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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Critic rating
Reader rating
Description: The Irish folk-rock songsmith and his band play songs from their back catalogue.
Phone: 0870890 0146
Trains: Tube: Golders Green/Archway, then bus 
Playing to a picnicking crowd in Hampstead's stately surrounds, Van Morrison could be expected to go on autopilot.
Yet the clipped funky intro sounded by long-time guitar accomplice John Platania on the opener Domino suggested something more exciting in store.
The volume was often too low for tender intimacies to take hold and badly organised seating caused bizarre showdowns between members of the crowd and security staff but on stage The Man - with dark glasses, pork pie hat and VM logo strategically placed on the mike stand like a prizefighter's belt buckle - was clearly working hard to refresh seldom-heard parts of his illustrious canon.
After a superlative St Dominic's Preview, rearranged to highlight the 10-piece band's keening violin and mandolin, Morrison strapped on a ukulele.
"Time for some of George Formby's greatest hits," he waggishly announced. Wigan's finest remained untroubled, although latest album title track Keep It Simple was ample compensation.
The big pay off came with Ballerina and The Way Young Lovers Do, 40-years-young treats from his classic debut solo album Astral Weeks.
At 61, Morrison has inevitably lost the high register range of yesteryear but his artistry is consummate enough for that not to matter.
Largely brass-free, the band repeatedly treated old warhorses to deft rearrangements. Platania was let off the leash for a thunderous Wavelength and, as night descended, the post-coital moonlight drive on In The Afternoon recalled another, long-departed Morrison - Jim.
By the time a claw hammer banjo-driven Bright Side Of The Road arrived, audience members swarmed into a fenced off enclosure and the police judiciously stepped aside.
The "sha la la las" on Brown Eyed Girl led to a careering and emphatic Gloria - a predictable yet pleasurepacked climax.
Simple, but superb.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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