he looked fantastic, he sounded fantastic and the new songs really are that good. his good humour continues (it really does sound like a farewell tour) and his gratitude to the fans (feigned or not) continues to win the crowds.

the set-list is still unchanged and the sound was a bit murky at times but TFOTGTD sounded great as did JTR. No "maudlin street" however.

a nice joke about Bea Arthur (who is also in town) and lots of banter.

a great performance...and yes the shirt came off.

i have just returned home from the forum show and i have changed

i got the sound desk setlist

1. i want the one i can't have
2. suedehead
3. little man
4. hairdresser
5. the first of the gang
6. jack the ripper
7. i like you
8. alsatian
9. every day
10. sister i'm a poet
11. crashing bores
12. meat is murder
13. irish blood english heart
14. november
15. speedway
-----
encore. there is a light that never goes out

great show. the forum is the best band venue in terms of size and sound and decorations in melbourne.
the support band, the anyones, played to the most difficult crowd that an local indie band could hope for. although the audience was unappreciative, these guys pulled off a tight and enjoyable 25 minute set.
precisely the opposite, as morrissey and his band come out a good 40 minutes later, the crowd goes wild. longest applauding i've heard at a concert between songs. morrissey's first wonds to the crowd was something along the lines of "hullo and thanks for coming. it seems we're 20 years late."
highlights for me: during the meat is murder guitar solos morrissey dropped to the stage and writhed around on his back; at the end of speedway he rips open his black frilled shirt and throws it to the ground, and storms off the stage; the crowd was awesome... considerate, light heckling but nothing too obscene, no pushing, good dancing...
altogether a fun, interesting and enjoyable concert. bring on livid!

Er...not sure where to begin really.....there were positives & negatives....sooo..well, (+)he is here (I thought I would never again see him in the flesh as I have recently moved to Australia from England....I was at Madstock & Brixton)...so that is excellent...however, (-) I apologise to all attendies but the Melbourne crowd will NEVER be accused of dancing or indeed moving......very static.....a one person stage surge during "there is a light"..PLEASE!. (+)Yep, the new stuff is excellent and I love "Irish Blood" (I am sure he wrote it about me...oh dear!!).. but...(-)I have to agree with earlier feedback.."I want the one..", "Suadehead" & "There is a.." ARE TOO SLOW!! The drummer is a good drummer (I am also a percussionist/drummer so I talk from expirience) but the "oldies" are played with little heart!! Or are we ALL just maturing with age? POSITIVE(+)...Moz has taken to putting on "a show" and now talks, jokes and teases the audience....EXCELLENT, Thank you...(+) The venue was terrific (Moz was asked by the crowd for his opinion and gracefully "threw it back") (+) The Bald headed bouncer (I am sure someone will name him) who appered to be "in charge" of security was fair, kind, in control & warned all his staff of the impending crowd surge for "there is a"...however,...(-) see above "Melbourne dancing" and "one man" surges..(+) Morrissey raised the point about the "Chicken Flash" on TV just before "Meat is Murder" (+) There were pro vegitarian stalls (+)I shook his hand (at last!!).....Sooo I guess the positives outweigh the negatives.
Happy to listen to other views
Sheridan

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd more deliriously happy than at our Moz’s Forum show last night. There was something undeniably touching about the way the fans responded to our Moz.
He is a witty guy. He disclaimed any association with Morrissey, the Melbourne fashion designer, snorting something like ‘he makes see-through underwear’. He told us he thought Melbourne was the best Australian city (oh now, who doesn’t say that?), and then said ‘if you’re thinking of going to Perth or Darwin, don’t bother’. He introduced ‘Jack…’ as being a song about a man who collects livers. He did a long spiel about a chicken story on CNN (something about 27 million chickens being recalled which, if they had been eaten would have killed something like 80 million Americans – ‘more than the nuclear bomb’. It was a little vague). He pointed at people in the front row – at one point he said something that suggested he saw someone familiar there. That’s about all I can recall of Moz between song banter, apart from the usual ‘love you, you’re wonderful’ and the already mentioned '20 years' comment.
As for the sound, something has to be explained about the Forum. It has a neo-classical/Ancient Rome look about it. I mean really! Copies of Ancient Roman statues up on either side (naked men, scantily clad maidens), nestled in fake Roman gardens with pillars. Plaster birds hang suspended from the ceiling, which looks distant and has gittering stars embedded in it. It is quite surreal.
Now, the front of this room is very deep until it hits what would have once been the top balcony (which now only acts as a place to hang the lights). After this the room rises up and gets more narrow towards the back. It is terrible for acoustics. If you’re at the back it all sounded very tinny. At the front it sounded very bass-heavy. If you managed to snare a spot by the mixing desk it was, um, just right. Nonetheless I thought the mixer did the best job he could with a difficult room. I’ve seen many bands there and often the sound is just unbearably bad (hi Suede). The band were just fine, the pace of the songs pretty darn even (I didn’t think any of the songs were slower than they should have been). Not sure about the banjo in ‘Every day’, but it still sounded good.
After the gig we were approached by the people who had been filming the event. ‘Why do you love Morrissey?’ was the question. I think I mumbled something about loving his receding hairline which I hoped to emulate one day (I am probably on the way), and liking his range of shirts. (He wore two. For the fashion minded, one was the usual frilly black waiter shirt, the other a plain baggy white one).
In retrospect, I wish I had just come clean and said the bloody obvious – ‘I love Morrissey because his songs are wonderful, his lyrics always funny or intriguing, his voice is just getting better and better and he is simply A Charming Man’. Anyway, who knows. Maybe there might be a DVD of the tour one day and I can watch me making my smart-arsed comment. In the meantime, Stephen Patrick, don’t let it be 20 years until the next time.

