Prepare for lift-off
Can Van the Man transcend at a filmed show to promote his forthcoming album? asks Mat Snow.
Van Morrison Porchester Hall, London
Escaping a sultry summer’s monsoon, Van fans pack what Historic England describes as a “double-height assembly hall” boasting “tripartitle coffered ceiling with hefty modillion plaster decoration and original light fittings. Oak and walnut panelling, the sides treated as two tiers of arcading. The whole effect exceptionally sumptuous and surviving remarkably preserved.” No less remarkably preserved is the voice of Van Morrison, at 72 just two decades younger than this august listed venue near his west London roost. Exceptionally sumptuous too is much of his forthcoming new album, Roll With The Punches (tonight’s show is being filmed to promote it), especially the superb covers of Jimmy Rushing and Count Basie’s Goin’ To Chicago and Bo Diddley’s I Can Tell and Ride On Josephine, all of which will get a live airing this evening. We should have been in for an absolute treat. But as shows go, it’s glass half full. Van the Man can be transcendent. Into the pot goes everything that shaped Van the Boy: home where East Belfast’s streets end and green County Down begins; dad’s record collection showcasing big city and backwoods America; poetry and the alchemy of words in rhythm, rhyme and flow. And out of that pot pour nostalgic yet timeless Arcadian-Amercan visions of Saturday night and Sunday morning, of earthly joy, spiritual fervour and healing balm, in a voice with soil under its nails but the wings of a dove. But when Van’s not feeling it, we don’t have lift-off; fans don’t expect the sublime every time. Tonight, in trademark black chalkstripe and trilby, Van is affable and engaged; it’s the band not feeling it. For seven tepid numbers they play as if watching the clock at a diamond wedding celebration gig, punch-pulling drummer Mez Clough even contriving to defunk Diddley. With nary a smile nor even a glance at each other, this septet of Van vets who swing on disc go through the motions on stage. Backing singer Dana Masters’ cameo on Have I Told You Lately offers a rare flame of warmth. The show turns on two tunes. On Bring It On Home To Me, Van does his hero Sam Cooke passionately proud. Straight after, Goin’ To Chicago welcomes “my old china” Georgie Fame to the stage, his suave presence alone relaxing the band on this swing classic, and on Vanlose Stairway the two past masters’ vocal interplay likewise evokes Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams. With the band now cooking, pleasures abound hereafter: Van’s field-recording-alike vocal and Dave Keary’s slide guitar solo on Leadbelly’s Baby, Please Don’t Go, Van’s blueswailing railroad harp on Sonny Boy Williamson’s Help Me, and a terrific encore of Them’s Gloria, Keary’s solo a thrilling blast from guitar heroism’s past. Then over and out after 80 minutes. We have achieved lift-off – just.
“WITH THE BAND NOW COOKING, PLEASURES ABOUND HEREAFTER.”