Van Morrison: Live At The Grand Opera House Belfast - 1984

Many reviews I have read of this Van Morrison live album share the same opinions - firstly, that Van's performance is slurred and perfunctory, secondly, the sound is muffled and poor quality and thirdly, that the song selection is underwhelming.

I disagree heartily with all of that. 

Van is returning to Ireland after many years in the USA and is playing his hometown. Sure, he is uncommunicative, but isn't he always? He, as usual, lets the music speak for him. The musicianship is top notch, mining a Celtic soul seam with strident female backing singers to the fore. Personally, I have never had a problem with the sound - it is warm, bassy and subtle, particularly on the remastered version. Nothing wrong with it. Play it through and good system and it sounds great.

The song choices reflect the period of the concert - a lot from the excellent Beautiful Vision album (six tracks, in fact) and a couple from Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart too, including the excellent Rave On John Donne. We are also treated to a great performance of the meditative and uplifting Haunts Of Ancient Peace from 1980's underrated Common One album. I am pleased to hear these songs played live. If I want earlier stuff, there are three concerts from the 1974 It's Too Late To Stop Now period now available. 

As a single CD release that doesn't last long enough to take in the full concert setlist, the album is a bit like The Rolling Stones' 1982 Still Life album in that respect. When listening to this I am also reminded that there isn't too much official Morrison live material out there. A hungry man is always grateful for whatever comes his way. 

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