Saw Van Morrison Tonight

burk48237 · #1 07-09-2008, 09:41 PM

Ken Jung and I checked out Van Morrison at the Fox theater (an excellent hall) in Detroit. Anyway, a few quick observations:

First for a 62 year old man the dude can still play and sing, and he BRINGS IT LIVE.

Unlike many of todays pop acts, everyone in the band could play, seriously. And I have a suspicion that Van was still belting without the need of a harmonizer. While the Bass player (with a Sadowsky P/J) appeared to be the Music Director, Van was still leading and changing tunes on the fly. Very Cool.

The Mix was incredible, Marcus Willet will appreciate this. The Acoustic bass sound was unreal (think Brian Blomberg on Wood) for a large hall. The electric Bass sat in just the right spot in the mix and the sound teamed proved that is possible to NOT MAKE THE BASS DRUM THE LOUDEST THING IN THE MIX! Judging from most pop concerts I've been to lately I was under the impression that the only instrument one was suppose to hear was the kick.

Anyway this tour kicks, he is a true Icon with great songs and great musicanship. If you get a chance to see him take it.

LM Bass · #2 07-09-2008, 10:18 PM

I heard that Miles Foxx Hill (from Vancouver) was playing with Van now.
He is well regarded as one of the best bassists to come from this area, world class in every way! Cool review.

burk48237 · #3 07-09-2008, 11:07 PM

The guy playing with him tonight was Paul Moore. Here is his myspace page.

http://www.myspace.com/polomordha

The whole band kicked butt, great and instant dynamics. We were about fifteenth row off to the side. And my ears were not ringing at all after we were done, and no one was using in-ears, strictly wedges.

**bassybill** · #4 07-09-2008, 11:30 PM

I saw him locally just last year - a great live performance. The guy is a real trouper.

Toasted · #5 07-10-2008, 02:06 AM

I've seen him 6 times :O

KJung · #6 07-10-2008, 05:34 AM

Wonderful concert and a great hang, Steve.

Thanks for hunting down who the bassist was. GREAT player. While the electric tone was very good, his DB tone was amazing. I don't think I've ever heard a DB live in a big room that sounded better... you could hear every click and growl.

I totally dig Van since, similar to James Taylor, he continues to write and record new music. So, the show is far from an 'oldies' show.

Wonderful front of house mix!

moomoocajoo · #7 07-10-2008, 05:51 AM

One gig I went to they did a 40 minute (yes, no exaggeration) soundcheck - 10 minutes of which was one of the roadies just hitting the kick drum repeatedly through the PA to get the levels.

Obviously they must've cocked it up cause the drums were way to loud in the mix >_<

Normally the sound in the Barrowlands is second to none, but not that night

burk48237 · #8 07-10-2008, 07:23 AM

One quick correction, Paul sent a comment to my myspace, He's running a lakland Bob Glaub. Funny, Both Ken and I thought it was a Sadowsky, I guess the first thing to go are the eyes.

KJung · #9 07-10-2008, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burk48237

One quick correction, Paul sent a comment to my myspace, He's running a lakland Bob Glaub. Funny, Both Ken and I thought it was a Sadowsky, I guess the first thing to go are the eyes.

I couldn't tell what that bass was, just that the headstock looked different enough that it wasn't a Fender. It sounded great.

+1 on the eyes. Even as close as we were sitting, I no longer can see that kind of detail. For the first 3 minutes, I though the guitarist was the bass player!!!!!!!!!!!

KJung · #10 07-10-2008, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burk48237

The whole band kicked butt, great and instant dynamics. We were about fifteenth row off to the side. And my ears were not ringing at all after we were done, and no one was using in-ears, strictly wedges.

+1.. it was nice to see the old school amps, B3, pedal steel, etc. The mix had the feel of a band playing in a very small listening room/small club, and then that 'live' sound being accurately amplified to the large venue (versus the 'crank it through the board and subs' sort of artificial mix I hear in so many of these large venues).

The drummer was actually using 'blastics' or whatever those hybrid brush/sticks are called for part of the night. I bet the stage sound was wonderful... real amp, real monitors, low volume. That's what I'm talking about!

CrashClint · #11 07-10-2008, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burk48237

First for a 62 year old man the dude can still play and sing, and he BRINGS IT LIVE.

Unlike many of todays pop acts, everyone in the band could play, seriously.

Yeah, some of the music my 20 year old listens to has me shaking my head and wondering where me and his mom went wrong, lol. We raised him on classic rock, soul and old school funk. He was listening to some rap one day and I walked into his room. He made the comment, listen to the music they have talent. I told him that the track was copped from an old funk tune for the 70's. He was like, it is? I just had to laugh.

hbarcat · #12 07-10-2008, 10:16 PM

The Chicago Tribune review ripped the show as being lackluster, un-energetic and too short and accused Van Morrison of having a bad attitude.

Judging by the above posts, The Trib is full of ****.

MakiSupaStar · #13 07-10-2008, 10:56 PM

Hey that's really cool. I'm a big fan of Van Morrison. You consider him a pop act?

KJung · #14 07-11-2008, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbarcat

The Chicago Tribune review ripped the show as being lackluster, un-energetic and too short and accused Van Morrison of having a bad attitude.

Judging by the above posts, The Trib is full of ****.

I read that Chicago review also. There are bits of 'truth' in it. Van's organization must have put a ton or 'riders' or whatever in the contract. The security was ridiculous, and the whole thing had a very tight 'get 'em in and get 'em out feel. They made a big deal about the show starting at 7:30 SHARP. That's cool. However, the increased security and all kinds of stuff resulted in hundreds of people still waiting being seated at 7:30. Regardless, the lights went down and the show started. Kind of strange.

