For fans, Van Morrison's magic is worth the wait

No one in the sold-out Opera House Monday night seemed to expect a greatest-hits show from Van Morrison. There were no boors howling for "Gloria" or "Brown Eyed Girl" from the cheap seats at every quiet moment, behavior that regularly annoys at shows by Morrison contemporaries like Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Good thing, because he didn't play them. And the rapturous reception of his typically diverse set list seemed to buoy Morrison to the point where he showered a little of the old magic on us.

Hard-faced and sleepy-lidded behind his glasses, wearing a suit and fedora, Morrison looks more like late-period Robert Mitchum now than the dreamy Belfast Cowboy of 1967. His show is a sort of country/R&B supper club revue, in which he sings and plays guitar, sax, and harmonica in front of a polished 10-piece band that includes steel guitar, fiddle, and organ. They're fine, but the magic is all in Morrison's unique, growly voice.

Things began at 7:30 sharp with a dreary middle-of-the-road intro from the band alone. They didn't really pick up until the sixth number of the set, a chipper "Magic Time," on which Morrison and the band seemed to finally feel each other.

Audience favorite "Cleaning Windows" found a little of the old Zen, and "Back on Top" gave fans lines to cheer. There were versions of "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" and "I Can't Stop Loving You," plus a Sonny Boy Williamson blues and a duet with his daughter, singer-songwriter Shana Morrison. Her proud dad's voice overshadows her less-distinctive instrument, though how could it not?

Morrison's best singing may have been on the boozy weeper "There Stands the Glass," a Webb Pierce hit he covered on his 2006 country album, "Pay the Devil." He seemed to notice that the audience responded, and drew out the "it's my . . ." tagline for a long moment, complete with a drum roll before finishing: ". . . first one today!"

"Moondance" may be mandatory, but Morrison sang less on it than any number all night, preferring to play sax. His two swaying backup singers took the entire "I want to make love to you tonight" verse. Not awful, but not exactly transcendent either.

The show ended just after 9 with "And the Healing Has Begun." Morrison played guitar on this song, but he also sang with the rolling and tumbling semi-improvised phrases that are his version of speaking in tongues, when the music is "ringing in your soul, and the heart, and the soul, and the swing, and the healing has begun. . ."

That was what we all came for.