Van Morrison   Photo by: Melissa Broome

It’s been a busy summer of music and we are woefully behind on updating our blog. I looked back at our bucket list and we’ve knocked several off the list. The biggie was finally seeing Van Morrison. And not just Van but we caught him with the Outlaw Music Festival on September 8 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Outlaw Festival meant we were also treated to Tedeschi Trucks Band, Sturgill Simpson, Lukas Nelson and Willie Nelson. SCORE! What a night. Well, it rained. But otherwise, what a night!

But Van!! It was a great show! We’ve heard he can sometimes be moody on stage. It was a rainy night and starting to be cold and misty. But as the dark took over Hershey, he and his band ripped through a ton of classic hits and songs from his new album. They rolled from one song to the next. As the last notes were still playing, he’d call the next song and off they went.

Van’s set list was:

1.       The Way Young Lovers Do
2.       Sweet Thing
3.       Benediction (a Mose Allison cover)
4.       Magic Time
5.       Baby, Please Don’t Go
6.       Here Comes the Night
7.       How Far from God (a Sister Rosetta Tharp number)
8.       Days Like This (!!)
9.       Moondance
10.   Have I told You Lately
11.   Carrying a Torch
12.   Wonderful Remark
13.   Warm Love
14.   Vanlose Stairway
15.   I Can’t Stop Loving You
16.   Wild Night
17.   Broken Record
18.   Ballerina
19.   Did Ye Get Healed?
20.   Brown Eyed Girl
21.   Gloria

What a great show! We were thrilled to finally see him and heard several songs we were hoping for. Moondance, Baby Please Don’t Go, Have I told you Lately — wow! Wonderful Remark and Days Like This were less expected. Wild Night was fantastic. I Can’t Stop Loving You – what an incredible cover. He ended the show with Gloria. G-L-O-R-I-A-A-AAAAA! What an original classic. I looked it up since I wasn’t sure of the songwriter. I’ve heard so many bands do this song. It was originally recorded by Them and is written by Van the Man, Van Morrison. So grateful to check him off our list. We’ll see him again sometime!

Willie Nelson! Another photo by Melissa Broome

Seeing Willie was fantastic too. It’s been a few years and it was good to see that Texas Flag fly from the stage. I could see a difference in him from the last time we saw him but he’s still out there, still On the Road and picking for his fans all the time. Go Willie!

Willie invited Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks out and with them and his family, they closed out the show with I’ll Fly Away.