I’ve been to enough gigs in Belfast over the years to know that “Doors at 7.30pm” usually means that nobody will show up until 8ish. Not tonight however as the sense of anticipation to see Van Morrison perform back at his old school means that by 7.30pm the car park is packed and there’s only about 10 empty seats, one of which I take and join the buzzing East Side Arts Festival crowd.
Just after 8pm the band arrive on stage, perform a few bars of Celtic Swing and on comes Van with a sax solo to a reverential applause. The first words we hear on the night are from ‘Got to Go Back’ and when Van opens with “When I was a young boy back in Orangefield” we’re in no doubt that we’re in for a night of nostalgia.
The theme continues with Van strapping on the Les Paul for third song ‘Orangefield’ and it’s remarkable how great his voice sounds. Clear as a bell and hitting every note perfectly, he’s a man who is relishing his recent resurgence in the live arena.
It’s hard to know if he’s actually enjoying himself though as he stands glowering at his band and ordering solos but he knows we are and I reckon that’s good enough for him. A hat tip to the band too by the way as it’s always a pleasure to watch a band with as much finesse and skill as them. And when the woodwind crescendo of ‘Someone Like You’ washes over the hall like a waterfall it’s easy to forget you’re sitting on some old plastic chairs in a high school in Belfast.
We were given a few classics on the night too with the famous piano riff of ‘Whenever God Shines His Light’, a swing version of ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ and if there was room on the old Orangefield dance floor there would undoubtedly been a few dancers.
After a spoken word tour round Van’s old haunts we’re given by way of an encore the most amazing version of ‘Ballerina’ that I could have wished to hear. It was absolutely beautiful and we were all removed once more from the old sports hall and taken somewhere special.
The night was rounded off with ‘In the Garden’ and Van shuffled off the stage like a spent preacher as the band played on. One final instrumental outro followed and it was clear ladies and gentlemen, that Van had left the building.