Live review: Van Morrison at the Hollywood Bowl

For anyone who wasn't at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday night, there'd be little chance of explaining how Van Morrison's repetition of one seemingly innocuous sentence -- "This is a train" -- could turn into a deeply spiritual incantation.

But transcendence is what Morrison has been after with his music from the beginning, and it's what he achieved frequently on Friday, when he played his watershed 1968 album "Astral Weeks" live in its entirety for the first time. That included the repetitive vocal workout on the "train" phrase from "Madame George," one of the cornerstone songs of "Astral Weeks," an empathetic portrait of a transvestite's journey through the streets of Belfast, Morrison's birthplace.

To these ears, it evolved from statement ("This is a train") to question ("Is this a train?") to invitation/command ("Get on the train!"), an intensely moving progression that crystallized his alchemist's approach to music.

He's long known the power of a mantra -- the chanting of a word, phrase or verse has become a potent signature of his music. Every good gospel preacher knows the cumulative power of repetition. Morrison doesn't preach, he seeks -- an answer, or communion -- and the chant becomes his method in relentless pursuit of one or both. When everyday language just wouldn't do, he shifted to syllables, growls, moans, sometimes just phonemes, anything that would take him, and his audience, where he wanted to go.

In "Beside You" it was the phrase "you breathe in/you breathe out" looped back on itself enough to replicate the fundamental life process. For "Cyprus Avenue," he sputtered out words, "My Generation" style, about being tongue-tied in the presence of his beloved. Fiddle player Tony Fitzgibbon paralleled him with skittering bowed runs while pianist Roger Kellaway dribbled out notes accordingly.

And in the climactic "Madame George" it was the circular "the loves to love the loves to love the loves to love."

True to form, he showed no interest in recreating what he did 40 years ago in a New York recording studio, but was focused on revamping the song structure dramatically in service of the present.

The performance opened, as the album does, with the title song, and was followed by "Beside You." He then abandoned the original's song sequence by continuing with the album's closer, "Slim Slow Slider," and then moving into a 1-2 punch created by placing the two jazz waltzes, "Sweet Thing" and "The Way Young Lovers Do" back to back. The arrangement impressively balanced competing time signatures, a ¾ waltz seamlessly working in tandem with a subservient 4/4 pulse.

The wondrous youthful timbre of his voice then has  evolved over the years into a richer, fuller instrument , with every bit of its remarkable elasticity very much intact.

The poetic imagery he crafted for "Astral Weeks" was light-years beyond the straightforward narratives of his early rock hits with Them, such as "Here Comes the Night" and "Gloria," or even his first solo hit "Brown Eyed Girl," the latter two reconstructed during the show's career-spanning first half. He reached forward as far as "The Healing Game" but spent most of that first portion tapping the '70s and '80s material he's visited only sporadically in concert in recent years.

It was easy to see why Morrison said he'd always wanted to do "Astral Weeks" live with the kind of large and resourceful band that backed him at the Bowl. As it turned out, that band did not include bassist Richard Davis, who'd been on the original recording sessions, because Davis had a last-minute family matter come up, Kellaway said Saturday. Instead, longtime Morrison band member David Hayes handled the woody stand-up instrument that's so crucial to the album's unique sonic palette.

The jazz-rooted compositions of "Astral Weeks" are poetic stories of young love and the quest to find one's place in life. They were, and remain, ideal source material for musical improvisation that gives way to the sense of wonder for which Morrison has always striven.

randy.lewis@latimes.com

Related: Van Morrison's full Q&A on 'Astral Weeks'

Photo: Nancy Pastor / For The Times

Comments

[Steve D]

Astral Weeks was not recorded in stereo 40 years ago. It was a delight to hear it Friday night " all there". Remarkable music and performance by all.. Look for the album.

Steve D

[Dan Murphy]

Marvelous weekend, although I felt that the Friday show was a bit stronger than Saturday's, mostly due to the incredible set list from the first set, featuring both Troubadours and Angeliou back-to-back. Astral was superb both nights. Definitely worth coming all the way from Tampa for these once-in-a-Van-fan's-lifetime shows.

[Patrick]

I was lucky enough to be down front for the show Friday night and, looking around, spotted Robbie Robertson in the second row. I thought it was kind of ironic that nearly 30 years ago, Van performed in The Band's "Last Waltz" concert/film and he did the SAME "stroll off" the stage, mike in hand, the song drifting away...
P.S. Show was recorded, and I HOPE that includes a DVD!

[Shannon Gehres]

We were at the Saturday night show and it was fantastic. Van's voice has lost nothing over the years - if anything it was richer and more satisfying than I had heard on any of his albums. His band was on their A-game, keeping up with his tempo changes and sounding great. We made the trip to Hollywood from northern Michigan just for this event - one night in Cali, then back home. Well worth the travel for sure!

[C Hernandez]

Concert was very low key. No energy! Didn't sing any of his old tunes. Very disappointed!!!

[t bowers]

I made the trip to Los Angeles from Houston, TX.

I saw both shows and I went to California to specifically see these two concerts.

I enjoyed both nights. I was amazed to hear to so many of his old tunes. I have
no clue what the previous poster considers old.

I loved the secondary focus on the "Into the Music" album. That is my 2nd
favorite Van Morrison album behind "Astral Weeks". Getting to hear so
many songs from two great albums was overwhelming.

I was wondering if that was Richard Davis playing bass. My eyes told me no but
my ears disagreed. David Hayes did a brilliant job. Thank you for making it
clear in the review above who was playing bass. Van did not mention the
name of one musician on stage either night.

