WITH the trademark hat and tinted glasses in place, our man picked up the saxophone and welcomed his audience to this headline concert at Perth Festival.

If ever an artist let the music do the talking, it's Van Morrison. The crowd could have no beef with this – it simply meant more time for a thoughtful set, packed with crowd-pleasers and, with the aid of a sublime seven-piece band, some reworked versions of songs that are ingrained on the musical memory of a generation.

The evening shifted moods beautifully. At times a cellar jazz club, with silky renditions of Moondance and The Way Young Lovers Do, to a sixties rock club and Them's Baby, Please Don't Go.

The mature Morrison voice is one that can soar or purr, crack or deliver aching bittersweetness. When it growled and howled over such precise but warm playing, it sounded all the more animal at times.

Pagan Heart gave us that most unusual of things, a humming solo. It was absolutely gripping and as the stage lights dimmed to near darkness, the hall became still and silent (well almost, there's always one).

Morrison rescued his Brown Eyed Girl from a million pub bands and gave her a jazz beret. Not too many audience members had a crack at singing along with the "Sha la la la la las". Thank goodness – with the semi-scat approach, it could have been messy.

I've found Van Morrison's approach to live performance slightly sterile in the recent past, but this was a night that seemed to achieve a balance of satisfying both artist and audience.

To quote the man himself (his total spoken contribution for the night): "Big hand for the band."

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