Van Morrison at the Gorge Amphitheater on Sunday, August 8th
After the busy weekend we had I couldn’t think of a better way to end it; at the Gorge watching Van Morrison. Tonight was the first time in a while that the three of us at Check It Out Music got to enjoy a concert together with some of our friends and family. It is a rare occasion for everyone’s schedules to line up and the company was grand. Van Morrison’s band walked out on stage just as the sun was slowly beginning to float behind the hillside. They all looked sharp in black suits with shiny shoes; it looked like they were getting a band photo taken. Then Van came out looking like a million bucks, never taking off his sunglasses and black fedora.
It was a disappoint that he is so serious about the no photo policy. People were getting in trouble for taking a photo on their cell phone. I thought that was ridiculous, people like photos it’s a way to remember the show. He looked great so I don’t know what the big fuss was about. We still managed to get a photo with an iPhone. Hello, it’s Van Morrison at the Gorge and we took it from our seat you can barely see him; he is like an inch big in the photo! The couple in front of us are in better focus… Psh.
No photo policy aside the show was impeccable. The weather was perfect for the evening with a smooth breeze and a colorful sunset. Not to hot on the floor, especially on the nice new paved Gorge floor! Also, they got new cushy seats that are super comfy. Everyone around us was sipping their wine and beers, laughing, talking, singing and of course dancing along. I felt like we were some of the youngest people on the floor, but the crowd still had some fire in them to holler things like “I love you Van,” or the best one “I love you more!”
Van’s band was seriously talented with everyone having solos and switching instruments. They had a flute, keyboard, piano, drum, stand up bass, bass guitar, electric guitar, violin, acoustic guitar, oh and gold microphones! Everyone was having fun on stage, except I didn’t see Van ever smile; he still looked like he was enjoying himself. I loved his monogram embellished gold microphone stand too; it complimented his white acoustic guitar effortlessly.
We got to hear some of our jams; “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Moondance,” “Into the Mystic,” “Talk is Cheap,” “Bright Side of the Road,” and “Gloria.” We had sneak out a little early to get everyone home before midnight. We all do have to work in the morning… and at some point our long weekend does have to come to an end. I wish we could have a show like that every Sunday. Absolutely lovely Van.
Comments
Fabulous concert! I had chills and misty eyes when he did ‘Into the Mystic’. Other than the ticket snafu with section 102 seating and $5 water… everything was well worth the trip to see THE VAN!…..my daughter was more interested in keeping her eyes on the actor who plays Jason Stackhouse from HBO’s True Blood series who was a few seats from us.
So does anyone have a play list of what Van played at the Gorge? His arrangements were so incredible and some of the songs unfamiliar to me. Would love to know what some of the more obscure songs were that I didn’t know…what album are they on and what titles???
Someone was kind enough to re- post my story with the set list!
http://vanmorrisonnews.blogspot.com/ — scroll down a bit the title is “08-Aug-10 The Gorge Amphitheater, George, Washington Concert Review ”
Thanks for checking it out!