One of the great questions to a music fan is, who did you not see that you wish you could have seen play live? The answers are usually pretty obvious – Hendrix, Zeppelin, Joplin, Miles, Marley, etc. I have an extension to that question: Who do you wish you could have seen play live on a specific tour or year? Many people have seen Bob Dylan in the past few decades, but imagine what it would have been like to see him go electric at Newport in '65 or with the Rolling Thunder Revue in '75? McCartney, the Stones and Springsteen keep coming around. The Cure, Pixies, and Pavement all hit town this decade. And heck, Rod Stewart might even reform Faces this year. But no matter how hard we try, we can't go back and see Elton John in '70, the Stones in '69, Stevie Wonder in '74, James Brown in '63, Springsteen in '75 or the Sex Pistols in '77.

Enter for a chance to win .. It's Too Late to Stop Now ... Volumes II, III, IV & DVD using the form below!

I saw the Sex Pistols in 1996. There was good reason they called it the "Filthy Lucre Tour": a cash grab and a hoot, but too late and removed from the context of the original gigs that turned rock 'n' roll upside down; it was meaningless culturally. It was nostalgia for a time when the band rejected phony nostalgia. I saw the Clash in 1982. That was closer to the source, and it changed my life.

So what does any of this have to do with Van Morrison?

I saw Van Morrison at Randall's Island in June of 1997. It was kind of like going to see Elvis in Vegas. The band was solid and tight and, from what I recall, Van sauntered on the stage, let loose with that incredible voice of his, ran thru a couple hits, a couple covers, and a couple songs from his recent albums. People cheered through their Guinesses and Jameson's. We were seeing a legend. It was good. It was nice. Honestly, it was also kind of boring. I'm glad I saw him, but it didn't inspire me or change my life. It wasn't Van Morrison in 1973.

But now we can go back in time to 1973 with the magic of a new triple-CD, vinyl and DVD addition to Van's catalog titled ..It's Too Late to Stop Now ... Volumes II, III, IV & DVD. It's Van Morrison with a solid, tight band, letting loose with that incredible voice of his, running through a few of his hits, a couple covers, and a couple tunes from his latest couple of albums. It's also one of the greatest live albums I've heard in my life.

So what's the difference?

This is Van Morrison at the absolute top of his game. He's creatively inspired. He's inventing the show — the same show I saw 24 years later — but in 1973. No one had done anything like it this well before, playing with genres and walking a tightrope vocally, re-interpreting his own songs and re-invigorating songs of his heroes like Bobby Bland and Hank Williams – or Kermit the Frog ("Bein' Green"). The crowd is encouraging, thrilled by the music, and why shouldn't they be? Van Morrison in 1973 is in the middle of one of the great five-year runs in rock history. Like Stevie Wonder after he liberated himself at Motown in the '70s, or U2 from Boy to Joshua Tree, or Springsteen from Born to Run to The River or the Clash from their debut to Sandinista, or, you know, the Beatles '64 to '69. Van Morrison left the British blues band Them in '66, put out "Brown Eyed Girl" — the biggest hit of his career — in '67, then pivoted over to make the masterpiece Astral Weeks, followed by Moondance, His Band and Street Choir, Tupelo Honey, Saint Dominic's Preview, Hard Nose the Highway and Veedon Fleece, all between '68 and '74.

Van built a crack live band for the 1973 tour — The Caledonia Soul Orchestra — fleshing out the standard rock lineup of guitar/bass/drums with keyboards, horns and strings. He mixed rock, jazz, blues, folk, soul, country, Irish storytelling and dervish hippie mysticism like no one before or since (though I'd give points to the Fisherman's Blues era Waterboys for trying). The lineup and sound he achieved informed so many that came up right after him, from Springsteen to Elvis Costello to Tom Waits, and is even heard strong today with artists like Nathanial Rateliff and the Night Sweats.

At the peak of all this creativity and music making, Van hit the road in 1973 for what may have been his greatest and most consistent touring. And while the original version of It's Too Late To Stop Now is rightfully recognized as a landmark live album in rock history, this new edition takes it even further. Instead of picking and choosing songs from among the several shows recorded, now we get to hear the band evolve with a each disc containing the unreleased songs from a full performance, a club show at Los Angeles' Troubadour on May 23 to an arena show at the Santa Monica Civic on June 29, to Van's first London gigs of the decade at the Rainbow Theatre July 23 and 24. And the differences are stark and fascinating. Where many bands today tour behind the same or similar set list and production, over the course of Morrison's 1973 tour, he and the band worked in over 40 different songs.

The first disc from the Troubadour may be the best. With a more intimate crowd, Van charges forth, joyfully swinging through the material and playfully interacting with the audience, making this perhaps the ultimate album to crank up with friends on a sunny summer evening in Minnesota. Moving into the arena for the second disc, the band is playing at faster tempos; there is a nervousness that brings an edge to the set. Maybe it was the pressure of the bigger venue, maybe it was something in the chemical composition of the band that night, but whatever it is, Van is frantic, pacing hurriedly through the songs and the set. Less swing, more drive. Then you get to the London shows, and by now the band has been cooking for a couple months. There is nervousness but also confidence upon returning to London where Them became the biggest band to break out of Ireland during the British invasion. Van keeps on that highwire, pulling the songs apart or locking them down, jabbing and weaving like Ali in the ring, while the band follows his every inflection and gesture. It's improvisation amidst tight arrangements, which is not easy to do with 11 musicians. The effect is mesmerizing to listen to.

Then you get to the video, originally broadcast over the BBC in 1974. The first thought is how much a mess it looks visually: a jumble of musicians cluttered on a too-small stage, minimal lighting and shoddy camera angles. You'd never set it up like that today, especially if you wanted to show the results on the BBC. But it doesn't matter. Once you get past that you start to see the subtle genius that is Van in '73. It's like watching a baseball game: You can sit back and take in the broad strokes, or really dig in and appreciate the nuance of why the pitcher threw that fastball high and inside on one-and-two to set up the curve ball away for the strikeout. That's what I thought about watching Van lead the band, eyes closed at the mic, not paying attention to the audience at all, lost in the songs, with both us and the band hanging on his every move. The result is some of the purest performance you will ever see; a master at the top of his game.

I've always known Van Morrison was good, but this is one of those times where the more you hear of these shows, the more you realize he was more than just great. In 1973 Van Morrison was at his best, and among stiff competition (Bowie, Stones, Stevie, Bruce), he was the best. I highly recommend digging into .. It's Too Late to Stop Now ... Volumes II, III, IV & DVD because if it's never too late to start appreciating awesome.

The Current's Van Morrison Giveaway

Use this form to enter The Current's Van Morrison .. It's Too Late to Stop Now ... Volumes II, III, IV & DVD giveaway between 1:30 p.m. CDT on Thursday, July 7 and 11:59 p.m. CDT on Sunday, July 10, 2016.

Two (2) winners will receive one (1) .. It's Too Late to Stop Now ... Volumes II, III, IV & DVD three-CD and DVD box set. Three (3) back up names will be drawn.

Prize retail value: $90

We will contact the winner on Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Winner must accept by 10 a.m. CT on Thursday, July 14, 2016.

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Related

• Van Morrison, official site