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“What can I say...Morrissey being Morrissey he could...”

written by Mindy on 25/05/2004

Good Points
It's MORRISSEY!!!!!!!!!
Smiths songs...yummy!
Morrissey
Las Vegas set
Did I mention Morrissey?

Bad Points
Arenas are vile.

General Comments
What can I say...Morrissey being Morrissey he could have come on stage and grunted and made rude noises for 90 minutes and I probably would have enjoyed the gig, so mine isn't the most objective of opinions. That said, having seen the man several times before, I have to say he was in fine form for his first homecoming gig in 12 years.



When he played in Blackburn about 18 months ago, even though it was a great gig, with a great setlist, it was a rather sad sight to behold, the audience was mainly aging men in very old t-shirts combing what was left of their hair into weak-looking quiffs. Would-be stage invaders just seemed too old and rickety to get over the barrier to touch the man, much less get on the stage to tackle him. Not so Saturday night. The crowd was much younger than expected, very sprightly, and very very excitable. I was not the only one sat in the crowd listing off Smiths songs I hoped to hear.



Moz came on in great fanfare to a rather unusual choice of intro music, a song I believe is called "The Imperfect List" by Big Hard Excellent Fish. He opened with what is so-far my favourite new track, "The First of the Gang to Die" and "Hairdresser on Fire" which prompted gleeful laughter from my companions. On the whole, I wish he'd played more of his older solo stuff, particularly from Your Arsenal and Vauxhall & I, but I can't fault a setlist that contained "Jack the Ripper," one of my all-time favourite Morrissey tracks, as well as 5 Smiths songs, including, "The Headmaster Ritual" (amazing!), "Rubber Ring," "A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours," (oddly slow and plinky sounding) "Shoplifters of the World Unite," and "There is a Light", the latter of which provoked massive amounts of dancing and singalongs out onto the street afterwards. Other highlights included "Everyday is Like Sunday," "Such a Little Thing," and "I'm Not Sorry."



As for Morrissey himself, he seemed in unusually high spirits, especially for him, and he looked good. Although he doesn't dance like he used to and the days of massive stage invasions are over, he still has the charisma to fill an arena and we were certainly hanging on his every word. The new material sounded glorious, better live than on CD, and the cover version "No One Can Hold a Candle To You" by Raymonde seemed an inspired choice.



The set looked like something out of Las Vegas with giant lit-up letters spelling out M-O-R-R-I-S-S-E-Y in front of a glittery background. Admittedly, Moz is always the centre of attention at his own gigs and he does not need a fancy light show or arty backdrops to fill the space for the people at the back. The 4 screens giving us an up close view were more than enough.



Everytime I go see Morrissey play live I always wonder if it will be the last time, and this is the first time in years that he's seemed to have a lot of life left and to be looking forward to the next album and tour. The world certainly could do with a bit more Morrissey and a bit less of most other things, so bring on Move!