Satisfied In Olde York cover
(click on cover image
for larger version)

A Van-L CD-R Tree Production
Satisfied In Olde York
(The Barbican Centre, York
United Kingdom, November 7, 1998)

CD 1
  1. Rough God Goes Riding (5:26)
  2. Real Real Gone (3:42)
  3. Satisfied (4:14)
  4. Ain't That Lovin' You Baby (3:41)
  5. In The Afternoon / Joe Turner Sings (7:29)
  6. Cleaning Windows (4:00)
  7. Vanlose Stairway / Trans-Euro Train (4:45)
  8. Help Me (4:11)
  9. For Mr. Thomas (5:07)
  10. A Change Is Gonna Come (4:37)
    Total time: (47:16)

CD 2
  1. Summertime In England (6:57)
  2. Just Like A Woman (5:19)
  3. Wonderful Remark (3:35)
  4. That's Life (5:03)
  5. Raincheck (5:19)
  6. See Me Through / Soldier Of Fortune / Thankyou Falletinme Be Micelf / Burning Ground (13:23)
  7. Have I Told You Lately (5:00)
    Total time: (44:38)

Musician credits:
Van Morrison: lead vocals
Nicky Scott: bass, backing vocals
Johnny Scott: guitar, lead and backing vocals
John Savanah: keyboards, lead and backing vocals
Liam Bradley: drums, percussion, lead and backing vocals
Pee Wee Ellis: baritone, soprano, tenor saxophones, flute, lead and backing vocals
Matt Holland: trumpet, flugelhorn, backing vocals

Administration & Liners:
Tree administration for this tree was by the indefatigable Linda Beatty! Richard Batey was kind enough to custom design some great jewel-case liners for this show.

Concert review by Van-L member Gerry Smith:
Van's Saturday show in York was one of the best we (wife Anne and I)'ve seen. Ever. Friday's show was good, if a trifle workmanlike. Tonight's was inspired. Van speaking in tongues again, a conduit for some higher being.

We knew from the way the band and the main man walked on stage: jaunty swagger replacing yesterday's shuffle. The first verse of the first song confirmed it: Van scatting as if his life depended on it.

We've probably never seen a show take off so quickly. Tonight, Van had a point to prove. Maybe he'd been shaken by a disgracefully negative review of Friday's gig in the local York paper (song selection "arrogant, repetitive and self-indulgent"..."stage presence of a microphone stand"), written by an expert who claims to be a 20 year member of the Van club, "without ever having seen him live".

Come again? In England, where you can see a Van gig about once a month: a "fan" who's chosen to miss 250 gigs?

Maybe the crowd had also read the bile and were keen to prevent a repetition, for they were excellent: respectful, like last night's, but more demonstratively appreciative. Whatever the motivation, everybody in the Barbican was really up for it tonight, from the off.

Highlights: no point listing 'em. Peaked in track 1 and maintained it.

A few points of interest:

  • Matt's solo in "Love In the Afternoon" as poignant as ever; the magnificent Joe Turner medley included "Shop She Mop" for the first time(?)
  • "Vanlose" had me in tears: deeply moving. Kilroy never longer than this version.
  • "Mr Thomas" had a reference to Sausalito (credit: Naveen)
  • "Summertime In England" to die for. Longest "Silence" finale ever, slightly marred by a wanker shouting "Van you're the Man" just before the end. I'm sure Van found the information very helpful.
  • "Just Like A Woman". Stunning version. Sexual meaning emphasised by "she f-f-f-f-fakes like a little girl" and play on word "come". Naughty Van: you were playing to Middle England out on the weekend. Some of the Mothers would be offended.
  • "See Me Through" added a new reference: You say in France...

Saturday in York was magical. On nights like tonight, nobody, but nobody can touch VTM.

Van Tree Policy:
Please respect the efforts and the wishes of the dedicated bands of volunteers who put countless hours of time and energy into producing and treeing these rare live performances: please do not offer any of these tree volumes for sale.

Part of the van-the-man.info unofficial website