Van Morrison does Astral Weeks at the Hollywood Bowl *

This album is just sublime! Best album I've heard in ages. I'm glad he can still cut it occasionally. The shadowing of his vocals in Common One is not good however.

 

I dunno, after an hour of serious emoting I find their back-and-forth cute and funny. At least the other guy sounds like a real person rather than Brian Kennedy.

 

I saw Van last February in NYC do Astral Weeks and loved it. One of the best concerts I've seen. Hearing the Hollywood Bowl album during the next month or so, I enjoyed the album primarily because it reminded me of the concert. Then I stopped listening to it for a few months.

When I finally played the Astral Weeks songs again recently all the way through the Hollywood Bowl album on vinyl, and I came away thinking it is a great album. (The last few numbers are ok, but not great. I don't think they match the Astral Weeks performances.)

While I agree the dynamics are lacking, to me the centerpiece of this album is Van's voice and his more modern phrasing (or mumbling if you like) on these songs. Just a great performance. I think that they end up being different enough from the originals to stand on their own and give us a older Van's interpretation of these songs from a great album.

 

Don't know what his concert setlist is going to be, but just bought concert tickets to hear him in less than two months, for May. Venue seats about 5,000. We went for the cheapest tix at $60 a piece.

 

Just listened to this for the first time.
WOW!

 

Van Morrison sadly is an artist to be enjoyed in front of your stereo system on either CD or Lp....his attitude live is off putting and his brief shows for the price is offensive....I first saw Van live when i was in college many moons ago at the Tower theatre in Philly....my buddies and I were all excited and looking forward to it and were beyond disappointed...he went through the motions passionless for maybe 75 minutes then simply exited the stage..hard to describe the let down...especially since we had just seen Little feat a week prior in once of the best live performance I have ever witnessed...and remember this was in the 70s when van was in his prime!