Robert's Review of Fleadh 99 San Francisco at Golden Gate Park , 6/5/99

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Fleadh 99 in San Francisco on a cloudy afternoon in Golden Gate Park but the music shone on. Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Ben Harper, and John Lee Hooker headlined the Irish festival. It was a large crowd that seemed to appreciate Ben Harper the most but I think the generation gap was showing.

John Lee Hooker joined his band for the great "It servers you right to suffer" and then brought the crowd up with a great version of "Boom Boom". A couple of more slow blues and an all out boogie was enough to remember. Still sounding good and holding true to his sound of the blues. A living legend that hasn't aged musically.

Ben Harper was new to me but not to the crowd you cheered him and his funky band through "Gold to Me" and a number of numbers that got progressively heavier. Harper plays a slide guitar on his lap with complete abandonment while his bass player filled in all the holes over a funky beat laid down by a drummer and percussionist. My first impression was okay but he obviously had a lot of fans sitting near me.

Elvis Costello played guitar and Steve Neive played piano. Now I admit I'm partial to guitar and piano duets but this was something. Elvis played a number of classic old songs without any cluttered production, opening with "Accidents will Happen", and including "Olivers Army", "Vericona", "Little Atoms", and "I write the Book." He added some from his collaboration with Burt Bacharach including "I Still Have that other Girl" and the Beatles tune "You've Got to Hide You're Love Away." Then he switched to an electric guitar for "Allison", "What's so funny about peace love and understanding", and "Pump it Up."

I've lost interest in Elvis over the last few years, finding his music remote the few times I sampled it but this set renewed my respect - the songs were great, the performances were the same. I had thought about checking out another stage during Elvis but I'm glad I didn't give up my spot.

Van closed the show with his new band and he was having a great time. He was working the audience and the band spending time playing harmonica and cheering the band members on and other times teasing the crowd. Great solo work on sax, trumpet, and organ but the band was weak on the backing vocals. The background vocals are a big part of the songs but here they were a let down, but still a great night. He started with a straight version of "Moondance" and added "Jackie Wilson Said", "Vanlose Highway", "Cleaning Windows", "Days like This", and a great version of the old blues song "Help Me". He also played an extended version of "In the afternoon" in honor of the time of day and "Philosophers Stone" and "Precious Time" from the "Back of Top" album. He closed out with the "Burning Ground" and then encored to a crowd pleasing "Gloria". Another outstanding show from Van - a master performer, a great songwriter, and maybe the best vocalist around.



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