That being said, the music was amazing. I think the reviewers comments are partly due to the VERY unusual front of house mix. While it just blew me away, it was very soft, very even, almost 'acoustic' in nature. You could hear every nuance and every instrument clearly. However, it was soft, and that combined with the rather 'mellow' set list could be interpreted as 'lacking energy' by those used to screaming electric guitars and a very aggressive front of house mix.

Regarding Van as a 'pop' act... yeah, it makes you realize how good the stuff on AM radio was back in the day! I view Van as a pop musician in the best sense of the word! IMO.

JimK · #15 07-11-2008, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burk48237

He's running a lakland Bob Glaub.

So it was a P-bass...& not a P/J bass?

Quote:

Funny, Both Ken and I thought it was a Sadowsky, I guess the first thing to go are the eyes.

I'll second that.

Amazing that Van Morrison is still bringin' it...supposedly (according to some books I've read), he was the one guy that could out-do Jim Morrison when the both of them hooked up for a few drinks.

Matt Till · #16 07-11-2008, 06:30 AM

That sounds like a good time, I dig Van Morrison.

Matt Till · #17 07-11-2008, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

Hey that's really cool. I'm a big fan of Van Morrison. You consider him a pop act?

Pop is a really broad term, I mean, in it's origin, it just meant popular. It's become kind of a dirty word with the pop explosion of the 90s, but I would certainly consider Van Morrison pop. Aside from his obvious popularity (WWHHOOOOOOO PLAY BROWN EYED GIRL!!! WHOOOOOOOOOO), he has a very mainstream accessible sound. If not pop, what genre would he be in?

burk48237 · #18 07-11-2008, 08:14 AM

Quote:

JimK So it was a P-bass...& not a P/J bass?

I really didn't get a good look at the bridge of the bass, the stage was crowded, and all we could see clearly was the headstock. Black bass, black body, black pickguard, black pickups, doesn't make ID easy from a distance for a couple of old men. Both Ken and I thought it was a Sadowsky so we just assumed P/J. The only thing I could see clearly on the stage was the guitar players 335 and the SWR Redhead (used for the acoustic bass). The only way I found out was a little myspace investigation. Paul, seems like a really nice guy, he got back to me within the hour when I messaged him on Myspace, gave me all the details of his acoustic rig, and he asked me about my Sadowsky. He seems to get on myspace after the shows. Guess their must not be as many groupies for Van.

As far as tribune review. I can see why, Van, wasn't lowered onto the stage by cables, the guitar player wasn't suspended over the balcony playing with his wireless rig, Their were no fire threats from the pyrotech rig, and the light show didn't have any lasers. And Van's dance routine was really lame. He didn't even have an backup dancers. How could it be a good show? And they had the audacity to actually play the songs on stage, using real strings and horns, and not have a bunch of CD players off stage providing "extra" parts and the lead singers vocals.

As far as pop, Van Morrison, like Sting, Steve Wonder, and several others are most definitely pop music. In fact Van is back in the Pop charts with his new CD, so his career has now officially lasted 40 years plus. The difference, and Ken alluded to this is that the pop artist we grew up with, even the mediocre ones still played instruments and wrote their own songs, with a few exceptions. Pop acts didn't need "music directors" until the MTV era got in full swing.

In most cases pop artist like Van Morrison know exactly how they wanted their music to sound on tour, and know how to communicate musically. Van is an excellent guitar player (probably better then a lot of "lead" players in many of todays groups), he also plays sax and harmonica live. But when the Madonna's and such came around, music star got a new definition. I don't ever recall a pop star in my era, that didn't sing, or play an instrument at least well enough to write songs with the exception of some acknowledged "teen acts". But even most of them could sing, that was the pre harmonizer era. I recall many bands that we considered mediocre growing up like Humble Pie or Three Dog Night (they were good, but they weren't the Allman Brothers), that today would be considered examples of great musicianship. The standards have lowered for "pop" bands. I will admit thought that a lot of the "sideman" out there are real good. I don't think anyone here would argue that Rickey Minor isn't a heck of a lot better muscian then Brittney Spears.

JimK · #19 07-11-2008, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burk48237

I recall many bands that we considered mediocre growing up like Humble Pie or Three Dog Night (they were good, but they weren't the Allman Brothers), that today would be considered examples of great musicianship.

Burk-
I agree with 99% of your post...although-

Humble Pie, at least in my little corner, were considered a kick ass 4-tet.
Maybe the Raspberries would have been a better choice?

...and Three Dog Night; I loved them as a 6th-7th grade kid...then, with the Hard/Acid Rock thing took off for me & TDN became 'fluff'.
Now that all the dust hath settled, (for me) Three Dog Night is a happening example of a great Pop band with a very underrated rhythm section.

KJung · #20 07-11-2008, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimK

Burk-
I agree with 99% of your post...although-

Humble Pie, at least in my little corner, were considered a kick ass 4-tet.
Maybe the Raspberries would have been a better choice?

...and Three Dog Night; I loved them as a 6th-7th grade kid...then, with the Hard/Acid Rock thing took off for me & TDN became 'fluff'.
Now that all the dust hath settled, (for me) Three Dog Night is a happening example of a great Pop band with a very underrated rhythm section.

We also have to remember that for every James Taylor, Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell back in the day, there was Andy Kim, the Bay City Rollers, etc., etc.! There have always been those corporate 'boy bands, cute girl singer' sort of thing. I think the difference was that, while the lows were just as low, the highs seemed 'higher' back then, regarding song writing and performance. IMO of course.

There's still pop music just as good today (listen to some of the stuff Jonatha Brooke or Shawn Colvin are putting out), it just doesn't get on mainstream radio anymore.

That being said, thank god for XM radio.... there are channels on there playing amazing new music in every genre! Maybe that will bring some of this stuff around again in the more mainstream.