusting. 

I bought her first album The Kick Inside when it came out in 1977, but sadly the only other album I have is Aerial from 2005 which I’ve hardly ever played. The band played the Ninth Wave Suite from Hounds Of Love in its entirety, but I never recognised it. I was going to give you a setlist, but after writing down Them Heavy People, The Man With The Child In His Eyes, Lionheart, Army Dreamers, Babushka, and Breathing I gave up on it. We left before the end because I was keen to catch the 10.33 train. It had been a very enjoyable evening. Probably the nearest I’ll ever get to seeing Kate Bush live. The tour continues around the country ending in the Norman splendour of Peterborough Cathedral in December, so if you are an avid Kate Bush fan I think you should get yourself a ticket.

PS, This is a good excuse to replay my favourite Kate Bush video which is Cloudbusting. 

Sam Carter Sings Nic Jones, Pound Arts Centre Corsham 25/9/2026.

Two weeks ago I was privileged to see Richard Thompson play in Bradford On Avon, and last night an equally picturesque small Wiltshire town played host to another singer-songwriter and virtuoso guitar player, namely Sam Carter who was performing at the Pound Arts Centre in Corsham. Sam won the award for best newcomer at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2010, and BBC folk show presenter Mike Harding said that Sam was one of the most gifted acoustic guitarists of his generation.  He has been compared to such luminaries as John Martyn, Roy Harper, and Richard Thompson. This year Sam has taken time out from promoting his own songs to pay tribute to and spread the word about one of his own heroes of acoustic guitar and trad folk songs Nic Jones. Back in late June I reviewed Sam’s album ‘Sam Carter Sings Nic Jones, Live At Celtic Connections’, and when I saw Sam was playing in Corsham I knew I had to go and hear these great songs performed live. My friend Cara called for me at 5.30 and less than 30 minutes later we arrived in Corsham which is a beautiful little town full of period listed buildings where even peacocks wander the streets. Queen Camilla once lived here before her divorce and move to nearby Lacock. Her home Middlewick House was sold to Nick Mason of Pink Floyd fame who still lives there. Another music link to the area is Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio in the nearby village of Box. 

In the Methuen Arms.

We met our friends Jane and John and spent a very pleasant hour or so in the courtyard of the Methuen Arms which is a splendid pub/restaurant/hotel on the High Street. Eventually time was getting on, and so we made our way to the Pound Arts Centre. This is a wonderful asset to the cultural life of the town and is housed in a restored Victorian school. The small auditorium is perfect for an evening of great folk music. Sam came on stage shortly after 7.30 and treated the audience to a great evening of Nic Jones songs beginning with Barrack Street from the classic Penguin Eggs album. This was followed by Master Kilby from Game Set Match, an album I particularly cherish because Nic signed my copy for me when I had the pleasure of meeting him in 2013. 

Another song from that album performed brilliantly by Sam was Clyde Water. In his career Nic mainly sang traditional songs which he put his own arrangements to, as well as songs written by the likes of Harry Robertson or Paul Metsers. I think that is why I like Ruins By The Shore so much as sung by Sam because it was Nic himself who wrote the lyrics, and I think the words are quite powerful and prophetic. Seven Gypsies is a song with a driving rhythm where Sam proves he is well capable of  replicating Nic’s astonishing ability. I have always felt sorry for those gypsies though, they didn’t deserve to be hanged. Other great songs from the evening included Courting Is A Pleasure, Ploughman Lads, Billy Don’t You Weep For Me, Annan Water, (In lots of Nic’s songs the hero or heroine meets a watery end!), Farewell To The Gold, and Oh Dear, Rue The Day. There may have been others that I have forgotten. Sam saved the best for last with the fabulous Canadee-I-O and Harry Robertson’s two great whaling songs The Humpback Whale and The Little Pot Stove. What a wonderful evening it had been. Thank you to Pound Arts for being a great venue and thank you especially Sam Carter for playing so brilliantly and bringing the great music of Nic Jones to new audiences. There are still a few dates left on Sam's tour, so I urge you to get a ticket if you can. PS, Thank you John Prideaux for the photo of Sam..

Richard Thompson & Holly Carter. Bradford On Avon, 13/9/2026.

