Because Morrison has played dozens of high-profile radio broadcasts and televised festivals over the years, there is an abundance of crystal-clear soundboard recordings available. Start with these before diving into audience (AUD) tapes.
Van has released official live albums: It’s Too Late to Stop Now (1974) is widely considered one of the greatest live rock albums ever made. But it is polished. It is curated. The bootlegs offer the other nights—the ones where the setlist goes off the rails, where Van stops a song halfway through to chastise a photographer, or where the final encore disintegrates into a chaotic, joyful gospel jam.
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And remember: Van himself disapproves of bootlegs. But for fans, they’re the only way to hear the full, sprawling, unforgettable live journey of one of music’s most restless spirits.
The 1978 tour supporting Wavelength saw Van revisiting Astral Weeks in full. No bootleg captures this better than This is Van at his most vulnerable. Stripped down to acoustic guitar, upright bass, and a jazz drummer playing with brushes, he performs “Slim Slow Slider” as if the song is still a wound. The bootleg hiss becomes part of the atmosphere—like rain on a window. One collector online described it as “hearing the ghost of the album before it was polished into myth.” Because Morrison has played dozens of high-profile radio
Unlike bands like the Grateful Dead or Phish, who actively encouraged taping, Morrison's security teams have historically cracked down hard on audience members carrying recording equipment.
The story of Van Morrison bootlegs is one of desire versus control. Fans have always wanted to access and share the transcendent moments of his live performances, while the artist has often sought to control his output. As one of the most heavily bootlegged performers in rock history, his relationship with this underground has been "uneasy and unofficially tolerated". But it is polished
Before we dive into specific tapes, we must address the paradox of Van Morrison. Officially, he is hostile to his own legacy. He rarely interviews. He sues tribute bands. He has a notoriously checkered history with live albums— It’s Too Late to Stop Now (1974) is the glorious exception, while A Night in San Francisco (1994) is brilliant but sanitized.
| Quality | What it means | Example | |--------|--------------|---------| | | Direct from mixer. Often excellent. Rare but exist for 1973-74. | “Rainbow 1973” SBD | | FM Broadcast | Very good to excellent. Many 70s shows were broadcast. | Pacific High Studio 1971 | | Audience (AUD) | Huge variation. Some 90s recordings are great; 70s AUD can be muddy. | Montreux 1980 (good AUD) | | Pre-FM | Studio rough mixes for radio. Rare but superb. | Outtakes from Hard Nose sessions |
"The Rainbow Theatre, London, May 24, 1973" Why it matters: The soundboard of this show circulates in near-perfect fidelity. The 17-minute version of “Listen to the Lion” here is arguably the greatest single recording of Van Morrison’s career. He growls, whispers, and roars like a man possessed. The band moves from modal jazz to hillbilly blues. It is exhausting and transcendent.