The first real surprise is "Slim Slow Slider," the closing cut on the original set and the third one here. The track order changes after "Beside You." It lilts and wanders with beautiful vibe work and Berliner's guitar. The live mix clicks and crackles it's raw, full, and immediate, without overdubs. He adds more gospel flavor to the tune, which is rooted there anyway with "I Believe I've Transcended." And you believe him. Morrison lets his players shine he rises to improve with them, feeling his lyrics anew. There is a beautiful sense of space as Tony Fitzgibbon's violin and viola solos come through in the middle and Richie Buckley's flute hovers from the margins. ( Berliner was lead guitarist on the original Astral Weeks sessions.) It's a tiny bit faster, but the flow is impeccable as skeletal strings come pouring through in the gaps. The title track opens the set with that familiar up-and-down acoustic bassline and Jay Berliner's nylon string guitar playing blues and jazz runs as Van keeps the first rhythm guitar chair down. His well-seasoned lower-register voice turned the wonder of a boy in 1968 into the spiritual receptivity and wisdom of a man who has weathered 40 more seasons of discontent and heartbreak. He extended most tunes, turning some into mini-suites while tightening others.
Morrison took the original track order and shuffled it to make it flow better live. With only one full-band rehearsal, Van responded by bringing this mythic material to life with a rock showman's sense of audacity, a poet's vulnerability, a jazzman's sense of timing, and the mastery of a singer who knows where to find the hidden magic in his material. Van Morrison's Astral Weeks had never been performed as a cycle before these performances at the Hollywood Bowl. When an artist decides to perform a classic album in concert, the possibilities for disaster are myriad.
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