I would rate the 1st set as being better for the Friday show.

I would rate the Astral Weeks set as being better for the Saturday show.

[Annette]

I was at Friday nights show (3rd row) and it was unbelievably good!! A couple in the row in front of me flew in from Ireland just to see Van (for the 8th time) and said that this concert was the best he has done. It was my first time seeing Van, and I thought he was incredible.

[P MILLER]

ONE OF OUR BEST CONCERTS THIS YEAR WE THOUGHT. MY WIFE AND I WERE ALSO VERY FORTUNATE TO SEE RIKKI LEE JONES EARLIER THIS FALL AT THE CERITTOS CENTER. TO US THEY SEEM TO BE KINDRED SOULS IN THE WAY THEY PRESENT THEY'RE MUSIC. IT WAS A LOVELY CONTRAST FOR US.
WE HAD FIRST STARTED DATING WHEN "T P SHEETS" ALBLUM CAME OUT AND WE SAW HIM AT UCI. WE LOVE THE JAZZ/BLUES STYLLE OF THAT CONCERT AND STILL REMEMBER IT SO WELL. WE HAVE BEEN HOOKED EVER SINCE. ""SNOW FELL ON SAN ANSELMO", IS ONE OF OUR FAVORITES OF HIS, WE HAD HOPED VERY MUCH TO HEAR THAT ON FRIRIDAY.
I CAN UNDERSTAND PEOPLE COMING IN FROM ALL OVER TO SEE HIM IN CONCERT AND THE BOWL IS SUCH A REMARKABLE PLACE WITH GREAT ACOUSTICS. THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT A NATURAL AMPLITHEATER WE THINK!
I HAVE TROUBLE THINKING WE WERE AT THE SAME CONCERT WITH MR HERNADEZ ABOVE. MAYBE HE WAS REALLY INTO THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF GLORIA OR SOMETHING?

[Adrian]

I attended the first concert at Hollywood Bowl. Van is magic but the sound was so disappointing. It started very low, you can barely hear anything. The folks start to scream “turn it up” for the first 3 songs. After that the sound came up a little, but still far away from a real concert…

[jay marks]

it was indeed transcendent. the strongest moment for me was during "balerina." as van was back near the female guitar player chanting and in the groove, it seemed time time stood still. when you throw in the friday night thrill of troubadors and angielou,it was one of the finest van concerts i've ever seen. wish i would have been to saturday!

[ROBERT BANKER]

MY WIFE AND I FLEW IN FOR BELATED HONEYMOON FOR FRIDAY SHOW SHE WAS BLOWN AWAY AS WAS I INCREDIBLE ENERGY SAW VAN AT RED ROCKS COUPLE YEARS AGO THIS WAS BETTER BY FAR DO NOT SEE HOW ANYONE COULD BE DISAPPOINTED GREAT MEMORY

[John Conroy]

I was also one of the lucky ones to attend both nights. My wife and I loooved the Saturday performance, which I thought was the better of the two.

The sound was indeed poor for the first few songs of Friday night's show. My friend and I were sitting in comped seats in Section K, and we also heard the entire section off to our right yelling 'louder." After the second or third song, I walked down toward the soundboard to talk to the engineers but was stopped by an usher who told me that others had also complained and that the sound crew was working to fix the problem.

Highlights from both nights included St Dominic's Preview (second night), Ballerina (both nights), Sweet Thing (both nights), Common One (sung second night only), and Listen to the Lion.

I also thought it interesting that Van moved Slim Slow Sllider to the third song during the Astral Weeks set on both evenings.

Having seen Van at least 15 times, I'd put these shows up there with some of the best he's done. I can't wait to pick up the CD and DVD that are supposed to be available by the end of the year.

[tjsaine]

in a time of disposable music, dominated by no talents like madonna, brittainy, kid rock, ect., Van the Man continues to prove that he is among the all time greats:
(not just rock and rol) hoagy carmichael, stephen foster, the gershwins, louie armstrong, duke ellington - I mean those kinds of guys, the all-time greats.
AND THAT IS JUST THE WAY IT IS!

[bill lackey]

My wife and I attended the Saturday concert. We sat in the first row. It was MAGICAL and TRANSCENDING. We have seen Van many times over the years and this was mind blowing. The only negative was that it had to end. There is no one on earth like Van.

[joe yancho]

Van was at his best and that is saying a lot. Greatest white man to ever take the stage. True genious.

[Jackson]

The clarinet player in the back of the Bowl was as good as Van...who was also on his A game....the healing has begun.

[Arthur Chance]

Mr. Van Morrison is at the top of my "A" List and has been for many years. Seen him several times. I do envy you that attended this show, can't wait for the release of the CD. Just doesn't get any better than Van- Live.

[Michael Seltzer]

We were among the very fortunate to have travelled (from Detroit) to witness both shows and although I've seen dozens and dozens of Van shows worldwide (fortunately), this was clearly a milestone and one that we shall NEVER forget. Thankfully, there will be a video/audio release of this material but seeing it live and enjoying the comaraderie of fellow Van followers from all over the world was the most exciting part of this weekend.
Van brought AW back in a most beautiful presentation of old and current bandmates, along with classics like Caravan, a haunting Angelou, spectacular Summertime in England with Richie Buckley, and magnificent versions of Ballerina, Madame George and others that will live with us all forever.
Bless the MAN.

[Seth]

When Van ended with Listen To The Lion, I was brought to tears!