Van...still the Man at 76

Gig No4 Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza September 4 2021

Who hasn't seen Van? Surely, anyone over the age of 40 who has attended over 5 music festivals in their life, has seen Van Morrison at least once. And the one thing we can say for certain is everyone will have one of two stories to tell about their experience.....AMAZING GENIUS.......or miserable shitehouse.......and I've had both! So, fair to say, Van would not have been high on my list of gigs to see for 60atSixty, but never say never.

Early summer this year and our good friends Richard and Janice announce they're upping sticks and moving. In fairness, Richard's work-life had been based in Glastonbury for the last five years and commuting was becoming a drag, so off to rural Somerset they went. On my birthday, Richard sent me a message telling me my birthday present and his contribution to my project was tickets for The Glastonbury Extravaganza. For Nikki and I it was the Brucie Bonus of a gig and an excuse to go and visit them......WIN-WIN.

The Extravaganza started in 1996 as a 'thank you' to the local Glastonbury population for putting up with the hassle of the Festival every year. Located in the incredible setting of Glastonbury Abbey grounds (over 36 acres of walled gardens in the centre of the town under the gaze of The Tor) up until 2002, it was mainly a classical event, headlined by the Pendyrus Male Voice Choir. From 2003, Michael Eavis has used his extensive phone book to bring in the great and good of mainstream British talent. Jools, Quo, Squeeze, The Kinks, Robert Plant and on three occasions ......Van Morrison.

Which is how we find ourselves, on that glorious first Saturday in September, hauling camping chairs and cool bags full of beer, through the magnificent setting of the Abbey grounds (https://www.glastonburyabbey.com), ready for the entertainment to begin.

First up was a real blast from the past, Tanita Tikram, late 80's pop folk singer, best known for 'Twist In My Sobriety'. She played and was well received by the polite middle class hippy crowd. What can I say......I was drinking beer catching up with a close friend, sorry Tanita, I'm sure you aren't too bothered. Actually, what I'm sure of is you ain't reading this.

Main support was provided by The Staves, three sisters from Watford who play large scale folk, combining some large scale harmonies. They started by playing open mic sessions in local pubs and have grown that sound and honed their song writing skills amazingly over the last decade and absolutely blew me away...........and we only saw two thirds of them, with youngest sister Emily absent on maternity leave. The phrase ‘harmony laden americana‘ that had enticed me to go and see The Wandering Hearts the previous week, is a more than reasonable phrase to attach to The Staves. In fact, way more than reasonable. While I found The Wandering Hearts music to be slightly saccharin even bordering on C&W insincerity, The Staves voice is authentic. There’s no hiding their English folk roots which, for me, completely ties in with my idea of the contemporary americana music I love - think Bon Iver, The National, Sufjan Stevens, Grizzly Bear and more. All authentic songwriters, creating a soundtrack for today’s world. Unsurprisingly, the band have found themselves welcomed into that world, providing support on tours and appearing on albums. Their latest album, Good Woman, is ambitious, challenging of themselves and their live performance backed it up. I can’t wait to see them when they reappear as a trio.

And, now we arrive at Van Morrison. As I said, I’d previously seen Van play twice, both times at Brecon Jazz Festival, around 1996 and 2001. The details around actual years with Brecon Jazz are always lost in a haze of beers at the Boars Head! The one gig was the sublime, the other….. Well, to see him play, in his prime, with heart and soul, was, with that back catalogue of songs to call on, sublime enough.…….but to see recalcitrant Van, sulking, refusing audience requests - sure, he does have the right not to play those songs but haranguing his paying audience for asking, really! Well, he’s never been a hero of mine but I lost a lot of respect for him AND it happened too regularly. But tonight, Van the entertainer turned up and he kept the crowd going for almost 2 hours. When he first started, I felt a little shocked how thin his voice sounded but I reasoned, he is 76 now, give the guy a break. Very quickly his voice warmed up and he was soon in classic Van Morrison mode.

As the gig wore on I realised I'd forgotten how well he plays the saxophone and what an integral part of his live show it is. But the biggest bonus of the evening though, was he played the catalogue! The first 'classic' was an unusual scat version of Moondance, I thought OK, if this is his compromise to playing some standards I can live with that. Then a few songs later he introduced Someone Like You by saying he'd promised he would do this one for Michael (Nevis), he claimed not to have sung it for twenty years and wasn't sure if he'd remember all the words! Well, by the end of the night he must have made more promises to Michael as we were treated to Gloria, Bright Side of the Road, Astral Weeks, Have I Told You Lately, Tupelo Honey even Jackie Wilson Said.

Frankly, it was glorious, an absolute pleasure. The setting, the entertainment and by no means least, the company. The Extravangza finishes every year with an astonishing firework display and this year was no exception.