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

I was pleased to hear today that Van Morrison is playing in Bath on April 29th  2026, so I thought I'd dust off my review of the last time he played at Bath Forum in 2012. ........................................................

It was a dark ,rainy and windy night when I boarded the 5.38 train from Westbury to Bath. 

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. Soon it was time to head for the Forum where we took our seats in the front row right in front of Van. The band started with an instrumental and Van joined in on sax. Then it was A Town Called Paradise from the No Guru album which has featured a lot in Van's recent concerts. Another song from that album followed, Thanks For The Information which isn't one of my favourite Van songs, but his voice still sounds as good as ever. Open The Door (To Your Heart)  was followed by one of my favourite songs, Got To Go Back'. It was great but maybe a tad too jazzy for me 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.  

The next song  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.  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 on percussion. Close Enough For Jazz was next which was ok but not one of my favourite tracks. 

The next three songs were the highlight section of the show for me. Enlightenment, Haunts Of Ancient Peace, and Mystic Of The East'. followed by 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 Drumshambo Hustle before. Then it was Moondance'.This was followed by Brown Eyed Girl which I don't usually pay much heed to, but enjoyed tonight. Then it was a real crowd pleaser Jackie Wilson Says  followed by Ballerina from the best album of all time Astral Weeks. He sang Help Me the song that is always in his repertoire and then he said, "A big hand for the band", bowed and walked off, leaving the band to play on for a few minutes as he left the building. 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 hope Van returns to the beautiful city of Bath before too long.