"WELL IT'S a marvellous night for a moondance," Van Morrison sang on the opening track of his classic 1970 album, also called Moondance, and 2015 is a marvellous year to celebrate the music of George Ivan Morrison, better known as Van Morrison.
This year, the Belfast singer-songwriter, whose music draws on the poetry of John Donne, Yeats, Rimbaud, and Kerouac, as well as blues, jazz, and soul, turns 70, and to mark and celebrate the man ands his music, IMRAM - The Irish Language Literature Festival is touring the show Moondance: The Van Morrison Project across Ireland, taking in the Town Hall Theatre on Thursday October 1 at 8pm.
Moondance features Irish language versions of Morrison’s songs, translated by poets Cathal Póirtéir and Gabriel Rosenstock, and performed by Liam Ó Maonlaí, David Blake, and Hilary Bow, with support from the Brad Pitt Light Orchestra. The music will be accompanied by screen projections of the lyrics by Margaret Lonergan.
“As Van Morrison celebrates his 70th birthday, IMRAM is particularly delighted to pay tribute to his poetic vision by touring its acclaimed Moondance show," said IMRAM director Liam Carson. "This is Morrison's work rendered in a passionate, driving show that fuses exquisite Irish versions of his lyrics with a full band sound that is nothing less than a Caledonian Soul Orchestra that draws deep on both Morrison's intensity and the well-springs of Gaelic culture - it is guaranteed to move hearts and feet."
Tickets are €20/16 from the Town Hall Theatre through 091 - 569777 or www.tht.ie
