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OL’ BLUE EYES IS BACK
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It wasn’t just the fedora he wore on stage, or the cover of "That’s Life" he performed toward the end. But it did seem from last Thursday’s show at the Orpheum that Van Morrison is out to be a modern Frank Sinatra. He may be the only singer from the ’60s and ’70s rock era with the voice to justify that comparison. And he’s currently exploring a Sinatra-like musical mix: the Orpheum show had plenty of jazz and blues, saloon ballads, and songs for swingin’ lovers, with a little rock and roll for the kids, but only in the encores. What’s more, few other performers evince the same mix of finger-snapping cool and "don’t mess with me" professionalism. He directed his new band with a firm hand, talked little between songs, and wrapped it up after 90 minutes. According to Orpheum personnel, he’d insisted on getting off stage by 9:30; he made it with 10 minutes to spare. Although the show didn’t catch fire the way his previous Orpheum appearance (during his short-lived 2001 partnership with Linda Gail Lewis) did, it maintained the winningly casual feel of his past few albums — from which he drew the better tunes (the jump blues "Whinin’ Boy Moan" and the existential shuffle "Precious Time") and avoided the many rants about fame. Yet he invested more in the cover tunes that dotted the set, doing a vintage speaking-in-tongues scat bit during "It’s All in the Game." And "When You’re Smiling" provided a glimpse into his eccentricity, as he made a well-received lyric change ("When you’re sober, you bring on the rain. So stop that crying, get drinkin’ again.") without dropping his guard. The audience seemed to understand that Morrison doesn’t play many of his own oldies: cheers of recognition went up for "Have I Told You Lately" and "Days like This," even though those songs date only from the mid ’90s. As for older tunes, there were just four. "Jackie Wilson Said" and "Into the Mystic" both fit comfortably into the set with laid-back grooves and extended horn solos. And instead of a predictable "Moondance" or "Tupelo Honey," the encores went back to the ’60s for "Gloria" and "Brown-Eyed Girl." He rarely does those songs anymore, and they made an odd finish to a decidedly grown-up and non-rock evening.
BY BRETT MILANO
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