"If you'd been traveling down Valencia Street on Sunday afternoon, you might have seen a 100-boomer-long procession snaking down the sidewalk in the light drizzle, its umbrella-toting occupants looking halfway like mourners. As one among the age 50-, 60- and 70-and-up gathered, I can verify: Our line was not for a funeral. On Sunday, though, between the setlist, the 400-capacity room and the 3 p.m. start time, well, this was a one-of-a-kind Van Morrison show. That much was evident after he took the stage and - just two minutes into set opener "Kidney Stew Blues" - Morrison turned to his seven-piece band, and ... cracked a smile and laughed?!?"
"In the set's most transcendent moment, Morrison reinvented Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame," introducing new phrasing, rhythm and melody to create something hallowed and tender. That's Van the singer; there was also Van the music director, conducting his band piece by piece - a piano chord here, a cymbal crash there. Morrison ad-libbed the phrase "stop breaking down" 17 times in a row while the band crested its long crescendo, turning the air into gold."
An invite-only crowd gathered at The Chapel for a 3 p.m. Van Morrison performance in light drizzle, forming a long procession of mostly older attendees. Morrison performed songs from his 48th album and led an 80-minute set in the 400-capacity room. He smiled early in the show and acted as music director, shaping dynamics and cues for his seven-piece band. He reimagined Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" with new phrasing, rhythm and melody and repeatedly ad-libbed the line "stop breaking down" during a soaring crescendo. Some numbers relied on formulaic arrangements that lagged.
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