Moving Van

You know, there's a certain ring Toland can put on the phrase "REALLY good" that I'd like to convey here somehow, because that's the perfect description for the Van Morrison show. I need that tone of voice that's not over the top, not trying to convey some sort life-changing quality regarding a concert, yet it still says THIS was QUITE an enjoyable show.

***

Morrison's band took the stage promptly for the 7:30pm show, ambling out sans Van to run through a bluesy bit that was probably called "Chicken Shack."

Then Morrison himself came out, looking a bit like a sausage even in his nice suit, sunglasses and fedora. Admittedly, he was trimmer than we expected.

He counted off a jazzy intro and breathed life into his alto sax for "Did Ye Get Healed?" And when he opened his mouth to sing he sounded fantastic. I expected to tolerate some vocal eccentricities and some latitude with pitch and phrasing due to the sheer weight of the guy's artistic attitude, but I couldn't have been more wrong. I swear the guy sings better live than on CD. His pipes were STRONG, and his pitch and range were great.The band was 9-12 pieces depending on just who needed to be onstage at the time.

His new CD Pay the Devil comes out tomorrow, and in case you hadn't heard, it's an all country album. He played a fistful of country songs, mostly chestnuts I vaguely recognized like "There Stands the Glass" and something about "don't put your hand on my leg or my thigh" or something. They flowed with jazzy penache just like everything else, and he really breathed some life into those songs. The crowd seemed to enjoy them.

But those ethereal jazzy meditations and R&B raveups were the real showstoppers. "Cleaning Windows," "Real Real Gone," an elliptical "Moondance" and "Brown-Eyed Girl" captured the originals well enough that we could sing along while rearranging them creatively. I probably knew two-thirds of the songs he played during his 100-odd minute set. The sound was crisp, the band was good, and Van was in fine spirits and top form. The stage was set so that he didn't particularly stand out from the rest of the band. When blowing sax he was simply another horn player; you really had to look for him once in a while.

And he'd bark instructions to the band, or guide them with a sharp gesture or look. As he introduced one song he looked at the pianist and said, "Give me a chord." The pianist hesitated briefly, and Morrison repeated, "Gimme a chord gimme a chord any chord, gimme a chord" while making circles in the air to speed things up. And that was simply to give him a few seconds of musical cushion as he spoke an intro to something. He didn't talk just a whole lot, but he seemed chipper enough, cajoling the band to following him in some improvised vocal bit or even scatting for laughs.

Make no mistake though; this man is serious about his music. It seemed like about a half hour into the show he was moved to let the spirit flow, so to speak. He held the mic stand in a lover's embrace, rolling out those vocal chops of his. He's a better sax player than I realized, and he blew fluid harp and played guitar as well. And "Celtic New Year" was stunning, a real chill bump moment. The word "crushed" did occur to me when he left the stage.

Total dates on this tour: six.

It was REALLY good.

Eh, gotta practice that.