Van the Man

SweetPear · Post by **SweetPear** » Wed May 11, 2005 11:18 pm

Oh yeah, going to see the Man next month in Atlantic City! I cannot believe I got tickets......and good ones at that!!
Has anyone else seen him? I'm expecting an incredible show.

lostdog · Post by **lostdog** » Thu May 12, 2005 3:19 am

I've seen him many times, and while on his day he is absolutely mesmerising, I think it's fair to say that he has misused his talent pretty spectacularly over the past 10 years or so.

Depends on his mood.... the new album is very poor, so my hopes wouldn;t be too high.

Sorry!

King Hoarse · Post by **King Hoarse** » Thu May 12, 2005 3:57 am

I've seen him many times as well, and yes it does depend on his mood (and if it's a late show, what he's been drinking) and what band he's touring with. Some of the musicians on recent tours have really been sub-par. I do like his records from the last ten years, though, especially Back On Top, which sounds like a no-fillers record to me.

You never know what he's going to play either. Last year when I saw him (in an opera house) it was 90% from the latest three records, the year before that (in the courtyard of an old castle) mostly old r&b covers, and the time before that (in a small sweaty club) some covers but mostly a greatest hits set focusing on Them & the early seventies, even Brown-Eyed Girl.

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Thu May 12, 2005 5:11 am

Van's been his own best tribute band for the last few years. That said some nights he can break through and show of the stuff that makes him the legend he is, hopefully this will happen at Atlantic city.

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu May 12, 2005 8:50 am

My parents (big fans) saw him last summer and were extremely disappointed. They said he was totally disconnected from the audience, and played this sped-up version of "Moondance" that sounded like an SNL parody of Van Morrison.

Hard to believe when you listen to It's Too Late To Stop Now

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Thu May 12, 2005 3:34 pm

lostdog wrote:I've seen him many times, and while on his day he is absolutely mesmerising, I think it's fair to say that he has misused his talent pretty spectacularly over the past 10 years or so.

Depends on his mood.... the new album is very poor, so my hopes wouldn;t be too high.

Sorry!

Ditto. The last time I saw him in the UK, he seemed to be going out of his way to play as many obscure songs as possible. He never spoke once and after around 75 mins, just left the stage and never came back.

I love a lot of his stuff, but I've just lost interest since Hymns to the Silence, which had a lot of great songs amongst the bland fillers.

SweetPear · Post by **SweetPear** » Thu May 12, 2005 3:42 pm

Yikes! I guess I should have known better......the drinking, the moodiness. I'm a little surprized to hear about the sub-par touring bands. It is an early show, 6 or 7pm, which means pretty much nothing.

Do you think I should start a new thread....Van Morrison tix for sale?

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Thu May 12, 2005 3:45 pm

I've also seen him in awesome form. Everyone should see Van once in their lifetime.

SweetPear · Post by **SweetPear** » Thu May 12, 2005 3:48 pm

Jackson Monk wrote:I've also seen him in awesome form. Everyone should see Van once in their lifetime.

Thanks, Jackson.

There's always hope.

lostdog · Post by **lostdog** » Thu May 12, 2005 4:02 pm

I agree with Jackson.

He is a law unto himself, which means he veers from abysmal to genius. But you must definitely go and see him.

I remember shows he did in the 80s when I was literally holding my breath during versions of 'Summertime In England' or 'In The Garden', utterly transfixed with what he was doing. I've never seen anyone - and that includes EC - so enraptured and transformed by music. The muse seems to have gone astray lately, but I'm sure he can still locate it now and then. Here's hoping.

And anyway - it's VAN MORRISON, for Gods sake. You're going to see a legend! Enjoy it.

King Hoarse · Post by **King Hoarse** » Thu May 12, 2005 4:49 pm

I'm gonna go as soon as he gets over here.

And I envy you for going sooner.

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Thu May 12, 2005 4:57 pm

Never seen him, but if came near here, I'd certainly chance it.

SweetPear · Post by **SweetPear** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 12:31 pm

Saw the Man on Saturday night in Atlantic City at the Trump Taj Mahal and it was worth the gamble. (Pun unintentional but fitting....