The small and picturesque Wiltshire town of Bradford On Avon came alive on Sunday night with a visit from a music legend, namely Richard Thompson who in the 60s with his friends in the band Fairport Convention invented the genre known as English folk rock. Richard and his wife Zara Phillips were appearing at the Wiltshire Music Centre which is a modern purpose-built little venue with perfect acoustics. The support act was a singer-songwriter guitar player called Holly Carter who was accompanied by another guitarist/bass player called Joe Wilkins. I wasn’t aware of Holly previously, but she played an excellent set of songs, many of which had a powerful political message. 

Holly & Joe.

I particularly enjoyed a song about Stetson Kennedy who was an American author and human rights activist. He was a folklore collector during the first half of the 20th century and is remembered for having infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s, exposing its secrets to authorities and the outside world.  I hadn’t heard of him before, so some of Holly’s songs were quite educational for me. Holly also sang a song My Hands Are Tied which was about Frank Little an American labour leader who was brutally murdered in Butte Montana in 1917, and nobody was held responsible for his death. I also enjoyed Holly’s cover of Song For Woody from Bob Dylan’s first album. One of the catchiest songs in Holly’s short but sweet set was What You See, a song inspired by a photographer called Tish Murtha. I shall certainly look out for more music by Holly Carter in the future.

Richard & Zara.

After the interval it was time for the main man Richard Thompson. I have seen Richard many times in the past and he certainly didn’t disappoint this appreciative Wiltshire audience. I didn’t write down a setlist, but from memory he performed Misunderstood, Genesis Hall from the Unhalfbricking album, Turning Of The Tide, Pharaoh, Johnnies Away On The Rolling Sea, (The audience sang along with that one) Walking On The Wire, If I Could Live My Life Again, Walking The Long Miles Home, Vincent Black Lightning 1952. Richard introduced his wife Zara Phillips about halfway through the show and they harmonised beautifully on such songs as Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking and Pipe Dream from the new album Hippies Thugs & Heroes, the fabulous Withered And Died and I Wanna See The Bright Lights Tonight, The Rattle Within, If You Don’t Want Me, I’ll dry my Tears And Move On, and Wall Of Death. There were a couple of other songs, but I can’t remember what they were now. 

New Album.

Richard and Zara left the stage, and he returned alone for an encore. I was hoping for Beeswing, but someone in the audience shouted out a request for Jimmy Shand which he performed. I don’t like this song very much, but he told a funny story about the accordion player Jimmy Shand. When he was staying in a hotel one time, Jimmy asked at breakfast for some honey and was given a tiny sachet of honey. Jimmy said sarcastically, “Oh, I see that you keep a bee”. The show finished about 10.15 and we were soon home, tired but happy after a most enjoyable evening. Congratulations to Wiltshire Music Centre for booking such a great artist as RT. I hope I attend many more concerts at this great little venue.

 

Glen Hansard (21 April 1970 – 29 July 2026)

I feel today that I should say a few words about Glen Hansard. I can’t claim to have been one of Glen’s greatest fans, but I liked him as a musician and as a person. I was quite shocked when I saw on the BBC website on Wednesday morning that he had died in a motorcycle accident in Dublin. I think it was tragic and shocking because the news was so unexpected. He was only 56 years old and had a three year old son. I suppose my first introduction to Glen was in the brilliant and humorous 1990s film The Commitments when he played the part of Outspan Foster. The nickname Outspan would have come from his hair colour because in Britain and Ireland Outspan is a major importer of oranges. Glen got lucky because the films director Alan Parker was looking for someone with red hair who could play the guitar. However, I think it was through the Van Morrison connection that I really got to know Glen’s name because he would often introduce a Van song into his performances. I think Van was a hero to Glen. I came across several videos on youtube of Glen singing Van songs such as Into The Mystic, Astral Weeks or The Healing Has Begun. Even when he was on stage with Bruce Springsteen in 2013 he couldn’t resist slipping in a little snippet of Here Comes The Night. Lots of Glen’s videos are of him busking on the streets of Dublin which is where he began. He often went busking with an equally talented close friend of his called Mic Christopher. Mic also died tragically young in 2001 aged only 32.

