What the hell is happening to the great, grumpy icons of pop? Bob Dylan, during his recent Vicar Street gig, almost smiled. Likewise, on Monday night at Dublin's Olympia theatre, Van Morrison looked like he was enjoying himself, rather than merely performing to help promote his new album, You Win Again.
Indeed, the best tracks from that album, sung live with Jerry Lee Lewis's sister, Linda Gail, actually had a more "lived in" and dynamic feel than most of the studio recordings. Old Black Joe is an example. On record it lacks the gut-level-ache of Jerry Lee's original take on the song, but on stage, Linda Gail hauls it back to the soil of the Mississippi and Van-the-man matches her beat-for-beat.
Sadly, Morrison doesn't give Linda Gail Lewis enough room to assert fully her own considerable talents. A real waste. That said, when Van slides into No Way Pedro, the only self-penned track on his new album, he reminds us of how graceful he can be.
Irish Heartbeat, on the other hand, minus the Chieftains, sung too fast and brassed up beyond belief, was a disgrace. Even so, Morrison did bring it all back home for the final encore, pounding out a medley of rockers like Keep A Knockin'.
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