Van Morrison

Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sunday, September 20, 2015

Zoom Recorder - Internal Mics
Wav file recorded in 16 bit/44kHz
Audience Digital Master
Taping location is estimated to be "about 1/2 way back"
Mastered and tracked by ninjadave -> who is NOT the taper

The Band
Dave Keary (Guitar)
Paul Moore (Bass)
Paul Moran (Keyboards)
Bobby Ruggiero (Drums)
Dana Masters (Vocals)

"A thousand thanks to the taper, to my music-loving brother for his work on polishing these shows, and to all who make
sharing the music possible." ~ avalondan

SET LIST [107:59]

01 - Celtic Swing 3:34
02 - Close Enough For Jazz 3:04
03 - Moondance/So What 6:13
04 - Days Like This 2:53
05 - Precious Time 2:56
06 - Talk is Cheap 4:09
07 - Keep Mediocrity at Bay 4:24
08 - Carrying A Torch 4:03
09 - Enlightenment 3:13
10 - Magic Time 4:59
11 - Whenever God Shines His Light 4:44
12 - In the Midnight 4:44
13 - In the Afternoon/Ancient Highway/Don't You Make Me High/Burn Baby Burn/Raincheck 9:51
14 - Think Twice Before You Go 3:27
15 - Baby Please Don't Go/Parchman Farm/Don't Start Crying Now 5:59
16 - Ballerina 7:41
17 - And The Healing Has Begun 6:15
18 - It's All In The Game/You Know What They're Writing About/Make It Real One More Time/Burning Ground 13:02
19 - Gloria 12:38


~ THE REVIEW ~

"Magic Time in Toronto"
by avalondan [who attended the shows but is not the taper]

During two powerful shows at Toronto's Sony Centre for the Performing Arts on September 19 and 20, Sir George Ivan
Morrison demonstrated his continued vitality as supreme soul-sender and improvisational marvel. I have been whining
for a good year now that I thought Van had cut back considerably on his classic improvisational skills, musical dynamics
and pure, unvarnished passion. There were times of brilliance, but I thought things were becoming much too routine.
I chalked it up to age, and death, and the ghosts, as poet John Berryman put it. But the Belfast Cyprus Avenue birthday
gigs showed major signs of the Van performance style I have known and will always love. The afternoon show finale of
Ballerina, And the Healing and Garden were terrific songs delivered with drive and beauty. The finale of Hyndford Street
in the evening set summed up the day in gorgeous, dramatic style. And then on to Toronto three weeks later, where a
combination of a lovely venue, a great audience, pristine sound, a performer completely committed to the cause and a
finely tuned band added up to two wonderful evenings of music. The sound of surprise as the music unfolded, the passion,
the drama were all back in full force, and a relaxed Van sang with as much authority as I have ever heard. The set lists
featured a diverse mix of Van tunes in the first half, nicely paced. The second half of the show brimmed each night with
Morrison in full vocal flight, the lights of the cars on the overpass, shining like diamonds in the night, driving all
night long, until the sun comes up. Burn baby Burn, you're gonna make me high. Morrison used all of his classic imagery,
nature-based and mystical. I believe there was even a reference to his young children, as he repeated over and over
"Daddy, take me down, please, to the burning ground. Daddy, take me across the river, across the water. Daddy, please."

The shows opened with the traditional songs to warm up the pipes, merely pleasant. Then he mixed things up in the middle
of the gigs, doing songs ranging from the greasy, grinding blues of Talk is Cheap and Keep Mediocrity at Bay and I Believe
to My Soul, to a propulsive, sweeping version of Motherless Child, guitars strummed hard, and a wonderful, woozy In the
Midnight. The All in the Game both nights was epic, so much new revealed, despite the fact that he has sung it so often.
The way he formed the words into exquisite shapes: "Make it real one more time....one more, one... one.... one... one."
"And you take my hand, and you walk with me, and sometimes it feels, like eternity." Can it be said any better? And how
much more pleasurable to hear it sung by a voice that is truly blessed. Van's enunciation at these gigs was the best I
have ever heard. The Ballerina was superb in its beauty and clarity. Both shows ended with Gloria, whom the audience
loved, and the great band absolutely pulverized it as Van got into his limo and took flight again...

~ Mastering Notes ~

The show is very good for internal mics, similar to the first night but the sound is slightly more distant. However, it
seems to be much more consistent than night one, no real waivers or muffles. Another *nice* sounding show for sure. The
only "edits" I performed were 1) balancing out the channels; and 2) a bump to the overall volume. No EQ. I did not boost
the volume to the last song, it was already plenty loud and its a great jam!!

Repost if you like - just keep info and file set intact. I would start disc 2 with song 14 - there is a fadeout at the
end of song 13 - the taper did that on the master.

Upped by ninjadave - Nov 2015