 I think most people will have got to know Glen through the 2007 film Once in which he takes the lead role opposite Markéta Irglová. If you haven’t seen this film I urge you to do so. It is funny and sad in equal measure. You can find it on youtube. Glen and Marketa wrote the songs for the film and Falling Slowly against all odds for such a low-budget film won the Oscar for best song (Please watch video below). I watched the film again on Wednesday night and found the scenes where they go for a motorbike ride especially poignant. I did get to see Glen play live a couple of times at Glastonbury Acoustic Stage. The first occasion was in 2003 when Glen’s band The Frames performed. I can’t remember a lot about that performance because I wasn’t familiar with The Frames music at the time. Much more memorable for me was his appearance in 2023. I mentioned it in my review for that year. This is what I said at the time.

 ‘In the evening I saw Glen Hansard. I have seen him previously on the Acoustic Stage, many years ago when he was in a band called The Frames. I’m not an expert on his music by any means, but an American Facebook friend is a huge fan, so I was determined to see him, hopefully take some photos, and write down the set list. The photos are a bit blurry, and I hope this setlist is correct. When Your Mind's Made Up, Down On Our Knees, St John, Bearing Witness, Bird of Sorrow, No Mountain, Winning Streak, High Hope, Her Mercy & Revelate. There might have been more. Glen paid a moving tribute to his late friend Christy Dignam from the band Aslan during the show. 

He said that one of his songs was inspired by Leonard Cohen. I also noticed that he occasionally improvised little Van Morrison ‘isms into the lyrics, such as ’turn on your electric light’. I hoped he would sing a Van song as he often does, but he didn’t. It was an excellent performance which deserved a much bigger audience’. I took a couple of photos that night which I have included here although they don’t really do him justice. You can find some videos of his Glastonbury performances on youtube if you want. I can’t think of anything else to say about Glen Hansard now, except my sympathy goes out to his family who must be devastated by their loss.

 

Up Mayo.

 

On Sunday I had quite an exciting day for a change. As you may know my family came from County Mayo in the west of Ireland. This year Mayo had reached the final of the All-Ireland Gaelic Football championship, so I watched the game on BBC Iplayer. Most pundits regarded Mayo as the underdogs because they were playing the defending champions Kerry who have won the Sam Maguire trophy 39 times in the past. Mayo hadn’t won the title since 1951 although they had reached the final eleven times since then but had always been defeated. There is a myth that had grown around that story. In 1951 the Mayo team went on a victory tour of all the towns in the county. In the town of Foxford they passed a funeral which was taking place. The story goes that the team didn’t show the funeral due respect. This angered the local priest who put a curse on the team that Mayo would never again win the Sam Maguire while the members of that team were still alive. The story is a lot of nonsense of course, but as the years went by and Mayo reached the final time after time only to be defeated, some people began to think there might be some truth in ‘the curse’. 

The last members of the 1951 team were Paddy Prendergast who passed away in 2021 and Mick Loftus who died in 2023, so could Mayo now win the title?  For the first twenty minutes of the game on Sunday I feared the worst. Kerry were all over them and I thought Mayo were heading for another disastrous defeat. Gradually however Mayo began to play their way into the game and by half-time they were only a point behind Kerry. In the second half Mayo started brightly, took the lead, and got several points in front. Kerry rallied and the lead narrowed. I thought Mayo were going to blow it again when several shots on goal were missed. They reasserted their dominance in the last few minutes and I think even the Kerry fans would agree that Mayo were deserved winners. My late brother Paul would have been over the moon because he was a huge follower of Mayo.

After the Sam Maguire trophy was presented to Mayo’s captain Jack Coyne the Saw Doctors song The Green And Red Of Mayo resounded around the stadium. It is a great anthem but there is another song about Mayo that I like even more because it brings back great memories for me. It is called Up Mayo by John Hoban & The Bumblebees. When my late partner Kim and me were in Mayo in 1997 we were in Matt Molloy’s bar in Westport. As you probably know, Matt Molloy was the flute player in The Chieftains. They were selling this Cassette and CD to raise money for the hospital Cat Scan appeal. One of the tracks was actually recorded in the pub. We had a little chat with Matt and he signed the cassette for us. This morning I looked on youtube and was pleased to see that one of the Bumblebees Laoise Kelly has uploaded Up Mayo. (Make sure to listen to video below). I’m looking forward to next year already to see if Mayo can defend their title. I’ll have you all know, you’re going somewhere special, when you go, UP MAYO!

Me, Kim, Nellie, & Ian at Matt Molloy's