VAN MORRISON                      

First of all the MASONIC TEMPLE THEATER is a great venue, one of these art deco jewels that exist on a sort of illuminated, secured island in the middle of the decay and nothingness of DETROIT. Since the seats sold out so fast we were waaaaaay back on the main floor, not that far from a pillar, but I could see perfectly and the sound was great.

For some reason the show was delayed (but not as long as they said – fortunately we didn’t leave our seats) and when I saw VAN I was just enraptured. I’ve been living with his voice for over 30 years and when I finally saw him it was like seeing Santa Claus or something, I couldn’t believe this mythological character was real and manifesting in front of my eyes. For the first few songs I just sat there agape, my mouth hanging open, digging it.

They say VAN is either ON or OFF, and although I’ve never seen him before I have to say he was definitely ON last night. He seemed very into it (for a guy wearing a hat pulled over his forehead and sunglasses who stayed basically within a radius of four feet) and I could tell when he pumped his arm a few time that it was going to be a good show. He was in great voice, and the band, an expert country-swing ensemble with violin and pedal steel was loose and restrained enough to let him whisper and wail. The reaction of the crowd seems much more important to him than with BOB DYLAN but for a middle-aged crowd they were very receptive and appreciative and I think VAN dug that too – he even made a few jokes during the songs, as opposed to BOB who shocked me when he actually talked, if only to introduce the band.

But one of the reasons I love VAN so much is that he’s always trying for some kind of TRANSCENDENCE, even if he doesn’t always succeed. The origins of music are no doubt sacral, not just in the gospel church music that VAN suggests, but even farther back to shamanistic trance music. VAN has the habit of repeating a phrase over and over again until it means everything and nothing, and when he did it last night he seemed to put both himself and the audience into a trance, leading us all to a HIGHER PLANE. He seemed to enliven his own material that I don’t find his best, and even the old Tommy Edwards chestnut that he’s often performed "It’s All In the Game." And the when he did "Wild Nights" or "Gloria," well, we all lost it. Certainly it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. I liked BOB but it seemed like just another show to all involved – somehow, maybe because he plays around here so rarely, VAN seemed like an EVENT, one that I won’t soon forget. I’m not sure there’s anybody left on my "WANT TO SEE BEFORE I DIE" list, so I guess now I can go happy.

MARS LIGHTS seem to be the other constant of my concert experiences lately. For DYLAN it was a TOW TRUCK bringing gas after we’d run out – this time it was a COP CAR busting me for speeding. In the city, no less! Ah, well, I should have taken the route JEANNE suggested. And I’m not going to let the ridiculously high fine ruin a PRICELESS evening.

And then when I got home there were the DELICIOUS results of the ELECTION. SUCK ON THAT, KING GEORGE!!!