Not sure which Van shows to start or build your collection?

With the proviso that this is like asking a Mother to pick out which of her babies is ugly, here are my favorites.

Absolutely essential shows (IMHO) are bolded.

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1964-75 
 Genuine Philosopher’s Stones (3)
 Studio/A
26 Ap 70 
 San Francisco and Others, aka Rocks His Gypsy Soul, Gets His Chance to Wail Vol 3
 Mix/A
5 Sept 71
 San Francisco (2)  aka The Inner Mystic, remastered, - A passionate & sincerce performance.  
 SB/A
30 Jun 74
 Montreux - aka  Pure - at least we know he's engaged with the show and audience
 SB/A
1 Nov 78
 New York (2) The Bottom Line, Early and Late shows, - interesting to compare the E & L shows.
FM/A+
26 Nov 78
 Los Angeles (2) CSPV6 
FM/A+
Feb 79
 Belfast & Dublin, aka In All Your Revelation - The triumphant return by the prodigy son.
TV/A+
23 May 81
 Rotterdam
 Aud/A
4 Ap 82
 Essen - The pop of "Wavelength" was long gone. Time to search for a deeper meaning behind the music. Heal me brother Van!
 TV/A
26 Jan 84
 Cannes, aka Articulate Speech of the Heart
 FM/A+
11 Jul 84
 Montreux (2) aka Summertime In Montreux, If ever a show qualifed as a religous experience in a secualr world, this was it.
FM/A
23 May 85
 Chicago (2)
SB/A
25 Jul 86
 Berkeley, aka Sounding in the Clouds
 SB/A
21 Oct 86
 Amsterdam
 Aud/A+
19 Nov 86 
 Bristol (2) CSPV2
 Aud/A
21 Jun 87
 Glastonbury (2) aka Rave On Remastered  - Perfect show, perfect band, perfect Van.
SB/A+
4 Jun 84
 Hamburg - Stadtpark, remastered
 FM/A+
30 Nov 89
 New York (2)  aka The Concert Unabridged. The DVD of this show is a must have as well.Georgie does some wonderful  B3 work.
SB/A
18 Dec 89
 Dublin (2) aka Days of Deep Devotion - average sound but a truly passionate performance
 Aud/A
20 Ap 90
 Boston (2)   - From Gallway to Boston Town
 Aud/A
11 Jul 90
 Montreux - my first Morrison bootleg. A new direction, more R&B, jazz, funk and soul.
SB/A+
1 Ap 91 
 Utrecht (3) aka Pagan Streams Revisited  - legendary show, nuff said.
 Aud/A
13 Mar 92
 Bangor (2) - Van is "on" for > 130 minutes - what a great show, what a great setlist, what a great time to be a VanFanatic.
Aud/A
21 Ap 92
 San Francisco (2) aka You’re Not a Rented Audience
 Aud/A
6 Feb 93
 Dublin (2) - Point Theatre - some VanFans have ranked this as a top 5 show of all time.  Van goes into a trance and channels himself from the early 70's. And without a doubt, the best version of Gloria you'll ever hear. Even a jadded VanFan will listen w/ new excitement.
Aud/A
15 Feb 94
 Oxford (2) - aka A Night In Oxford
 Aud/A
Ap 94
 Malmo (6)
SB/A
14 Ap 95
 Cambridge (2) -  aka Lost in a Fugitive’s Dream,
Aud/A
30 Jun 95
 New York City (2)  JAH V1
 Aud/A+
6 Aug 95
 Edinburgh - God, I love this show. Totally unique and swinging.  It gets major playtime in my home.
FM/A+
16 Sept 95 
 Bournemouth (2)  aka Stepping On A Dream,  I don't rate many audience recordings as an A+, this was one.
Aud/A+
17 Dec 95 
 Dublin (2)  aka From Dublin up to Sandy Row,  if you only pick one show, start with this one
FM/A++
Ap - May 96
 New York (4)  - The  Supper Club  - come dine w/Van, it will fill you up.
Aud/A
13 Jul 96
 Den Haag Netherlands (2)
 FM/A+
18 Oct 96
 Leverkussen - aka It’s Van’s World, w/C.Dulfer, the term "Eye Candy" was invented just to describe this woman
 FM/A+
3 Feb 97
 Belfast - aka Live at The Waterfront
 SB/A
29 May 97
 Dublin (2)  - Live w. R. Buckley Jazz Group, Temple Bar  - jazz, jazz, jazz like you've never heard Van  before
 Aud/A
7 June 97 
 London - aka  Top of the Bill
 Aud/A
18 Nov 97
 Ahlen Germany - Aalener Jazz Fesitval with C.Dulfer - funky stuff baby, funky
 FM/A+
18 Feb 98
 Brighton (2) - Brighton Dome Memoirs
 Aud/A
22 May 98
 Vancouver and LA (2) aka Misty Wet With Rain. OK, I confess, I like Brian Kennedy. His falsetto voice was a great compliment to Van's.
Aud/A
19 Dec 98
 Dusseldorf, Germany (2) aka Emerald Dreams- the show starts out hot and keeps on cooking  --- wonderful with more Eye Candy
 SB/A+
28 May 99
 Ham-On-Wye (3) - aka Having Fun With Van Morrison On Stage
 Aud/A
9 Jul 99
 Loreley, Germany, aka Live at the Loreley
 TV/A+
23 Sept 99 
 Utrecht (2)
 Aud/A
1999
 Turning Lead Into Gold, Best of 1999 (2) 1999 was a very good year. And with each passing year, I like it more and more.
 Mix/A+
10 Jun 00
 Oslo, aka It's All In The Game
 FM/A+
17 Dec 00
 Basel (2) aka Outskirts of Basel, I don't care for the song material but at least he's rocking hard with Linda Gail
 FM/A+
1 Jun 01 
 Hay-On-Wye (2)
 Aud/A+
Jan 02
 Warwick (3)
 Aud/A+
30 Aug 02 
 Torquay (2) aka Return of the Lion - for good reason
 Aud/A
2003+
 I'm not sure when it exactly started but sometime around 2003+2 years, Van went into a period of artistic delcine. The shows became dull, lifeliss repeats of performances and setlists. If you heard one, you heard 'em all. Even his commercial releases lacked originality.  Consequently, I've stopped listening to every show so no doubt, I've missed some gens but here are the ones that struck my fancy.

15 Jul 03
 Perugia (2)  -  includes filler of Songwriter's Hall of Fame presentaton to Van -  interesting songs from HowLHTBGOn
 Aud/A+
13 Nov 03
 Hamburg (2) -  In the year of the boring deja vu shows from a tired journeyman, at least the sound of this show was great.
FM/A+
19 Mar 05
 Boston (2) - The Orpheum. Many people consider this show to be an oasis in the musical desert of 2004. It's good but not on par with
some of the great Van shows of old. Still, one one sip of water is better than none at all when there is a drought going on.
Aud/A-
18 Feb 06
 Brighton (2) - a new album is coming, some new songs, I like the violin and steel guitar interplay, not too bad at all
 Aud/A
7 Nov 06
 Detroit (2) - Van the performing man shows up in a good mood and delivers a lively show in spite of a noisy crowd. One of the best in 2006 (and maybe even since 2003).
Aud/A+

         

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