Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason: ‘I was once out to dinner several years ago with about ten really well-known drummers…for some reason, we got onto the subject of Van Morrison. One of them said, Hands up everyone who’s been fired by Van Morrison! And nine out of ten put their hands up into the air’

https://www.vulture.com/article/nick-mason-wish-you-were-here-david-gilmour-roger-waters.html

29 comments

  1. Most miserable gig I ever went to. He seemed to have just as much contempt for the audience as he had for his band.

  3. Van Morrison is every bit as much of an asshole as he is a genius. Astral Weeks is one of the greatest albums of all time, but there’s no way I’d ever go and see him play live.

  4. Van Morrison has the worst voice in the history of music. His grossness as a human shines through every cat litter scratch and nasal whine

  5. As i have said everytime his awful cheeseball songs have come on over my decades of existence.. fuck Van Morrison.

  8. Van Morrison has chronic stage fright. 60 minutes did a story about it a long time ago. Probably plays into his personality in other ways too.

  9. Man, I lucked out. Saw him at the Chicago Theater, maybe 10 years ago, and he played for, if memory serves, 3 or so hours.

  10. I was told by a friend that he used to insist that the volunteers at his shows stood outside during his performance, because he didn’t want them to get a free show. No idea if it’s true or not.

  11. Okay, this seems like the place to ask this. Does Van Morrison not perform any of his classics? My wife had wanted to see him her entire life so we went to a show to hear him do covers, new stuff, basically anything that isn’t a classic. I get it, he’s still a working musician but dude, you’re playing Planet Hollywood, you know why people are there.

  13. A friend of a friend has a story about when they got to a Van Morrison gig. They were huge fans and managed to snag tickets with a meet and greet after the show.

    So they’re there back stage and he comes out to say hello. They tell him what huge fans they are, how much they love his music, what it means to them etc etc.

    To which Van Morrison replied: “well you’ve met me now so you can fuck off”

  14. This explains him being a dick to Winston Watson to some degree. What a shame

  16. I actually read the interview. Nick Mason seems pretty laid back. He put a pretty positive spin on every question asked. Even the mention of Van Morrison seems like he intended it to be funny instead of malicious.

  17. I saw him in the 90’s at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. He was phenomenal and did 2 fantastic encores. I heard from people that saw him the night before who said he was cranky and gave a lackluster performance. It seems like it’s luck of the draw with that guy .

  18. Funny anecdote: Van Morrison used to eat breakfast at the Howard Johnson’s in California where I worked briefly as a waiter. He ordered the same crap every time (poached eggs and wheat toast) and he was a grumpy shit who never tipped. Such a miserable little man.

  20. I gotta say, I saw Van Morrison back in the 80’s and it was a great show.

  21. Isn’t Van Morrison hooked on some crazy deal where has to do live shows?

  23. I used to be a big-time Van fan. Then he decided to murder people by spouting lies about the dangers of Covid. Fuck that lying, murdering piece of shit. There’s a special place in hell reserved for people who spread misinformation during a global pandemic.

  24. Maybe that’s why he only had a handful of good songs. He had more talent than his songs portrayed imo.

  25. I saw him in 1987. He was ‘on’ that night. One of the best concerts I’ve been to. I was lucky to see him before his head exploded. I think he was just starting to get a rep as a hit or miss artist even in the ‘80s.

  26. Two kinds of people. Those who like Van Morrison, and those who have met him.

  27. I saw Van Morrison play the Greek in Berkeley sometime in the mid-aughts. His band was shit-hot, but the gremlin ruled them with an iron fist and would yank their chain the second they started to get into the groove. He also antagonized the sound man in the middle of Moondance, and brought his daughter out for a number…overall, it was a tense, truncated, stop-and-go performance that was disappointing at best. He put in maybe 45 minutes at most, and I could see him gesturing angrily to the band in the wings when they kept playing after he walked off. Yeah, that killed it for me, I’d only see him again if he was low on the bill for a better act.

  28. After listening to some songs mentioned here, this is solidly in the realm of music I don’t get. I for sure wouldn’t let this guy be an asshole to people around me.

  29. Went to van at chastain park in atl and when he walked we sat in our seats thinking encore and people were telling us he’s done. 2 years later saw him at alpharetta amp. He fucking walked off stage at 90 minutes and didn’t finish song. Go to steakhouse bar after that was closing that ends up packed from everyone leaving at 830 on the dot due to him quitting at EXACTLY 90 minutes. Bar gets louder and louder and louder about his asshole move until the whole bar was “fuck that dude” it almost ruined his music for me!!!

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