Little Leonard Cohen headlines the giant Madison Square Garden this evening (10/23). Van Morrison plays the smaller Theater on Sunday (10/25).

Van Morrison was actually scheduled to make an appearance in the bigger venue too this month, but...

The concerts celebrating the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are right around the corner on 29 and 30 October at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. There has been a change in the guest lineup for 30 October, the evening Eric Clapton is scheduled to perform. Van Morrison is no longer on the show. Buddy Guy will now be performing. Other special guests for Friday include Ozzy Osbourne, Jeff Beck, Jerry Lee Lewis, Annie Lennox and Lenny Kravitz.

Nine acts -- including Sting, Van Morrison and Little Richard -- have been added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th-anniversary concerts taking place at Madison Square Garden, Oct. 29 and 30.

Sting, Little Richard, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Smokey Robinson and Bonnie Raitt will join previously announced artists Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills and Nash, on Oct. 29.

Morrison, Jeff Beck and Jerry Lee Lewis have been added to the Oct. 30 lineup, joining U2, Aretha Franklin, Metallica and Eric Clapton.

More artists are expected to be added in the coming weeks. Tickets are $79.50-$2,504.50. [NJ.com] (thx Michael)

Van Morrison also has a show coming up at the Theater at MSG.

Van Morrison @ Theater at MSG in Feb. 2009 (more by Eric M. Townsend)

But over the years, [Astral Weeks] kept coming up. It was a perennial favorite in polls with titles like "What is the greatest album of all time?" On the other hand, Morrison himself had been content to forget the album ever happened.

"It was suppressed in my memory," Morrison says. "As far as I was concerned, it just didn't exist."

Now, the album has an almost mythological status in pop culture. Everyone from Glen Hansard to Johnny Depp has talked about how it changed their lives.

"I don't know what to say because it didn't change my life," says Morrison. "I don't know what to make of [the mythology]. It's like any sort of art form -- it's whatever it means to you."

Morrison's cynicism goes further.

"Rock is a brainwash -- I think that's where your mythology goes back to," Morrison says. "It's the most pretentious area in music. It's got singers who don't really sing." [NPR]

All tour dates, with a video of Morrison being interviewed by Time about the Astral Weeks shows, below...

Continue reading "Van Morrison playing 'Astral Weeks' again, but not at the NYC show (which is on sale now) "

photos by Eric M. Townsend

"Still, surprise was not why a capacity crowd was gathered at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday night. Mr. Morrison was paying tribute to "Astral Weeks," his best-regarded album but one that was overlooked when it was released in 1968; it never appeared on the Billboard album chart.

This return trip wasn't quite a celebration, though. Nor was it a re-evaluation or much of a revision. Instead it often felt like obligation and, accordingly, Mr. Morrison treated the task perversely.

First came the delay of gratification. He began with an hourlong set consisting mostly of curios and cuts from other albums. Occasionally he was clarion clear: the soft-loud dynamics of "So Quiet in Here" were arresting, and "Who Drove the Red Sports Car" was an impassioned holler. When he strayed from his own songbook, he sounded invigorated, as if trying to renew his lineal claims: that Ray Charles cover, soon followed by "St. James Infirmary Blues," with Mr. Morrison playing scraping, arch alto sax." [NY Times]

Continue reading "Van Morrison played the Theater @ MSG (pics, setlist) & Jimmy Fallon's first episode (video) -- Beacon tonight"

Last weekend it was two nights of Antony and the Johnsons at Town Hall, one of which fell on the same night as Leonard Cohen at the Beacon Theatre and M Ward at Apollo Theater. This week's war of fancy seated shows I would love to go to comes in the form of two nights of David Byrne at Radio City Music Hall, two nights of Van Morrison performing "Astral Weeks" at the Theater at MSG, and the third option of Grizzly Bear and Final Fantasy with the Brooklyn Philharmonic at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. What are you doing?

Van Morrison also has two shows coming up at the Beacon Theater.

The above picture illustrates David Byrne's intricate tour production. You'll recognize it, white outfits included, if you've seen any pictures from previous shows on the tour.

Video from Antony's show at Town Hall, below...

Continue reading "David Byrne vs. Van Morrison vs. Grizzly Bear/Final Fantasy"

Conan O'Brien's last show in his old time slot was Friday night. A drumless White Stripes were the musical guest.

Conan won't be gone for long though. He takes over Jay Leno's slot, one hour earlier, on June 1st. Jay Leno airs his final show in his current time slot on May 29th, and then eventually moves to 10 pm on the same station.

Jimmy Fallon takes over Conan's NBC time slot on March 2nd. His house band The Roots take over NYC around the same time. Fallon's guest have started to be announced...

If Jimmy Fallon is nervous about the premiere of his new gig as "Late Night" host, he'll have Robert De Niro and Van Morrison to lean on. They'll be the guests for his March 2 debut hosting the NBC show...

NBC says Tina Fey, Jon Bon Jovi, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Donald Trump and Serena Williams are among other guests scheduled for Fallon's first week. [Vindy.com]

Van Morrison's Fallon appearance comes soon after his two shows at the Theater at MSG, and right before the two at the Beacon.

The video from Joaquin Phoenix's recent, infamous appearance on Letterman, below...

Continue reading "U2's streaming album & Letterman residency, Jimmy Fallon got Van Morrison & other late night news"

On one evening last year, Van Morrison finally got around to revisiting the album that many consider his masterpiece, "Astral Weeks."

