OK, for reasons I am still confused by, Morrissey played a show on Saturday night at the Greek Theater here in Berkeley, headlining a bill together with the Mexican rock band Jaguares. Although I am a big Smiths fan, I am less familiar with Morrissey's solo work, so keep that in mind as you read. This was my first time seeing him. Morrissey came on before Jaguares, as in truth this was their tour, at about 7 PM. Despite that fact, however, the set lasted just as long as a regular show, and clocked in at about an hour and a half. Mr. Morrissey seemed to be in good spirits despite the leather jacket someone threw at him in the opening seconds of his set. I have to say, he really is one of the best frontmen I've seen perform, he really seems to enjoy what he does and knows how to get the crowd worked up. His voice was very strong the whole night, and his, erm, spastic movements were exactly what I expected. Lots of people brought flowers to give to Moz, who had some great reactions when he took them - or didn't take them, as he did in one case, reaching out for the flowers, and then pulling his hand back as if he were a jilted lover at the last second. It was great! The set list: (stolen from morrissey-solo.com) I Want The One I Can't Have / Hairdresser On Fire / Suedehead / Little Man, What Now? / The First Of The Gang To Die / Jack The Ripper / Late Night, Maudlin Street / I Like You / Mexico / Sister I'm A Poet / Alsatian Cousin / Everyday Is Like Sunday / The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores / Meat Is Murder / Irish Blood, English Heart / November Spawned A Monster / Speedway // There Is A Light That Never Goes Out In all, he played 3 Smiths songs, 2 of which aren't exactly my favorites, so I was a little disappointed on that front. Also, some of my favorite Morrissey songs like 'The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get', 'The Last of the Famous International Playboys', and 'Ouija Board, Ouija Board' weren't included either. Closing the show with 'Light' was a great surprise though, the crowd was so into it, singing along with every word. Morrissey ended the song by saying clamly, 'The priviledge is mine' with which he ripped his shirt off and threw it into the crowd, never once singing the 'There is a light and it never goes out' part of the song. Also, apparently (I could be wrong), this was his first performance ever of the new song 'Irish Blood, English Heart', although I liked the other new songs of his better, The First of the Gang to Die and I Like You especially. Since I was with my girlfriend, and she wanted to get home by a decent hour, we left before Jaguares got started, whom I would have liked to have seen to be honest. I actually like a lot of Latin rock I have heard. The band that came on before Morrissey was a band called Jumbo, who were very good I thought, I was quite impressed, as was my girlfriend. They had kind of an Emo (Mex-emo? ;-P) feel to them. Also, everything I've heard so far by the Chilean band La Ley I have liked. Anyone who knows what Jaguares sounds like care to tell me what I might have missed? All in all, I was pleased with Morrissey's performance and I will definately see him again. -Adam
How long has Morrissey been playing Smiths material in concert? He once described all of the old Smiths songs as a dead cat buried in the back yard -- good memories, but not worth digging up to relive them. He must be a bit desperate.
That's a pretty decent set list. I heard about this tour, but haven't really heard why the strange bill... Did you guys catch the blurb in NME last week that Mozza claims he's never been approached to reform The Smiths? I'd pay to see them again.
A Smiths reunion would be a multi-million dollar payout for every member. Meanwhile, in the world of current reality, Morrissey can't find himself a record deal, nobody to my knowledge is breaking down the doors to see The Healers, and Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce are probably pawning cigs off tourists in Trafalgar Square or something.
I think this is the first time I have EVER heard anyone say Ouija Board is one of their favorite Morrissey songs.
Or hit the east coast. I saw a mention of this tour, but there were no dates anywhere near here. (I'm actually listening to Hatful of Hollow right now). I would love a Smiths reunion tour, but I don't see it happenning. Wish I could have been at the concert, though. And I usually skip over Oiuja Board myself, but I'm a little odd as "how soon is now" is probably my least favorite Smiths song along with London. But that's a whole other thread, really.
I remember reading a few months ago in one of the commercial rock magazines (Maybe Spin or Blender) about how Morrissey and the Smiths have become huge among young latinos in Southern California. Sure enough, I recently moved to LA, and I heard radio ads for a Morrissey/Jaguares show at the Arrowhead Pond Arena. I can't really imagine Morrissey playing an arena anywhere else, so I guess this California latino fan base is very substantial, and it would also explain the opening act. So much so, that promoters don't even bother having him tour elsewhere.
Hehe ;-) Well, I dunno, there's just something about it I like...lyricly and musically, I think it's very interesting. I think it's a strong track actually. -Adam
Yep, it is actually Jaguares' 'Revolucion 2002' tour. From what I have gleamed, it seems that Jaguares asked Morrissey to open for them, and he agreed. I wonder if they oversold the Greek knowing that fans of Morrissey wouldn't neccesarily be fans of Jaguares, and vice versa? The place looked packed while Morrissey was on stage, and I would say about 1/3 of the crowd left when he was finished. Yet there were still people coming in when we were leaving for Jaguares. Probably another reason they held the event in SoCal at the Pond, as it's pretty hard to sell out that place, so probably everyone who wanted to see the show could. Also, I should point out, the rest of Morrissey's shows in the US have been solo shows, the shows with Jaguares are the last 3 shows of his US tour only, in Anaheim, Berkeley, and San Diego. -Adam