)
He took the stage at 8 pm on the D-O-T and true to form, said next to nothing, played for 90 minutes straight then promptly left the stage.
Taking into consideration his mercurial personality and everything I have heard and read about his shows, we were pleasantly surprised.
It was a great show and the band was fantastic. (Could that have been Georgie Fame on the organ?)
I'm not familiar with a lot of his work but he seemed to have played a fairly good mix of material. I was surprised to hear Brown Eyed Girl, Moondance and Gloria. Didn't know if he would play any of them let alone all three.
It was exciting and we had great seats. The crowd was wonderful too, I'm glad we went. (Donald Trump was actually sitting a few rows in front of us too.)

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 5:08 am

Brown Eyed Girl, Moondance AND Gloria. Wow!

I saw Van Morrison in 1987 when he came onstage with Elvis and did 3 songs with him. He was his curmudgeonly self (Van that is!). I'm pleased you had a great night. Good thing you didn't sell those tickets!

Did you flutter your eyelids at Donald Trump?

SweetPear · Post by **SweetPear** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 8:03 am

verbal gymnastics wrote:Brown Eyed Girl, Moondance AND Gloria. Wow!

I saw Van Morrison in 1987 when he came onstage with Elvis and did 3 songs with him. He was his curmudgeonly self (Van that is!). I'm pleased you had a great night. Good thing you didn't sell those tickets!

Did you flutter your eyelids at Donald Trump?

Van AND EC? That's a WOW! What did they play together and where?

Nah, no flirting w/the Donald. He was with his tall, beautiful, model wife du jour. (He's not as tall in person as I imagined him.)

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 10:16 am

I saw them at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1987 when Elvis was playing with the Confederates. They did Jackie Wilson Said and Help Me but off hand I can't remember what else. I'll have to dig out my tape of it.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 2:20 pm

I've seen him twice (Thurles 1990, Jackson knows the field!, Cambridge '93ish). Enjoyed both well enough. He was being more contrary in Thurles, but he did instruct us to meditate 3 times a day, and I do recall a lovely In The Garden. Cambridge was a better mood and maybe more slick, but I didn't prefer it more.

Here's the Van LPs I recall having in more or less chronological order and with comments:

(TB Sheets - early and qite rough)

Astral Weeks - genius

Moondance - side 1 is one of the best sides ever, side 2 is forgettable

St Dominic's Preview - consistently superb

Tupelo Honey (was that earlier) - good but not as good as the above

Veedon Fleece - beautiful

Too Late To Stop Now - deserves its reputation as a classic live

Wavelength - OK, not a fave

Common One - failry obscure, definitely underrated. Spirit is a classic, lovely vibe to the whole record.

Inarticulate Speech - patchy, but with some great stuff

Live in Belfast - bit superfluous

Poetic Champions Compose
Enlightenment
No Method, No Teacher, No Guru (or something)
Avalon Sunset
- I have these or bits of these on tape, and they've blurred a bit into one continuous thing. Couldn't tell you, for example, which has In The Garden or Did Ye Get Healed. Am unclear as to the relative merits of these, but liked Enlightenment, as I recall

Hymns To The Silence - yes, as Monkster says, too much superfluity, but the classics (those slow introspective meditative numbers like On Hyndford Street) are classic

Irish Heartbeat (plus The Chieftains) - totally love this, best version of Carrickfergus ever, great sound

A Night In San Francisco - not bad at all. Not ITLTSN, but has some nice versions and a good vibe.

Days Like This - some good songs

Have heard What's Wrong With This Picture?, but wouldn't be bothered with it. He's lost his muse. People always want to herald a return to form, he's never really got there (unlike Dylan and Bowie, for example).

Also have Greatest hits 1 and 2.

Am aware I should know and have His Band And The Street Choir and Into The Music (think we've been here before on this board). Any other missed classics? Any of the ones listed that I don't praise enough? Am keen to expand on some other goodies.

SweetPear · Post by **SweetPear** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 4:40 pm

Otis~
That was very, very interesting and informative, thank you.
I have only a handful of his records.

Greatest Hits 1 & 2

Moondance~love it, has to be a favorite

Tupalo Honey~only listened to it a handful of times, it's growing on me

Down the Road~ I like this one, he played What Ever Happened to PJ Proby, Steal My Heart Away (I loooove this song), All Work and No Play and several others from that record.

