Van Morrison is without a doubt one of the most original recording artists in musical history.
His live shows are always inspired and transcendental while some of his albums such as Astral Weeks, Moondance and It’s Too Late To Stop Now are widely viewed as among the best ever made. His songwriting has influenced everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Bono, Damien Rice to Paolo Nutini, Elvis Costello to Jim Morrison… The list is endless.
Brown Eyed Girl, Madame George and Moondance were three of his songs that were included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Van Morrison has 6 Grammys and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The once off set list for the shows will feature a selection of his greatest hits and songs that have a particular resonance to his Irish roots. These shows are set to be one of the musical highlights of 2012. Many of his songs have a nostalgic yearning for his carefree childhood days in Belfast and it will be a special occasion to hear Van perform his songs in the neighbourhood of Cypress Avenue, Hyndford Street and Orangefield High School.
“Van Morrison is interested, obsessed with how much musical or verbal information he can compress into a small space, and, almost, conversely, how far he can spread one note, word, sound, or picture. To capture one moment, be it a caress or a twitch. He repeats certain phrases to extremes that from anybody else would seem ridiculous, because he’s waiting for a vision to unfold, trying as unobtrusively as possible to nudge it along…It’s the great search, fueled by the belief that through these musical and mental processes illumination is attainable. Or may at least be glimpsed.”
Lester Bangs
“It is at the heart of Morrison’s presence as a singer that when he lights on certain sounds, certain small moments inside a song—hesitations, silences, shifts in pressure, sudden entrances, slamming doors—can then suggest whole territories, completed stories, indistinct ceremonies, far outside anything that can be literally traced in the compositions that carry them.”
Greil Marcus
“Astral Weeks is about the power of the human voice – ecstatic agony, agonising ecstasy. Here is an Irish tenor reborn as a White Negro – a Caucasian Soul Man – pleading and beseeching over a bed of dreamy folk-jazz instrumentation: acoustic bass, brushed drums, vibes and acoustic guitar, the odd string quartet – and of course flute.”
Barney Hoskyns
“As a physical fact, Morrison may have the richest and most expressive voice pop music has produced since Elvis Presley, and with a sense of himself as an artist that Elvis was always denied.”
Greil Marcus
Van with The Band http://tinyurl.com/3w8eq5e
The Last Waltz 1976
Greil Marcus, in attendance at the concert, wrote: “Van Morrison turned the show around…singing to the rafters and …burning holes in the floor. It was a triumph, and as the song ended Van began to kick his leg into the air out of sheer exuberance and he kicked his way right offstage like a Rockette. The crowd had given him a fine welcome and they cheered wildly when he left.” The filmed concert served as the basis for Martin Scorsese’s 1978 film.
Van teams up with The Band again at the Berlin Wall with Snowy from Lizzy on Guitar. Comfortably Numb http://tinyurl.com/yburh53
The Vanlose Stairway, with Georgie Fame http://tinyurl.com/68ms3ee
And the song that launched a million bands: G. L. O. R. I. A.
That wonderful Pirate Mick Green on Guitar, Jools Holland on piano http://tinyurl.com/6bw92zh
MCD are very proud to present Van Morrison in concert.
The Odyssey Belfast February 3rd, The O2 Arena Dublin February 4th 2012.
Tickets limited to 4 per person on sale Thursday 10th November at 8am.
Tickets for The O2, Dublin from €56, €65, €81, €86 to €115
Tickets for The Odyssey Arena from £55, £60, £75 to £100
To purchase tickets
In person: From 100 Ticketmaster Outlets Nationwide
By Telephone (24 Hour):
ROI – 0818 719 300, Northern Ireland – 0844 277 44 55
Buy Online: www.ticketmaster.ie
www.vanmorrison.com
www.mcd.ie