LAST week, there was doubt about whether Van Morrison ever really played in Darlington – those who chronicle his every appearance have no record of him appearing here.
However, they said, it could have been when he was in his first band Them because their dates have not been fully recorded.
Morrison joined Them in 1964, recorded two of his most famous songs with Them in 1965 – Gloria and Here Comes The Night – and toured the US with Them in the second half of 1966 before the group split up. Therefore, the window in which he can have played Darlo is very small. However, Dave Smith, in Eggleston, has no doubt.
“I can definitely confirm Van appeared in Darlington as frontman and vocalist for Them,” he says. “They were on at the Majestic Ballroom, as it was then, in 1965 or 1966.”
Dave continues: “I have a clear recollection of Van at the front of the stage. He was a little ginger-haired chap in a grey jacket or suit. He seemed totally disinterested and certainly wasn’t gifted with an abundance of charisma.”
Did anyone else see Morrison at the Majestic?
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