This week, a recording of that performance - "Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl" (Listen to the Lion/EMI) - was released. It presents a singer who sounds more engaged, more passionate than he has been about anything in years.

No work in Morrison's canon - or in the rock lexicon, for that matter - sounds quite like "Astral Weeks." Forty-one years after its release it still occupies its own world. [Popmatters]

Speaking of today and the Beacon Theater, tonight's Paul Simon show marks the official reopening of the revamped venue. AP says, "The renovation includes a complete reworking of the Beacon's electrical system, as well as new draperies with gold tassels. A canvas mural in the neoclassical rotunda and the main box office have been restored." The NY Times has a cool panorama view of what it looks like.

Leonard Cohen also has a show coming up there.

"Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl" videos below...

Continue reading "Beacon Theater reopening, Van Morrison adds 2 NYC shows "

His first album for Warner Bros. Records was Astral Weeks (which he had already performed in several clubs around Boston), a mystical song cycle, considered by many to be his best work. Morrison has said, "When Astral Weeks came out, I was starving, literally." Released in 1968, the album achieved critical acclaim, but it originally received an indifferent response from the public. To this day, it remains in an unclassifiable music genre and has been described variously as hypnotic, meditative, and as possessing a unique musical power. It has been compared to French Impressionism and mystical Celtic poetry. A 2004 Rolling Stone magazine review begins with the words: "This is music of such enigmatic beauty that thirty-five years after its release, Astral Weeks still defies easy, admiring description." Alan Light would later describe Astral Weeks as "like nothing he had done previously--and really, nothing anyone had done previously. Morrison sings of lost love, death, and nostalgia for childhood in the Celtic soul that would become his signature." In 1979, prominent and influential journalist Lester Bangs wrote one of the best-known reviews in rock music history in Stranded, describing the effect that Astral Weeks had on his life. It has often been placed on the most authoritative lists of best albums of all time. In the 1995 MOJO list of 100 Best Albums, it was listed as number two and was number nineteen on the Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003. [Wikipedia]

Tickets are on Am Ex presale for the two Van Morrison shows happening at the Theater at MSG.

The Duke Spirit is coming back in February Tickets are on sale for a February 16th show at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and for one a day earlier at Maxwell's.

The Ting Tings are playing Webster Hall on March 16th. Tickets are on Am Ex Presale at noon.

Tickets are on Am Ex presale for the Brian Jonestown Massacre show happening at Terminal 5.

Tickets are on Am Ex presale for the Tom Jones show happening at Terminal 5.

Fab Faux have announed yet another show at Terminal 5. The date is March 14th and tickets are on Am Ex presale.

Tickets are on Am Ex presale for the two Bishop Allen shows coming up at Bowery and Music Hall.

Multi-award winning soul singer and musical legend Van Morrison is set to release "Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl," an in-concert reworking of his historic 1968 gold-certified solo album. Recorded live over two nights at the Hollywood Bowl this past Nov. 7 and 8, the album marks the premiere release on Mr. Morrison's new EMI-distributed label, Listen to the Lion Records. "Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl" arrives in stores Feb. 10, 2009. A double-vinyl edition with three bonus tracks (including a live version of "Gloria") arrives in stores the same day.

The concerts marked the first time Mr. Morrison ever performed "Astral Weeks" in one complete concert set. Joining him was an orchestral string section and a band composed of world-class musicians, some of whom played with Van on the original "Astral Weeks" sessions 40 years ago. Tracks on the CD include: "Astral Weeks/I Believe I've Transcended," "Beside You," "Slim Slow Slider/ I Start Breaking Down," "Sweet Thing," "The Way Young Lovers Do," "Cyprus Avenue / You Came Walking Down," "Ballerina," "Madame George" and two bonus tracks, "Listen to the Lion / The Lion Speaks" and "Common One."

The Hollywood Bowl concerts gave me a welcome opportunity to perform these songs the way I originally intended them to be," says Mr. Morrison, who amazingly held only one rehearsal prior to the concerts. "There are certain dynamics you can get in live recordings that you just cannot get in a studio recording. I love listening to live recordings. You get the whole thing right there, unabridged, raw and in the moment. There was a distinct alchemy happening on that stage in Hollywood. I felt it."....

....Both Bowl shows were filmed in high-definition, and will later be available as a commercial DVD concert film. Due to overwhelming demand, Mr. Morrison will perform "Astral Weeks" again, in show at the Theater at New York's Madison Square Garden, on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27 & 28. Accompanied by two different bands, Mr. Morrison will play two sets per show: one of "Astral Weeks" cover to cover, the other of rarely played Van Morrison classics. He may even pull out rare gems "TB Sheets," "Mystic Eyes," "Who Drove the Red Sports Car" and "Baby Please Don't Go."

Tickets go on Am Ex presale one week later for the two Paul Simon shows at Beacon Theatre.

In what has to be the weakest music release week of the year, I plan to skip the slim pickings and look forward to 2009's releases.

Did I miss any of the week's new releases?

Happy New Year...

Continue reading "Largehearted Boy's Interesting CD Releases This Week"

Van Morrison's October 14th show at United Palace is sold out, so he added October 12th & 13th. Tickets are now on presale. More (non-US) dates at his site.

Van Morrison recently released a new 'best of' compilation that you can read more about on his site, and at BlogCritics. On October 14th he'll play United Palace in NYC with Bobby “Blue” Bland.. Tickets go on sale Monday August 27th. More (non-US) tour dates at his site.