Van Morrison Performs Astral Weeks At The Albert Hall

Last night, the second of the two performances, saw the classic album brought to life, with the songs in a different order in the second half of a show which also included a preliminary 50 minutes of some of Morrison’s well known songs including ‘And It Stoned Me’ and ‘Caravan’, both from Morrison’s other classic album Moondance.

Joining him was an enlarged guitar-led band with saxophone, strings, two drummers, backing singers and the guitarist from Astral Weeks, Jay Berliner. The London concerts followed the first ever performances of the music from the album live in their entirety last year in Los Angeles, at the Hollywood Bowl. While the new live album which has just come out differs in tone from the original album, it was clear from last night that the music from Astral Weeks has a conceptual flow and beauty that belies the passing of the years. Its dream-like quality, spontaneity, serenity and warmth is overwhelming. With the new structure of the music allowing ‘Madame George’ to be sung last, it also provided an insight about the “protagonist” in the song from Van, who otherwise spoke little throughout the concert. ‘The Way Young Lovers Do’, in some ways was the late gear change which took the edge of the seriousness of ‘Slim Slow Slider’ and earlier despair of ‘Beside You’, while ‘Cyprus Avenue’ receded in terms of importance in the new context. The standing ovation at the end of a superb concert was completely deserved.

- Stephen Graham