MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: VAN MORRISON - IN CONCERT (Blu-ray)

Hello, what's this? Not one, but two Van Morrison concerts grace this Blu-ray? I love you, BBC Music. The first was filmed in 2016 for the Beeb's In Concert series, in front of a small studio audience, Morrison's small, five-piece combo, with the Man himself blowing lots and lots of sax. That set's 76 minutes, while a second, contemporary show called Up On Cyprus Avenue is also included. It features the same-sized group, but a very different set list, with only five songs repeated out of 15 in that hour-long concert.

These shows have a little of everything for fans, which is hard to do when you're talking about a career going back to the early '60's. But Morrison makes it work, sampling his earliest, blues days with "Baby Please Don't Go", with a fine harp solo, throwing in a hit or favourite every little bit ("Wild Night", "Brown-Eyed Girl", "Jackie Wilson Said") and playing six cuts off the recent Keep Me Singing album of that year. Never one to sit still, Morrison has released two full albums since then.

The band needs to be sharp and adaptable with all these styles on parade, and there's some pretty sharp players up there, young (keyboardist Paul Moran) and older (Dave Keary on guitar, one of Ireland's most respected players). Singer Dana Masters gets to duet with Van on a couple of numbers, and her work on "Sometimes We Cry" lifts her boss to an energized performance. Most fun though is watching Morrison these days, enjoying all his sax and harmonica solos, and belting out true blues, his favourite, like "Going Down To Bangor".

The second concert is a special outdoor concert in Belfast, celebrating Morrison's return to the city as a newly-knighted citizen, especially for his services for tourism and charity in Northern Ireland. It was remarked at the time how jovial he seemed about the honour and the hometown appearance, and he does seem to be having more fun, without a bit of the grumpy old Van around. He throws off some asides to the band and front rows, smiles a little and puts everyone, including the viewer, at ease. For this show, he seems keen on concentrating on his vocals, being the jazz man, and "It's All In The Game" is a special highlight. He was 70 for these shows, and performing with lots of passion.