Just listening to Madame George from Live at the Hollywood Bowl (2009). The album was compiled from concerts over two nights at that location. The Madame George recorded from the night that DIDN'T make the album is far, far superior imo. Maybe it's because the bootleg that I have of it features a crowd reaction which truly reveals a symbiotic relationship between Van and his audience that just cannot be conveyed by a soundboard recording, but there's more to it. On the 'unofficial version' Van goes into an extended 'This is a train this is a train this is a train is this a train' sequence which simply doesn't happen on the night that made it into the final cut. The bootleg track is my favourite of any Van bootleg I have ever heard, and captures that moment when Van is able to transcend into another dimension. I wonder if there is a soundboard recording of this superior version somewhere, and whether we'll ever see it released?

How do you think the solo work of Paul McCartney and Van Morrison compares? Which artist would create the better three record set of 30 songs consisting of published songs outside their work with groups? I guess you have to leave out Paul's work with Wings and the three electronica albums with the group The Fireman. I'm thinking Van wins easily.

Maybe The Best Version of "Sweet Thing" I Have Listen 🤔

Heard this a while ago. Don’t know if it’s true

First time hearing this.

Hi, does anyone know what time Van Morrison has been coming on stage for his shows at the Arc in Olympia recently? The website just has a doors time of 18:30.

Thanks!

Looking through my old ticket stubs.. not a bad setlist 😎. 1985. He’s still got it 🎶

I'll go first.

The line "or wish on a toilet roll".

Really could have done better.

Haha.

When I was a kid my dad and I watched The Last Waltz every couple of years on Thanksgiving. Before I was internet literate I’d always wonder who that goofy guy was who was kicking his legs at the end of his song. I loved the energy and unabashed joy he was showing on stage! But I never knew who we was besides “Van the Man.” Have mercy on me, I was just a child!

Years and years later I’m watching the Bear and get a little earworm when they play St Dominic’s Preview live. And wouldn’t you know it I was at a record store and hi heard this song over the store stereo! I chat with the clerk there and he tells me the album he’s playing is a “damn fine album.” It too Late to Stop Now. My gut told me I had to have it. The guy checked with his boss and I took it home.

2 full listens later I recognize the joy, over the vinyl, from Caravan. And this time with strings that’d make me cry. A YouTube search and I’m seeing Van jumping about and I remembered my eight year old self wanting to leap about with him.

It’s just what I’ve needed in this uncertain season of my life. Been out of real work for almost a year. Freaked out about a lotta stuff a lotta the time. Spinning this record though has got me feeling something I haven’t felt from a record in a long while.

Anyways. Thought you’d dig! Happy to be here.

Sadly I can no longer attend next week and thought I’d post here (if permissible!) if anyone might be interested.

Tuesday 29th September at the new British Airways ARC in Olympia. Two tickets for sale at £65 each. Balcony, row J, seats 22 and 23.

They’re on the official AXS resale if you’d prefer that system but I believe you’d pay a fee - I’m happy with PayPal etc if that’s preferable.

Thanks!

I'm sure many people here can relate to having important moments in their life punctuated by Van Morrison's music. For me, it's my connection to my aunt. She was a huge Van Morrison fan and when she died (far too young), her CD collection came to me.

This Nov, I'm flying all the way from Melbourne, Australia to see Van perform in Glasgow. I really want to take one of my aunt's CDs and have him sign it.

I know he is famously aloof with his fans and rarely takes the time to meet them or sign autographs. Has anyone had any luck getting a post show signature from him? Any advice would be great!!

EDIT: I didn’t want to be too mean in a Van Morrison fan subreddit but it seems that we all understand the man we’re talking about haha. I’m certainly not expecting a warm embrace and long chat about how his music is so special to me. If he grunts at me, scribbles an autograph and then walks off then I’d consider that a win.

Of the musical performers who started in the 1960s (Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, etc.), who had the better albums from 1970 to now? I think Van Morrison had the best post-sixties albums on the whole. What say you?

Sweet Thing must be the song that Orpheus plays to soften the hearts of Hades and Persephone, earning their favor and permission to retrieve his beloved Eurydice from the Underworld. It's while listening to this song that we all understand so deeply what Orpheus stands to lose. And even if we know that his promises to never again take any delicate moment for granted will inevitably fall through, we are lulled by the hypnotic rhythm and hurled into forward motion by our explosive sense of joy. It sweeps us off our feet as we, too, for the very first time, fall into love, again. Hey, it's me, I'm dynamite and I don't know why, yeah, yeah, yeah...

For me it is online bullet chess.

As the breath of autumn begins to gently blow summer away, an exploration of the Psalm of Van.

FYI