For me, anyway.
I have sympathy for the Brown Eyed Girl crowd (who may not be true Van Morrison fans), as the concert certainly wasn't geared towards you. What I mean by this is, I love Van Morrison's voice, not simply the odd hit single. : ) My concern prior to the concert was his voice might have significantly deteriorated with age, or might substantially differ from recorded. My fear was unnecessary; his voice rang true and clear for me. There were moments I closed my eyes and just listened--that's how much I love Van Morrison.
I was thrilled to simply hear the voice I fell in love with.
Some of my friends were quite disappointed with the concert (even angry), and I can't help but wonder how much of a fan they were to begin with (no criticism). What I heard from Van Morrison was exactly what I wanted and expected to hear. I could have cared less if Brown Eyed Girl was played, and yet found myself liking it for probably the first time when it was performed. Going into the concert, I knew Van wouldn't be a showman and there wouldn't be any bells or whistles (or even interaction with the audience, as a previous review indicated), so my expectations were in check.
Van Morrison was wonderful. The band was fantastic, and the only thing I would have done differently would be to hold out for better seats (the show actually would have been much better in a smaller venue as it seemed designed for an intimate setting). As for the cost of the tickets, they were expensive, but I believe Jerry Seinfeld tickets cost me more, and he may have performed for the same amount of time or less. It's all relative. A few years back, I was checking Van Morrison concert prices for New York, and they were over $300 a person, so I wasn't surprised the tickets cost as much as they did here.
My money was certainly well spent, and now I can happily scratch seeing Van off my "To Do Before I Die" list. : )
3 comments:
In a review for the Edmonton show, a record producer summed it up: "He is a polarizing performer." It's easy to see how so many people can come down very strongly on one side or the other when it comes to Van Morrison.
-Rob
Hey Tiff,
I'm very happy to read that you enjoyed him. Afterwards, I was thinking about you, wondering what you thought of it, knowing how big of a fan you were.
You're right, this concert was not geared towards me - at all. I did enjoy parts of it for sure - you're right, Van has an amazing voice. Just, when it was all said and done, I was left dissapointed.
The whole reason Warren bought me the tickets was because our wedding song was a Van song. And he didn't sing it. So I think I have a right to be left wanting.
Also, I don't care how low-key a singer is - would it have killed him to say 'thank-you Calgary, have a good night'. Sheesh.
I think if it had been a more intimate setting, or if I had better seats, I might have felt differently. I was practically sitting behind the stage - they really shouldn't sell those seats.
I didn't realize your seats were so bad (and I thought mine weren't all that good!)
It is surprising he doesn't acknowledge the audience more, considering how long he's been a musician (and the prices we pay to see him
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