In a song from his new album, Van Morrison asks Whatever Happened To PJ Proby? One could well ask the same of Morrison.

The apparently temperamental artist who is often criticised for refusing to engage with his audience was sweetness and light itself over two nights at The Dome.

In excellent voice, he shared a few jokes with the capacity crowd from behind his trademark sunglasses and fedora.

On both nights, Van showed he was The Man once more with an enthusiastic workout of some of his greatest hits as well as his new material.

He seemed relaxed and upbeat this weekend - even playful on his version of the tender, Ray Charles-like Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?

The song has become something of a cabaret classic and Morrison gave it a full-on, high-camp, swing arrangement which he dubbed "The Las Vegas version".

Although the singer enjoyed his 57th birthday two weeks ago, he is putting out some of his finest material to date.

Poetic and soulful, his music encompasses gospel, blues and jazz with a Celtic heart.

Like his great contemporary Bob Dylan, 2002 is proving a good year for Morrison with his album Down The Road gathering excellent critical reviews as well as a successful tour.

The only cloud on the horizon is a bizarre legal wrangle with a Salisbury Plain publican.

The multi-instrumentalist demonstrated he is a thrilling saxophonist on the wonderful jazz standard St James Infirmary Blues and It's All In The Game was another superb cover version.

He was ably supported by a good backing group and a good set by Bap Kennedy, brother of Van's backing vocalist Brian.

The encore of Brown-Eyed Girl brought the audience to its feet for an upbeat boogie to mark the end of a superb performance from an artist scaling new heights.