Van Morrison Live at Montreux Jazz Festival Switzerland 1980

[Orangeyes]

Would just love to see him once in person before that bucket gets kicked.

VAN MORRISON | Live at Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland, 1980)

 

[tbonezone]

fine vintage. i have a dvd copy of marvin gaye live in montreux 1980. says in the liner notes that dizzy,art blakey, max roach and chico hamilton were also among the other headliners .

 

[Symphony Steve]

My fave concert story ever. It was 1983, or another year quite like it. Van Morrison was coming to the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby. Had an evening meeting canceled that day that enabled me to go to the show. Except...it had been sold out for days. Went to the local ticket broker. Honest, not a scalper. Told me to leave my name & # b/c sometimes there are tix held for the artists and they opt not to use it.

Get a call around 4:30 in the afternoon. I'm told that 'great tickets' have been turned back in. They didn't give me tickets, they gave me a voucher. We head up to the Tower. Turns out the tickets are in Row AA. I figure that's the 27th row. Not at the Tower, nooooo-o! It's the FRONT FREAKIN' ROW! Mose Allison opens, fantastic. And then, a concert that the Philly Inquirer labels 'transcendent'. And it was. Van the Man, front row center! (BTW, the drugs were pretty good as well.) I'm still smiling.

 

[Orangeyes]

That is the way I got seats 11 rows center for Stevie Nicks at the Showroom at the TSC several years ago.

If I can't get good tickets early I now wait until the day of and try for artist releases.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Watching it now. That gorgeous slow groove that opens the concert and precedes 'Wavelength' would ultimately surface in 'Vanlose Stairway', one of my faves.

He kinda raced through 'And It Stoned Me'. Maybe he was tired of playing it. 'Troubadors' gives me chills, though. Pee Wee Bleepin' Ellis. Oh yeah.

While 'Spirit' has never drawn me in (too meandering, too, I don't know, Omar Khayyam or somebody), he's incapable of letting things drag for long. 'Joyous Sound' sounds like the best non-Jamaican Jamaican song I've heard. A wonderful cookin' funk groove driving 'Satisfied', and that amazing horn section again.

So, I'm listening to 'Ballerina', decided to find out more about it. Believe it or not, although it was on 'Astral Weeks', he wrote it while still a member of Them ('Gloria', 'Here Comes the Night'). You can tell that he loves to do this one. Kinda skipping through parts of 'Countryside in England'. I've seen the setlist and can't wait for what comes after...

'Moondance' is turned into a romp, more a crowd-pleaser than classic. The album version is still the best.

Now, for Murderer's Row.

I love 'Haunts of Ancient Peace', and this is just the band to make it this haunting piece a classic. What a great slow build. It's official, Pee Wee Ellis>The Big Man.

While Van's not the greatest lyricist, 'All the girls walk by, dressed up for each other' gets me every time. One of his best lines, along with 'G-L-O-R-I-A'.

Time for 15-plus minutes of bliss. 'Listen to the Lion'. When that lion finally roars, it's perhaps Van's greatest vocal moment from all his great moments. W-w-what? He didn't do the lion growl and roar?? Well, we've got one of my all-time favorites 'Tupelo Honey' next. Released in October of my junior year on the Hill. I'm tired of talking about Pee Wee Ellis, but, DAMN he's great. And what a vocal by Van here! He just doesn't want to let go of this song.

Wasn't familiar with the story of 'Angelou'. Was on Van's so-called comeback album 'Into the Music', although the comeback started with 'A Period of Transition'. About a woman named Angelou who Van fell in love with 'in the month of May in the city of Paris'.

A wonderful concert. And barely scratched the surface of the Van songbook. Thanks, OE, for sharing this!!

 

[Orangeyes]

You are welcome, our poster Stevenson has a great collection of bootlegs. He showed me how you can network and build your own Van Morrison collection of concerts.

Morrison's unique style, the sexy saxaphones, the wonderful backing harmonies the great band and the heart and soul with which he performs is what draws me to him.

Unfortunately for me, Van Morrison never or nearly never performs in the United States.