2012)

Above: My ticket to the Morrissey show along with his ridiculous playbill pic.

My friend Joey was nice enough to buy us tickets to see Morrissey in concert this year for my birthday as he and I are longtime fans of The Smiths as well as Morrissey’s solo career. My birthday was months ago and October seemed a long time away at that point, but I was pleasantly surprised (reminded) by my Microsoft Outlook calendar at work that I had a show to see on Thursday night. Two very happy [straight] guys were going to see the King of Mope.

Prior to the show snippets of live shows played on the big screen–everything from historic 40s vaudeville slapstick to video from a 60s German MC5 concert. When Morrissey took the stage the crowd was primed and dutifully erupted when the opening chords of The Smiths’ “Shoplifters of the World” blared through the speakers. Two songs later most every fan in attendance was tapping their feet along to “Everyday Is Like Sunday.”

Morrissey’s melodramatic delivery on songs like “The Youngest Was the Most Loved” and “You’re the One For Me, Fatty” were particularly sharp, but as was to be expected the crowd got the loudest when Smiths covers were played. During “Still Ill” he crooned “Ask me why and I’ll spit in your eye” whilst whipping the microphone cord around like Simon in Castlevania; the crowd ate it all up. Morrissey began a slower rendition of “Meat is Murder” with a joke about our fearless leader: “President Obama eats lamb. A lamb is somebody’s baby. President Obama eats babies.” Red lights shown down on stage with graphic PETA-esque footage playing in the background.

Aside: I ate a burger the next day for lunch and felt like a total dick.

As “Let Me Kiss You” was winding down Morrissey tore off his shirt in dramatic fashion (how else would Morrissey tear his shirt off?). The most ridiculous and entertaining part of the show was when fans (mostly if not all male) jumped up and rushed Morrissey on stage for hugs. He amicably accepted said hugs before each and every fan was forcefully escorted offstage. Never before had I seen so much gratuitous hugging from a performer. He continued with “One Day Goodbye…” topless before leaving the stage to put on another, well, top?–a bright pink, frilled diddy that looked like something a female gymnast would have hanging in her closet. He closed the proper set with Vauxhall And I‘s moving outro, “Speedway.”

If anything was at all disappointing it was the one-song encore, something which can separate a really good show from a great show. I wasn’t complaining as “How Soon is Now?” was the chosen encore, but I was expecting a notable Smiths single and two or so Morrissey singles (I was hoping for “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get”…that song is so frigging good). Despite the encore’s brevity smiles stretched wide across most of the faces leaving The Palace that night.

Setlist

1) “Shoplifters of the World Unite” (The Smiths)

2) “Have You Killed Me”

3) “Everyday Is Like Sunday”

4) “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris”

5) “Black Cloud”

6) “The Youngest Was the Most Loved”

7) “Still Ill” (The Smiths)

8) “Ouija Board”

9) “People Are the Same Everywhere”

10) “You’re the One For Me, Fatty”

11) “Action Is My Middle Name”