{"id":2009,"date":"2016-01-20T06:27:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T06:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=2009"},"modified":"2024-05-08T06:30:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T06:30:05","slug":"live-review-night-two-of-van-morrisons-three-night-run-at-oaklands-fox-theater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=2009","title":{"rendered":"Live Review: Night Two of Van Morrison’s Three-Night Run at Oakland’s Fox Theater"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Few can disagree that it’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks for fans of popular music. From David Bowie to Lemmy Kilmister, Glenn Frey to the lesser-known, but equally impressive, Mic Gillette (Tower Of Power, anyone?), we have lost a slew of musical greats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, at the ripe young age of 70, Irish singer \/ musician and Music Hall Of Fame inductee Van Morrison shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, playing three shows in Oakland directly following a successful run of dates in Southern California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the uninitiated, Morrison fronted Northern Irish band Them for a very brief period before launching his highly successful solo career. Morrison has won six Grammy Awards and spawned a number of hits, including \u201cGloria,\u201d \u201cBaby, Please Don’t Go,\u201d \u201cHere Comes the Night\u201d and \u201cMystic Eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As evidenced by his spellbinding performance last night at Oakland’s Fox Theater \u2013 the second of a sold-out three-day residency at the venue \u2013 Morrison proved his staying power, yet again, to several different generations of new and older fans alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the minute the opening notes of \u201cCeltic Swing\u201d \u2013 an odd, yet somehow fitting instrumental culled from his grossly overlooked 1983 album, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart<\/em> \u2013 filled the Fox Theater, those in attendance immediately fixated on Morrison who drove the melody home with his alto saxophone. Aided by his able group \u2013 bassist Paul Moore, drummer Robbie Ruggiero, trumpet\/keyboard player\/ bandleader Paul Moran, singer Dana Masters, and guitarist Dave Keary \u2013 Morrison and company launched headlong into their set. Instead of spreading out across the vast Fox Theater stage, the group opted to play close together, with all musicians huddled closely around Morrison who barricaded himself among a handful of stage monitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, he played a wonderfully careless rendition of \u201cHigher Than The World,\u201d which kicked off the night in grandiose fashion with a hearty swing and swagger. Opting to avoid between-song banter, Morrison led his musicians through a 100-plus minute set that found the music, inevitably, doing much of the talking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, unlike the set lists at his Southern California shows just days before (and even the night before at the same venue), Morrison surprised the audience with some unexpected additional songs, like \u201cDid Ye Get Healed\u201d from Poetic Champions Compose<\/em> (1987) and \u201cCleaning Windows\u201d from Beautiful Vision<\/em> (1982).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other highlights included a wonderful medley that included a revved-up version of Them’s \u201cBaby, Please Don’t Go,\u201d along with a heady take on a blues staple popularized by Mose Allison called \u201cParchman Farm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hit medleys and songs aside, it was the inclusion of his daughter, Shana Morrison, (who also opened the show with a very brief set) that was met with great approval from longtime fans and newbies, alike. Watching and hearing the father \/ daughter combo for two mid-set numbers \u2014 \u201cSometimes We Cry\u201d and Johnny Mercer’s \u201cThat Old Black Magic \u2013 showed concertgoers just how much love and respect the two have for another. (Shana even kissed her father on the cheek as she exited stage right.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there was ever a time to see our musical greats before they leave this dimension, it would be now. When all is said and done, no price tag \u2014 tickets for these shows started at $89.50 and went up to $249.50 \u2013 is too much to witness a rare live music experience that lasts a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Word has it that a few tickets were released for tonight’s show on the Fox Theater’s Facebook site, the last of his local run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, it’s time to splurge. You only live once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critic\u2019s Notebook:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 According to one bartender who works at several different venues for promoter Another Planet Entertainment, there was a big upgrade to the venue’s sometimes faltering sound system. Last night’s show was the second official night it was used in public. By all accounts, the move to satiate those with sensitive ears was a rousing success as everything sounded terrific and near stereo quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022Unfortunately, it’s customary at this venue to close most of the downstairs bar due to noise during certain shows and tonight’s show was certainly no exception. In an effort to keep the theater patrons quiet during a set laden with softer moments, many bars were closed before his daughter Shana opened the show. The Den, also located downstairs on the main level, thankfully, was open to patrons in addition to the bar upstairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u2022Unlike noisier, more raucous shows with younger crowds, cell phones were (for the most part) silenced. Because the floor was seated, few stood until Morrison’s set-closing song, \u201cIn The Garden.\u201d Heaps of applause followed as Morrison walked offstage repeating the line, \u201c No guru, no method, no teacher,\u201d only to return minutes later for the night-ending encore.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(SF Weekly)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Few can disagree that it’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks for fans of popular music. From David Bowie to Lemmy Kilmister, Glenn Frey to the lesser-known, but equally impressive, Mic Gillette (Tower Of Power, anyone?), we have lost a slew of musical greats. Thankfully, at the ripe young age of 70, Irish singer \/ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2011,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009\/revisions\/2011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}