E mailed me a live pre sale link yesterday so that is probably where the front rows went.

I must say £75 for a front stalls ticket did not appeal in the least.

I have seen Van many times but decided a few years ago it is now a case of diminishing returns for increasingly expensive tickets. He no longer has the vocal range he once had (true of most vocalists as they get older), the recent material is not a patch on previous glories and he is reluctant to revisit what we mere mortals consider his finest work.The exception being the Astral Weeks reruns which he charged a further premium for.

A great shame as I was lucky enough to witness some truly wonderful shows in the past and would love to see another one. Hope you have a good night nonetheless

Got given a ticket for him at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester in 2003, the magnificent Solomon Burke was his support and he was marvellous despite being sat on his throne all through the performance

On the other hand,Van Morrison was a miserable so and so

But I've heard that he isn't the easiest when it comes to approaching him.

I was pretty obsessed with Van for a while in the early nineties but even then it was hit or miss. Saw him at least twice in the Playhouse. Great venue for him. Better than the Castle or the SSEC where I also witnessed his grumpiness.
Harmonica - ha ha. Sawing type motion - ha ha.
Enjoy the show.

and every gig was a treat - he was either mind-blowingly good or stropped off stage after a perfunctory set.

During the 90s he seemed to start phoning it in and there were less and less transcendent moments. The last straw for me was when he installed a large digital 'countdown' clock starting at 90 mins. The second that clock hit 00:00 he was gone.

If you've never seen him, then you should certainly try him once, just in case his muse hits him during the show. When that happens there's no better live singer...

...charity gigs at the Culloden Hotel outside Belfast last week, at £200 a head. I heard that a well known rock star walked towards him backstage... and ended up turning on his heels and walking the other way when Van spotted the approach and unleashed his joie de vivre on the poor sod. The world will not be a sadder place etc etc...

Some of the greatest shows I ever saw, mainly in early 80s and late 90s.

Last one I saw was Astral Weeks live in New York, 2007. Generally brilliant.

A tip, get there at the start time on the ticket. Otherwise you may miss half the show.

at Warwick Castle. I thought the music that night was truly special. He never said a word and as a consequence my GLW thought the show was a pile of shit even though she agreed the music was great.

Saw him before, during and after the Astral Weeks revisit.

The latter was just stunning and it was amazing to see him do justice to one of my favourite albums. But the dial-in mentality returned in full force for the following year's 'Greatest hits' show. What planet was 'Keep Mediocrity at Bay' a hit I wonder.

The album he needs to revisit is 'It's Too Late to Stop Now' - not just for the song choice, but also for the passion and energy. In particular, since the early 80s, Van has always employed drummers who tap and shuffle rather than hit and thud; and guitarists who major on the tasteful and polite, instead of the raw, wailing and scratchy. All part of his insistence that he's not a 'rock' act, but entirely wrong-headed.

but as a fan of The Fall a lot of the comments above ring very true. Increasingly overpriced tickets, phoned in performances with the occasional glimmer of greatness, gigs quickly curtailed once the artist had decided to retire backstage and yet you keep going back with hope in your heart that this time it will be brilliant.

The only real difference is that with The Fall its definitely not a good idea to turn up early, or indeed arrived with any hope of catching your last train/bus home unless you're happy to miss the last few songs.

Thankfully

Huge admirer but haven't bought any of his new stuff for a while and if I'm honest don't really get Astral Weeks - I find it a bit dull and find the articles written about it (apart from PDN's) pretentious to say the least.
Saw him twice - one of the smaller halls at the SECC 25 years ago (that has made me realise that I am old) and he was on for the 90mins and off. Saw him 10 years later at Wembley Arena with Georgie Fame and he was excellent and you couldn't get him off the stage. GLW and father-in-law have seen him since and just not worth parting with the hard earned cash to see him. Doubt I'll see him again and will just remember how good he was at Wembley - how often do you hear that?

and vowed never to pay to see him again.

He played whatever his current album was (A Sense Of Wonder, probably) in its entirety right off the bat.

Trouble was, the album had only just been released and I didn’t know a single song from it.

He then compressed some of his "hits" into a 10 minute medley and that was it, he was off.

Never spoke a single word to the crowd all night. Not even “Goodnight”.

Was a huge fan of his work at the time - even "Wavelength".

He came on, refused to address the audience, (Georgie Fame did the pleasantries) went through a perfunctory set, then fucked off.

He may not enjoy the performance experience, but if he's gonny charge me top wonga to sit in the rain then I'm afraid I'm gonny expect more. Unforgivably poor.

Haven't bought any of his work since, and find my listening of tracks I previously enjoyed is compromised by my updated opinion of him as a James Hunt.

So, in my case at least, the live experience can be regarded as "counter productive."

he seems to have played a decent gig, despite suffering from a cold.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/live-music-reviews/9024948/Van-...

Note there is no harmonica bag attached to the mic stand. Has the news filtered back to him?

I agree with virtually everything said about Van on this thread which can be distilled into great music (on the whole and ignoring last 15 yrs) but live a miserable git since the early 80's. You cannot overlook the man's talent though and its a shame that his reputation swamps his artistry. He is one of the very, very few artists who have made several truly great albums but I will probably never go and see him live again or buy one his albums.

1997...easily the worst gig I've ever been to. Would've been time better spent had I simply lapsed into a coma for 3 hours.

I can only reiterate what most other people have said. Seeing him live puts you off at least 6 months from listening to what is, aside from Bob Dylan and perhaps Neil Young, the greatest solo artiste back catalogue around. The only time I have seen him perform live with any commitment and feeling was at the NEC a decade or so ago when he followed Bob Dylan on stage. Perhaps he felt he had something to prove.
Never has there been a greater contrast between an artiste's work and the actual person.

cheers to everyone for their comments. its sort of what I'd expected when I bought the tickets but I'm still keen to see him once.

Will let you know how it turns out. Maybe he'll have a Road to Damascus style change of heart and go round the audience shaking everyone personally by hand and then take us all for a drink and a nice meal afterwards.

On the other hand, If it turns out to be as bad as everyone says, there's always that job as quality controller in my grandad's harmonica factory ...