Van Morrison condemns socially distant concerts

Some interesting comments have broken out on that page.

And the ol' double-edged sword still cuts two ways...

Saw this yesterday.

Van Morrison is a fucking idiot.

Overrated IMO. But like him.

Good for him. Time to take our world back.

Always liked his work but he has screwed the pooch on this one. Maybe he and Sammy Hagar can catch it together and also share a ventilator for being fuckheads.

Why didn't he play Sturgis.  It would have been economically viable. 

van is not very tall

what did the red rocker ( bobby's buddy ) do?

overrated?

ok.

1. Cat "did somebody say fatwah" Stevens

2. Ted Nugent

3. Van Morrison

^ My "will never see because of shit they've said" list.  I'm sure there's more, just don't want to strain my brain at the moment (The jury is still out on Sammy Hagar, what with his recent comments).

Sounds like the OP is ignorant to the fact that almost every single independent music venue in our country right now is less than 90 days from shutting down. I'm not a fan of Vans music but I think he is right. Without a solution for these venues to stay in business then they should have concerts. Thousands of people shuffle in and out of targets and Walmart's everyday. Why can't concerts hold venues? Are people not allowed to make those choice of going or not going? 
 

When every single music venue shuts down and you were just sitting there trying to call them "irresponsible" just remember that you actually were just helping the cause that put them under.

Music is essential. People should be able to choose whether or not to buy a ticket and go to a concert just like whether or not they're gonna go to walmart

Or just like they're going to gather in the streets of la for a protest. 

Van - Drunken Irish Irrelevant

If any social gathering only risks the health of the people who choose to gather, that would be fine.

After any gathering, people risk spilling what they have gathered in their own homes, neighborhoods and communities. 
The "pseudo-science" argument seems to suggest that people ignore science so that a musician can make money. 
That maintaining economic viability is more important than the maintaining the safety of concert attendees, their family and their community. 

Some of you have poor taste in music.

overrated?

irrelevant?

will never see because of shit they said?

Seen Van as many times I could manage,  and every show was Great.  Really fine ensembles and Great Sound.

Nugent,  never.  Not my scene.

Cat Stevens quit touring late 70's,  maybe 1978 ?

Yusuf (formerly Yusuf Islam) played a few shows between 2014-2016, but I didn't manage to attend.

If he were to play at the Woodbridge High School athletic field,  I'd definitely take a ride up there (weather permitting).

They have squares painted on the field for physical distance.  Three shows I've attended,  I didn't have to touch any person or physical thing which I did not bring.  When I urinated in the Porto-let,  a new Kleenex was between my finger and the door-handle upon opening the door.

More concerned about the Cheese Steak I purchased before the Show.  Sure,  it was baked at 400 degrees or so,  but maybe the wrapper had tiny fragments of Viral RNA from the manufacturing plant ??  So far,  I'm fine...  No sniffles,  no difficulty Breathing,  temperature is Normal.

Timpane trying to equate a Walmart to a show is pretty dumb. How often are you elbow to elbow with someone in a packed Walmart for 4 hours? I imagine most music fans have half a brain and wouldn't attend a packed show at a venue at this time. You need more than shows. You need people to attend them. 

I get what Timpy was saying: let adults make choices.

Problem is, it's not that simple. Let's say there are 18,000 people in a packed arena. Let's say 0.5% of them are carrying the virus, whether sick or not. That's 90 people. Over the course of a 3 hour concert, in a place with little ventilation, half of those 90 cough or sneeze, infecting 10 people around them. Now we.'really at a new 450 cases. The other 45 people scream, holler, sing and cheer. They each infect 5 people. Now we're up to a total of 675 new infections.

Those 675 people made choices and have to live with it. However, their coworkers who will get infected didn't, nor did the babysitter, who goes to visit grandpa and grandma the next weekend. Their kids will become carriers, and a couple of school staff will get sick. One will die. More people will get infected.

Honestly, Timpy, what is wrong with you? Do you not understand how pandemics spread? Do you think that you have the right to make personal choices that may cause harm to unknowing parties?

I have a better idea: maybe all those multi-millionaire musicians should pony up, pick a couple of clubs and smallish venues, and give back. The Stones could form over $50 million and keep tons of venues afloat. Van Morrison is worth $90 million. What's $10 million to him? Madonna, U2, Bobby, Phil, Beyoncé, Springsteen, Shakira, Toby Keith, Lil Yachty, the list goes on, hundreds of acts from every genre. They all came up in small clubs and venues. Their combined worth has to be in the hundreds of billions. Maybe they can save the music venues that made them who they are.

^^^What NYCdave said!

Van Morrison is a fucking idiot.  <<<<<<<<<<<<

Priceless - I can agree.

Great musician though.

Idiot-Savant?

Van Morrison is a tremendously talented musician. 
I was fortunate to see him (many moons ago) in both NYC and the Masonic Auditorium in SF.  

His performance at the Last Waltz is all there then some. 
 

While I understand the concern musician have about their need to perform, pretending their is no danger in people attending concerts seems like throwing fuel into a fire. While we all miss attending live music shoes, there is something to be said for not infecting yourself or others. 
 

Damn, I feel a need to condemn something

Has anyone asked Morrissey how he feels about masks at his concerts?

Morrisey is human, he wants to be loved, just like anyone else.

and the Masonic Auditorium in SF.  <<<<

Loved those shows. My fave Van shows by far. Epic nights on the hill.

Damn, I feel a need to condemn something<<<

Try it, it feels good.   There's a special sense of certainty I now have re: never going to see him.   

