Van “the Man” Morrison July 8, 2008
Rosemont Theatre Rosemont, IL
After being publicly chastised for my laziness, I decided writing my review was more important than my paying job. I might get an iPhone in 8 years. What is my real job giving me? Exactly.
Last Tuesday Dommie and I made the trek to the ‘burbs to see Van Morrison. We’ve watched his Austin City Limits on PBS a few times recently so when we found out about the show the day before tickets went on sale, we knew we had to go despite the outrageous ticket prices.
Instead of fighting traffic during rush hour, we took the Metra Train and walked a few blocks from the platform to the theatre. We got there around 6:40 and the show was to start promptly at 7:30. Instead of going to a hotel bar and getting a beer and appetizer, we decided to just go in to the theater. Big Mistake.
Apparently Van “the Man” is lame. There was no alcohol, no smoking, no video, no cameras and no cell phones allowed. That’s right. No fun. Unlike Jody, my camera was charged and ready to go, but it would remain in my purse for the duration of the evening. For dinner, we shared a bag of pretzels, a bag of potato chips and a Pepsi. Then we waited in the wings until 7:20 when the doors opened. Great people watching, but it is safe to say that we were the youngest people there that weren’t with their parents.
When the doors finally opened, a woman older than my grandma was insisting on seating each party individually. Apparently when she turned her back someone made a run for it and the rest of us sat ourselves. We overheard her complaining as we were walking up the stairs, but at the rate she was going, we wouldn’t have been seated until the show was over.
When you only pay $75 a ticket, you sit in the very back row of the theatre, but the good news is that you are too far away to see his teeth. If you’ve seen the aforementioned Austin City Limits, you’ll know that his teeth are gross.
The show opened with "Wild Night." The band was great but it seemed like something was off with the sound. I figured it was the sound guys fault, but this guy seems to think Van is just lazy. After "Tupelo Honey," I didn’t know any of the songs until a cover of "Comfortably Numb." Van introduced it as something he doesn’t normally do, but since it had been in a movie and on the Sopranos, they would give it a try. From our angle, we couldn’t actually see the backup singers (just their arms), but there were 2 or 3 of them. One of them sang the verses and Van sang the chorus.
The rest of the show was full of songs I didn’t recognize but it was still very entertaining. It seemed like Van would just point to someone and they would play. Sometimes it flowed and at least once it seemed like the pointee was taken by surprise and quickly switched instruments to do as the Man demanded. Later research revealed about 30 minutes of the 100 minute set was from Astral Weeks, Van’s second album.
At the end of "The Healing Game," Van shuffled off the stage, still singing, and was toweled off. Someone, maybe the voice of God, said “Van Morrison! Van Morrison! Van Morrison!” Similar to the way you would expect him to say “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Van Morrison!” but without the rest of the sentence and with very little pause between each iteration. The band kept playing, and a minute or two later Van reappeared (with the help of a stagehand and a flashlight) to sing one more song. Again, the voice of God appeared, the band took their bows and the house lights came on immediately.
On the way out of the theatre, we were nearly run over by a towncar and police escort, so maybe the Tribune reviewer was right. Van had a plane to catch.
All in all it was a once in a lifetime sort of show and $75 well spent.
Set List:
Wild Night
Tupelo Honey/Why Must I Always Explain
In the Midnight
Keep It Simple
That's Entrainment
Help Me/Dimples/Help Me
Comfortably Numb
Wavelength
Ballerina
The Way Young Lovers Do
School of Hard Knocks
Behind the Ritual
In The Afternoon/Ancient Highway/Raincheck
Burning Ground
And the Healing Has Begun/The Healing Game
Encore
Madame George
Listen:
Disclaimer – due to the fact that I own a Duncan Sheik CD, I have never claimed to have exceptional taste in music. The following list should in no way reflect poorly on the proprietor of this blog.
Upcoming Shows: Divebar, Ben Kweller and Rusted Root July 18 @ World’s Largest Block Party My Morning Jacket October 10 @ Chicago Theatre
(Jessi's Note: Kelly and I both suffer from what we call BMG Music Club Disorder. I received my first CD player on Christmas morning and by that evening I'd already submitted my first memberships to BMG and Columbia music clubs. I had multiple accounts through middle school and high school and when the music was so cheap (well for back then), my collection quickly expanded to include some not so memorable records with just one hit song or two. Kelly suffered from the same problem. Our collections have gotten much better over the years, but we'll still admit to Duncan Sheik.
I'd kept my BMGMCD from her boyfriend, Dommie, until that fateful day that he requested to see my CD collection and Jody and I climbed the three or four flights of stairs to their apartment, sounding like a heard of elephants with CD towers and in our arms.
Crazy CD collections or not, we'll be having Kelly back regularly to keep us updated on things from Chicago. Embarrassing bands will be written about only in words that rhyme with their actual name.)
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