Beautiful Visions

I first saw Van Morrison in concert a few years ago on a graceful lull of a summer evening in Limerick, Ireland. Watching the singer-songwriter make out with his beloved gold saxophone as an eight-piece band backed him in the courtyard of the King John’s Castle was a revelation of sorts. A mere slip of a lad of 76 at the time, Morrison was unfashionably decked out in a raffish hat, reflecting shades, and an ill-fitting blue suit. That night, he had not only attracted the nostalgia vote of the older “Vanatics”; the audience was also full of young people who were not born when his best-known releases first saw the light of day. In 2025, the same is probably true of the critics who showered his latest album, Remembering Now, with boisterous acclaim.I first saw Van Morrison in concert a few years ago on a graceful lull of a summer evening in Limerick, Ireland. Watching the singer-songwriter make out with his beloved gold saxophone as an eight-piece band backed him in the courtyard of the King John’s Castle was a revelation of sorts. A mere slip of a lad of 76 at the time, Morrison was unfashionably decked out in a raffish hat, reflecting shades, and an ill-fitting blue suit. That night, he had not only attracted the nostalgia vote of the older “Vanatics”; the audience was also full of young people who were not born when his best-known releases first saw the light of day. In 2025, the same is probably true of the critics who showered his latest album, Remembering Now, with boisterous acclaim.