One of the bonuses of getting to Austin a day before the music festival got completely berserk was getting to see Van Morrison on Tuesday at the Austin Music Hall. It was a non-SXSW gig for Morrison - meaning real people had to pay real money for tickets, rather than flash a badge - who plays an official festival show tonight at La Zona Rosa. And for the Irishman who loves to play hard-to-get, the Texas dates are two of only four dates he's scheduled to do in the U.S. in support of Keep It Simple, which comes out April 1.
Like Keep It Simple, the show at the Music Hall was typical of the latter day Van the Man: rich, warm, soulful, with impeccable musicianship from a 10 piece band that featured pedal steel, violin, trombone, and the tootling saxophone and occasional mandolin playing from its 62 year old fedora wearing frontman - and a bit sleepy.
Morrison's music is so deeply relaxed these days as it digs into American vernacular forms, that it can be more than a little lulling. Even though the 90 minute show went off at 7 p.m. sharp, the dude next to me was nodding off during "I Don't Go To Nightclubs Anymore," the blues ballad credo of an aging music lover who sounds like he would rather stay home and listen to his Ray Charles records than come out and play. Morrison is still a master at commanding a groove, however, and his voice remains full of feeling even though he doesn't have the range he used to. He loves to rumble and growl, and placated a crowd eager for old hits with an extended "Moondance," and a perky, Dixieland flavored "Bright Side of The Road," for which he slipped into a Louis Armstrong imitation he also employed on a down and out "St. James Infirmary" I'd lov to hear again.
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