I know he played a few from his new one, Magic Time. I've heard it but I don't own it.

I LOVE the song St. Dominick's Preview (saw him do it on tv somewhere) but I don't have the disc. I should get that one, huh?

VG~He also played Jackie Wilson Said in Atlantic City. (My daughter loves that one.)

King Hoarse · Post by **King Hoarse** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 6:43 pm

And you will find the gig torrented here:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=46416

I have all of Van's albums and I think these are the best - I mostly agree with Otis, and these are chronological too:

Astral Weeks - incl. Madam george, the best song ever?

Moondance - incl. And It Stoned Me, Caravan, Into the Mystic & the title track

St Dominic's Preview - incl. Jackie Wilson Said, Listen To the Lion & the title track

It's Too Late To Stop Now - live double, incl. Ain't Nothing You Can Do, Warm Love, Domino, St. Dominic's Preview & a lot more

Into The Music - incl. Bright Side Of The Road, Full Force Gale, You make Me feel So Free, And The Healing Has Begun & It's All In The Game

(Beautiful Vision - incl. Cleaning Windows, Vanlose Stairway & Dweller On The Threshold)

(No Guru, No Method, No Teacher - incl. In The Garden, Foreign Window, One Irish Rover)

Irish Heartbeat - w/Chieftains, incl. Raglan Road, Carrickfergus, Star Of The County Down

(A Night In San Francisco - live double, incl. Did You Het Healed, Help me, In The Garden)

Back On Top - This nineties record is actually on my top 5. It's like Down The Road without covers and fillers and much better sound. Incl. Going Down Geneva, High Summer, When The Leaves Are Falling Down & the heartwrenching Reminds Me Of You

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 7:43 pm

According to todays Musictap,

Lost Highway will release a Van Morrison album called Pay The Devil on February 21 of 2006.

Early speculation in Van fan circles is that it may be a session he recorded with the rockabilly group The Rimshots back in 1999, it has to be better than the lame albums he's put out since then. So with todays news about the Toussaint album, things are looking up for next year.

alexv · Post by **alexv** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:57 pm

My favorite Van:

Astral Weeks
Moondance
Veedon Fleece
Tupelo Honey
Into the Music (my favorite)
Irish Heartbeat
Hymns to the Silence (could have been one great record)
Too Long In Exile (criminally underrated)
Live in SF (my favorite Live record since Marley's, yep that's right)
Days Like This (bookends with Moondance as Van at his "pop" best)

anjabro · Post by **anjabro** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 3:35 am

I almost saw him in '94 at Glastonbury...The Glasto rumour mill was at full tilt...he's here but he's drunk ; He's drunk so he's not here ; He wants more money ; 10,000 people bought tickets just to see him, they're gonna riot if he doesn't play...etc.

He ended up being replaced by The Lemonheads, if my memory is correct....Whether or not the Van fans were thrilled by this turn of events is not on record...

Johnny Cash was good though...

lostdog · Post by **lostdog** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 7:09 am

alexv wrote:Live in SF (my favorite Live record since Marley's, yep that's right)

Are you quite mad? Or do you have a version of the album that doesn't have Brian bloody Kennedy and Shana Morrison crucifying some of his best songs (which Van can't be arsed to sing)? Immediate explanation please!!!

alexv · Post by **alexv** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 6:30 pm

LostPerro, with the caveat that I may indeed be quite mad, I was going to note in my original post that the dreaded daughter is a diabolical presence in this and in other of his recent records. I let it go, because ultimately Van and the band and guests shine. She sucks, I agree.

Brian is someone who believe it or not I have no problems with. When he sings Tupelo Honey, I like it. So sue me. I got nothing against men who sing like castrati.

Now, even discounting the dreaded daughter, and let's assume for a moment that Brian sucks too, Live in SF is still a great live record. Van is inspired; has great co-performers whom he tries to outdo. They in turn try to best him (Witherspoon in particular is inspired). The record turns into an old fashioned soul revue, and I dig it. Alexv rates it the best live record he's heard since Marley's. Iconoclastic, I agree, but remember I may be quite, quite mad.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 7:20 pm

It's pretty good, but it isn't Too Late To Stop Now.