Van Morrison's gift was the ability to cop a religious experience from the little stuff--the shade of a redwood tree; Jackie Wilson on a staticky radio; a glass of water. Oh, and women--not for nothing was his first hit (with Irish rockers Them) an elision: Gloria, the chick, and gloria, the great hosanna.
That spiritual suggestibility came off rather muted on Thursday night, when Morrison brought his Astral Weeks revival tour to DAR Constitution Hall. Clad in his signature pinstripe suit, tinted sunglasses, and the fedora that's been glued to his head for the past decade, Van addressed the audience only once--at the end, to thank the band--and otherwise seemed more concerned with PA glitches than with, say, his immortal soul.
