Van Morrison hasn’t toured Australia since 1985. On the off-chance he ever does comes here again the irony is that, unless hell freezes over, you will not be treated to a setlist like this of his most popular songs.
Joe Camilleri, Here Comes The Night, 2013, Photo By Ros O'Gorman
‘Here Comes The Night: Songs from the Van Morrison Songbook’ came together when artist manager John Blanchfield suggested to producer Dennis Smith that they produce a concert of Van Morrison songs. Van rarely performs these days and when he does he performs for the present, not for the past. The last place you will hear Van Morrison’s greatest hits is at a Van Morrison concert.
UPDATE: Joe Camilleri to perform Here Comes The Night in Sydney and Melbourne in November 2013
To make ‘Here Comes The Night’ work without sounding like a covers show Smith and Blanchfield needed the right musical ingredients. Seasoned musical director John McAll was recruited to compile the band. Joe Camilleri was at the top of the list as lead vocalist for the show. Australia’s premier jazzman Vince Jones and our own Queen of Soul Vika Bull gave the performance its a perfect mix of heart and soul.
With this line-up this show was bound to be special and it was.
One individual singer could not possibly pull off this show. Van is that perfect mix rock, jazz and soul. For ‘Here Comes The Night’ Joe was the rock, Vince the jazz and Vika the soul.
The songs from the Van Morrison songbook were compiled into dream setlist and then delegated to the best voice of the three to perform them. Joe handled Van’s more uptempo and contemporary songs such as ‘Jackie Wilson Said’, ‘Gloria’ and ‘Wavelength’. Vince performed the jazz-end of the catalogue ‘And It Stoned Me’, ‘Cleaning Windows’, ‘The Way Young Lovers Do’ while Vika mesmerized the audience with ‘Days Like This’, ‘Crazy Love’ and ‘You’ve Gotta If You Can’.
In combination, Joe and Vince performed ‘Cypress Avenue’ and ‘Have I Told You Lately’, Joe, Vince and Vika ‘Moondance’ and ‘Into The Mystic’, Vika and Joe ‘Wild Night’ and the ensemble with ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ and ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’.
The band featured some of Australia’s finest musicians led by John McAll, Musical Director and keyboards
Angus Burchill – drums
Jeff Burstin – guitar
Stuart Fraser – guitar
Steve Hadley – bass
Eric Budd – trombone
Tim Wilson – Saxophone
Travis Wood – trumpet
Lauren Elizabeth – backing vocals
Sandii Kennan – backing vocals
Silo String Quartet:
Caerwen Martin
Caridwen Davies
Jessica Bell
Aaron Barnden
‘Here Comes The Night: Songs from the Van Morrison Songbook’ played as part of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. It will tour Australia later this year and return to Melbourne and the Palais Theatre as part of its national tour.
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