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Jim Harrington
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Van's 'Back on Top' in Berkeley

The Belfast Cowboy rode into Berkeley and presented a very memorable night of music Tuesday.

It wasn't quite as good as the show Van Morrison put on at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco back in March. But it was far better than the majority of Morrison gigs that I've seen in 14 years of reviewing live music in the Bay Area.

The 61-year-old native of Northern Ireland, as has been well documented, has certainly turned in his share of mediocre performances over the course of his legendary career. Yet it's been impossible to write him off as live performer since he's sporadically shown the ability to lift his game to a very high level — which is exactly what happened at the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre at the University of California.

Tuesday night's show had one thing going for it from the get-go: the start time.

Earlier this year, his Masonic gig started promptly at 6:45 p.m. On a Friday night. In the parking hell of San Francisco's Nob Hill. That meant that anyone who didn't live in the City by the Bay had a really difficult time getting to the show on time.

In contrast, his Greek gig started at the more reasonably time of 7:30 p.m. That made things easier, but still not great. Without the cushion provided by an opening act, Van the Man took the stage promptly at 7:30 p.m. (maybe 7:28 p.m.) and many folks were still trying to find their seats as late as the fourth song.

Those latecomers didn't miss all that much. It took Morrison a few songs to warm up, and he really didn't start rolling until a third of the way into his 90-minute set.

Backed by a group of fine players, including steel-guitar guru Cindy Cashdollar, the rock icon first hit the crowd with an average take on the title track on 1999's "Back on Top."

At this point, we were forced to take his word — he didn't initially do anything to show us that he was, indeed, "Back on Top." He followed with another lukewarm offering, the title track to this year's "Pay the Devil."

Things began to click for Van the Man a few songs later as he jumped and jived his way through "Fame," one of the more memorable cuts from 2003's jazz-influenced "What's Wrong With This Picture?" CD. His winning ways continued on the sweet "Irish Heartbeat."

Morrison was really feeling it by the time he hit, ironically, "I'm Not Feeling It Anymore" from 1991's superb

"Hymns to the Silence" disc. The band, which seemed to feed off its leader instead of the other way around, was also flying at full throttle by midway through the concert.

The vocalist then called out a special guest — and, no, it wasn't Carlos Santana, the usual guest at seemingly all Bay Area concerts. He brought out his daughter Shana Morrison for a touching family duet on "Sometimes We Cry," the tender ballad found on 1997's "Healing Game."

Making an abrupt left turn, Morrison plunged headfirst into the rowdy rambler "Playhouse," one of a handful original compositions from the cover-song heavy "Pay the Devil." The tune featured some of Cashdollar's most impressive slide work of the night.

The highlight of the show came when Morrison grabbed the alto sax for the traditional "Saint James Infirmary," a tune he recorded on the "What's Wrong With This Picture?" album. That gorgeous number is a regular highlight of recent Morrison shows, and it certainly wowed fans at the Masonic back in March.

Vocally, Morrison played it fairly straightforward, keeping the scatting and tomfoolery to a minimum, as he sang warm versions of the classic hits "Moondance" and "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)." In general, he did a better job with the hits on this night than he did at the Masonic. Conversely, the "Pay the Devil" tracks performed at the Greek didn't quite live up to the memories of March.

Morrison closed the show strongly, ending the main set with hyped-up versions of "Wild Night" and "Brown Eyed Girl" then returning for an encore of the immortal "Gloria."

It's hard to argue with those three selections, so I won't even try. Instead, I'll just hand it to Van the Man for living up to his nickname in Berkeley.