4.  Mike Love

^ I knew I was forgetting someone!  And he's a relatively recent too ... with the Trump Jr. trophy hunting concert earlier this year.

5.  Gene Simmons

6.  Kid Rock

7.  Loretta Lynn

8.  Wayne Newton

https://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-who-support-trump-2016-11#wi...

Has anyone asked Morrissey how he feels about masks at his concerts?

Not sure about masks but I always get a smile remembering his fairly recent booking announcement where he stipulated that the promoter needed to have screening at the door to (smell?) if the people entering had eaten meat and if they had, refuse entry to them. Needless to say, not a single promoter agreed. I'm sure if meat eating device similar to what they use for drunk driving is developed that he will insist it be used at his concerts. 

The irony is that the one time I went to a Van Morrison concert at the Greek, he had his back to the audience the entire time. He really doesn't care about the audiences. Talk about being socially distant..
 

I love Van's music and have seen him many times over the years.  Like the GD:  some good, some bad, some life altering.  

He is a selfish, egotistical, greedy, person.  He has long charged top dollar for his infrequent US shows.  In recent (many) years, he has a bright digital clock on stage, counting down his 90 minute-to-the-tee performance, including band-only intro and outro.  

He is also, imo, amazingly talented; genius level.  

Apparently, science and giving a shit about anyone else aren't his strong suit.  

If there are 100k packed in the streets for a protest is that any different than 20k packed in an outdoor arena? I'm not debating cause or movement or anything like that but it doesn't seem like "infecting others" is truly at the forefront of the protests so why can't we have music?

i think indoor venues will be a tough sell for any musician but eventually they will have to resume.

My wife's school in NJ has decided to bring staff and kids back full time indoors. My wife was able to get a medical pass to teach virtually because she has pre existing conditions. At any given time her regional high school has 2k+ people in attendance, 5 days a week but the governor still has a ban on indoor.

The teachers don't buy a ticket to go to work, they are being forced to by the NJ board of Ed. even though digital schooling is available.

Do you know what that tells me? NJ doesn't care about spreading or people getting infected. They just care about justifying their funding next year.

Nobody cares about your safety once money gets involved so why can't we have concerts? 

So because some people (protesters) are acting unsafely, we should have more folks (concert-goers) acting unsafely.

Makes sense to me.

Red Rocks is starting to have some concerts (with plenty of spacing), but CO state mandates capacity of any event at 175 people.

The Oriental Theater in Denver (indoors) is also starting some limited capacity shows.

Red Rocks will be fine since the City of Denver owns it. It's the smaller venues that are bleeding out.

Actually it's the state of NJ who is acting "unsafe" but you probably missed that, Surf Dead.

On a more important note, I wonder if Van still fucks groupies after his shows? how many all time for Van? More than Bobby?

A pretty good interview from 2015:

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/van/van-morrison-being-famous-i...

Except - 

I never considered myself a hippy. In fact I hated it, actually. I was actually anti-hippy. I was sort of in the wrong place in the wrong time. I was in California when these people, hippies, were around – and, you know, it was difficult to get away from.

What did you hate about it?

What did I hate about it? It was funny. It was just totally funny... All these people saying that they were different, but they were all the same. They were trying to be, “Oh, we’re different. We’re hippies, and we’re in a commune.” And, you know, they were so different that they were all the same. It was just another badge. And then the record companies started signing them up, because that’s what made money. “Oh, the hippies make money, so let’s sign everybody who has long hair. Whether they can play or not doesn’t matter. Let’s just sign them up anyway.” The whole thing was a farce. It was always “peace and love” but it was really negative, actually.

Wow. The ego and lust for $ is strong in Van The Man.  Not becoming qualities.  

 I really wish his music did not move me so much. 

Van the man still holds a grudge over Weir's success as a ladies man.

Bob the man.

If there was one performer at The Last Waltz who didn't get laid that night, I'd bet it was Van.

>>>I wonder if Van still fucks groupies after his shows<<<

I have no direct knowledge on this, but a few years ago I was at a show in a small venue where Morrison was going to play a special show with jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco the next night.

Near the end of the show I was standing at the top of the venue by an empty VIP table when an official ushered in some people, who stood next to me while they got the table ready. Even in the dark I knew immediately that one of the people was DeFrancesco, because he is a mountain of a man and impossible to miss, so I looked around and sure enough a portly little gnome was standing right next to me, Van the Man himself, along with two very attractive young ladies.

DeFrancesco took a seat at the table, followed by the two women, but there wasn't enough room for another and Van began fussing, ultimately making DeFrancesco get up and stand in the isle next to me while Van sat with the women. 

Maybe they were his daughters or something, but it didn't look that way from how he sat with them.

Joey D. is a star in his own right, but Van was the Man (and more than a bit of a jerk from my perspective) that night, and he probably didn't sleep alone.

I saw Joey d play with his trio and spoke to him briefly when I bought an album from him. Great fucking show and he is by far the greatest Hammond B4 player I've ever seen. Only downer was when he started playing the trumpet which there wasn't much need for. Anyways, Van has got some balls getting fussy with Joey D. He could pick Van up and toss him right through a wall if he wanted to.

The Irish soul singer is so mad at the restrictions, he even penned a new protest song, "No More Lockdowns":

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/sep/18/van-morrison-fascist-bulli...

"No more lockdown / No more government overreach / No more fascist bullies / Disturbing our peace …

No more taking of our freedom / And our God-given rights / Pretending it’s for our safety / When it’s really to enslave …”

>>>>>Honestly, Timpy, what is wrong with you? 

His phone's broken.