Van Morrison in Concert

It’s easy to take Van Morrison for granted. Listen to a radio station or streaming service playing Baby Boomer classic tunes, and something or other by Morrison ("Brown Eyed Girl," "Wild Night") will turn up. Same with piped-in music at the grocery store. Morrison is part of our cultural background noise, which is unfortunate because it obscures his unique vitality as an artist. Happily, Van Morrison in Concert features not one but two live performances by the Irish singer-songwriter that underscore Morrison’s soulful blend of rhythm and blues, Celtic mystery, and spiritual yearning. Filmed at the BBC Radio Theatre in 2016, Sir Van (he was knighted that same year) appears with a well-oiled band to draw from a broad catalogue of blues covers ("Baby Please Don’t Go"), classics by Morrison’s 1960s band Them ("Here Comes the Night"), and a healthy number of songs from his half-century as a solo artist ("Enlightenment," "Sometimes We Cry," "Keep Me Singing") in a generous 18-song set. Morrison is all business, more interested in weaving a grand spell than in stage patter, trusting his audience will be moved by a common quest for sensual, emotional, and sacred fulfillment. The second concert—an outdoor performance in Morrison’s hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2015 (celebrating his 70th birthday), finds him a bit looser, talking a little with the crowd and drawing deep from some of his finest work, including "And the Healing Has Begun" and "Cyprus Avenue," ending the 12-song performance with a mesmerizing, shamanic "On Hyndford Street." Presented in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and LPCM stereo on Blu-ray, this is highly recommended. (T. Keogh)