“My first impression of Van Morrison,” Jimmy Page recalled of his days as a session lead-guitarist for Them, “was that he was a terrific singer.” Page paused for a short time to consider his statement. “No, I take that back. I thought he was a really dirty singer. Everything he did had a real big pair of balls to it.”

Despite the fact that his post-Them solo career has been relatively lowkeyed, Van Morrison has recently taken to performing “Gloria” onstage again. Wisely, he saves it for next-to-last, though no one who has witnessed Van Morrison live in the past half-decade would’ve dared hope for this. Swaying stiffly while the ten-piece Caledonia Soul Orchestra surges through the all-time ball-buster classic, he cracks a slight smile that soon becomes a broad grin. For once, and in what used to be the rarest of moments, Van Morrison and his audience make contact.