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Midnight Special, a skiffle group, consisted of fellow pupils, John McCullough, tea-chest bass, Cyril Downey, guitar, Billy Ruth, guitar, and Walter Blakely on washboard with Van on guitar and vocals. In August 2014, Van Morrison returned to perform three shows as a fond farewell to his alma mater as it prepared to close its doors for the final time. Live at Orangefield is a specially curated album, of recordings from these very shows.
When it first opened in 1957 Orangefield was a boys' school, then the girls' school was added before both schools merged and remained so until Orangefield was finally closed due to falling numbers of pupils in 2014. Three years later it was demolished. For roughly sixty years both schools had provided an educational and social focus to many thousands of young students from east Belfast and further afield.
"When I was a young boy back in Orangefield, I used to look out my classroom window and dream." - Van Morrison

But much more than that. The energy and drive, the poetic reinvention Morrison brings to his recollections stand out against the ravages of time. His is a voice of exhilaration and dance as well as poignancy and romance.

Tracklist

Celtic Excavation
Into The Mystic
Cleaning Windows
Orangefield
Moondance
Precious Time
That's Life
Too Many Myths
Got To Go Back
Real Real Gone
You Send Me
Rough God Goes Riding
Enlightenment
Sometimes We Cry
Northern Muse (Solid Ground)
On Hyndford Street
Ballerina
In The Garden

Enjoy