VAN MORRISON/NICK COHN

VAN MORRISON/NICK COHN (Guildhall, Derry)

DERRY's Festival of Literature almost accidentally injected some unexpected musical life into Octoberfest when a planned reading by Nik Cohn turned into one of the most memorable Van Morrison concerts in years.

New York based Cohn, who was brought up in Derry, wrote the rock history Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom and produced the germ of what became Saturday Night Fever. He bravely read extracts from some of his books to a politely attentive audience, most of whom were reluctant to admit that they were really there for someone else. Morrison had unwittingly hijacked Cohn's gig when agreeing, just a week beforehand, to take part.

McCann the Man (Eamonn, that is) had set the scene, having been asked to "contextualise" the evening. He delivered a typically passionate plug for the cultural life of the city in general and the Undertones in particular. Those who thought they were at a literature festival were suitably bewildered.

All the while, speculation was mounting over what exactly Morrison had in mind. Was it to be a reading with a few songs thrown in? A discussion? A concert of acoustic music?

In the end, it turned out to be none of these. On stage came the nucleus of his current band: Tina Lyle at the piano, Belfast bassist Nicky Scott and Derry drummer Liam Bradley. Then the familiar slouching figure, complete with the faithful waistcoat and dark glasses, ambled front of stage and launched into nearly ninety minutes of musical perfection, a concert in all but name.

Not since the famous Belfast "homecoming" concerts at the Whitla Hall has he appeared so relaxed on home soil. He picked a fairly typical mix of his songs, old and new. Yeats and Kavanagh were in there among his own poem-songs, with Tina Lyle's piano and vibes giving a delicate brightness in just the right places.

Several times Morrison gave us insights into the songs although he cut down on the chat later in the set. Like many good reciting poets, he seemed to find the applause hard to handle. He finally thwarted a lone premature clapper by running much of the second half into medleys.

It was surely an evening of Enlightenment. The audience was both enlightened and delighted. Morrison later professed himself equally happy. The only person who was disappointed was Nik Cohn who enjoyed the show but would not have chosen to be Van Morrison's warm-up man.

Van's set went on so long that the Dungloe Bar was too full for his entourage or any but the most persistent of the audience to squeeze in to what has become the unofficial Festival Club. It was well worth the effort, though, as Canray Fontenot and the Cajun band Filé delivered what was surely the best set of authentic Louisiana Creole music ever heard in Ireland.

Fontenot, just turned seventy-two, is the Creole equivalent of the singers of his generation who sparked the blues revival of the Sixties. He sang his heart out, stroked the most magical sounds from his fiddle and charmed the entire house. And Filé, an established band in their own right, proved the perfect foil, positively reeking of the Louisiana swamps. A perfect ending to an evening which will be talked about on the streets of Derry for years to come.

• Geoff Harden