(click on cover image for larger version)

Rave On
(bootleg CD)

1. Northern Muse (Solid Ground) (3:14)
2. Vanlose Stairway (4:34)
3. It's All In The Game (6:47)
4. Foreign Window (4:25)
5. Dweller On The Threshold (3:42)
6. Cleaning Windows (3:52)
7. Sense Of Wonder (5:00)
8. And The Healing Has Begun (7:38)
9. Beautiful Vision (sic - actually Celtic Ray) (2:42)
10. In The Garden (4:59)
11. Summertime In England (9:21)
12. Bright Track of the Road (sic - actually Full Force Gale / Bright Side Of The Road) (5:31)
13. Rave On John Donne / Rave On Part Two / Did Ye Get Healed? (9:30)
    Total time: (71:17)

Recorded live at the Glastonbury Festival, Somerset, England, on June 21, 1987. (The CD says "1987 Glassenberry Festial" (sic))

Probable Musicians:
Arty McGlynn: guitar
Steve Pearce: bass
Roy Jones: drums
Neil Drinkwater: piano and synthesizer
Richie Buckley: saxophone
Martin Drover: trumpet
June Boyce and ?: backing vocals

Review from David Walker: One of the strongest boots to come along in quite a while, Rave On is a very crisp soundboard recording from a not-well-documented period: 1987 prior to the tours with the Chieftains. Van's voice is in good shape, and his band, many of whom played on Poetic Champions Compose, are tight and often inspired. For me, the highlights of the cd are the fast numbers: "Dweller on the Threshold," "Cleaning Windows," and "Full Force Gale"; Van's clean phrasing and the band's precise, energetic rhythms make these renditions particularly memorable. If some of the meditative numbers - "A Sense of Wonder" and "And the Healing Has Begun," in particular - seem a bit too fast or prosaic, they're certainly competent and enjoyable. There's really not a bad cut on the album.

That said, I have to express my regret that the version of "One Irish Rover" Van performed at this show is omitted from this album. It's my all-time favorite version of the song: although very short (about three minutes), it is beautifully arranged and sung with a subtlety and emotional emphasis that make it quite unique. It *was* included in the BBC radio broadcast of this show in Europe a while back, but was omitted from the Westwood 1 Superstar Concert Series radio package that was broadcast on US stations in June 1997. It is the Westwood 1 radio discs that provided the source for this bootleg cd. According to Van expert Kevin Sheets, the Westwood 1 broadcast was superior to the earlier BBC European one, because although it unfortunately omits "One Irish Rover" (and "Help Me"), it includes several other very good songs that the European broadcast lacked.

Although not as stunning as the great Live in Montreux 1990 (aka Down by Avalon), Rave On is well worth taking the trouble to find, particularly if you're partial to Van's mid-to-late eighties period.

Review from Carlo in Berkeley: This CD is the June 21, 1987 Glastonbury Festival show that was originally recorded by the BBC and broadcast in the U.S. on June 16, 1997 by Westwood One Entertainment as part of their Superstar Concert Series. What the producers of this CD have obviously done is remove the announcer comments and commercials from the 2-CD set distributed by Westwood One Entertainment. Being digital, the sound quality is the same as on the Westwood One CDs.

The is an excellent show and the sound quality of this live soundboard recording is superb. Rave On is a 'Best Buy' since you get the great performance without the dumb announcer comments and obnoxious commercials that are on the collectors radio show CDs at one/fourth the cost. I am forgiving when it comes to the many errors in the setlist since I could not begin to do something similar in Norwegian.

Additional note from Blair, February 1998: There appears to be another version of Glastonbury '87, also entitled Rave On [cover shown at right]. The only difference I have been able to detect is that this "new" version includes an introduction to the "living legend, Van Morrison', thus making it 10 seconds longer than the earlier version. There is nothing on either the disk or cover to indicate the source of production, other than "VTM 001".

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