i have to agree that is was a superb show.

i only have one negative, and maybe that's cause i'm a youngster and i love the smiths, and i knew what the setlist was going to be (he doesn't change it much does he?), but i would of liked more solo stuff. your arsenal, vauxall & 1 and southpaw grammer are my most listen to albums and he only did speedway - which i was greatful for and it was interesting to hear a different take on it.

why doesnt he do more older solo stuff?

i'm going up the front for livid and gonna try and touch his sweaty hand...

cheers

Last night reconfirmed my commitment and passion for moz. My expectations of set list, atmosphere and good crowd were far exceeded. Moz seems to have discovered the elixir of youth - more energy than the KILL UNCLE tour Auckland show 6-7 years ago. I can only describe last night as a truly spiritual experience.

I would agree with most all comments thus far. A few notes:

1) Would that 'crashing bore' who kept yelling for 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out' whenever Moz attempted to speak kindly place his head in the nearest oven?

2) The band DO seem a little 'workman-like'. Granted my only visual memory of them in action is from 'Live in Dallas' (minus the drummer), but they seemed so distant. Alain seemed to be almost asleep sometimes. Boz, looking like an older Science teacher (!), at least seemed to enjoy the feedback-riddled ending to 'Meat is Murder'. I guess they know who the crowd came to see, but I loved their antics on 'Live in Dallas' (yes, I know that is 10 years ago, but...)

3) Moz's vocal delivery on 'Crashing Bores' and 'Irish Blood' was fantastic - to see him actually carefully phrasing and working himself up to the notes was a real MOMENT for me. I can't wait for the next album if these songs are the standard...

4) Nice lighting choices - understated but very effective. The red light during 'Meat is Murder' was fantastic, as was the choice of bringing up the house lights during 'There Is A Light'.

5) 'Speedway' is so ritualistic live, isn't it? The drumming especially, but that Moz rips off his shirt dramatically (in a song that can be read as perhaps his most forceful statement upon the media) indicates that there truly is 'nothing left to break' - bare, naked. Nice stagecraft.

6) Yes, I agree - MORE from 'Vauxhall and I' please Mr. Moz.

See you all Saturday!!! :)

Boz writes in his online diary for 15th (Melbourne gig):

"Just finished the gig in Melbourne - I think the best so far, great crowd and good sound." Yay!!

Apparently the poor guy is suffering some flu, and a bad ear condition that will see him driving to Adelaide (rather than flying). Hope he makes it back for Livid on Saturday!!

It was less than a year ago that I was sitting there lamenting the fact that I would never witness the man, in the flesh, on our shores...Gladly, my heart is now full...The Forum was a near perfect venue for the near perfect man and his minstrels..."I want..." was the perfect opener...the new ones are great...some tempos where to slow (November, Hairdresser, Everyday)...but I don't care...I would have settled for the band done up like Vegas Elvis impersonators and Moz as fat as, live at the 21st Century Dance Club, Frankston...His voice was majestic...each note perfect...Call me crazy, but the boys looked almost shocked at the amazing reception they received throughout the evening...BUT, after all this time I do wish that Vauxhall and Your Arsenal played a greater part in the proceedings...each of those albums deserve there own evening...save the newies for the next world tour Moz...here’s hoping.

My girlfriend and i roked up to the forum last night having missed out on getting tickets. we hung around for a few hours until the crowd was going in and the support band was on to see if there would be anymore tickets for sale. They were telling us NO its SOLD OUT! But then this one guy with the band was so nice and organised for us to be able to buy tickets so WE GOT IT!!! YAY! And i mean i was SO happy seeing as this other couple that were kinda waiting with us bought 2 tickets off a scalper for $250 and about 20 minutes later we got in for the normal price ($120 for 2 tickets).

We got in there with about 30 minutes to spare until MOZ.

We were actually standing in the middle right behind the mixing desk and i thought it sounded great from where we were. Actually, to the girl who got the mixing desk set list, i actually saw you get that from the guy, i happened to look up and see you walking off all happy and showing your pals :) hehe.

Wasnt 'November Spawned A Monster' and 'There is A Light That Never Goes Out' AMAZING! They were definitely my two faves. It was worth the $60 extra for the solo gig (on top of going to livid) just to see him play THAT song that he wont play at LIVID!

Did anyone have a camera? I saw a few flashes and would LOVE to see some photos.

I thought the crowd was awesome and i am sure that if they hadnt bought the lights up we would have stood there ALL NITE! I know that i didnt want to leave, i would have stood there forever in the hope he would come back out on stage!

The only thing i feel a lil not upset but dissappointed about is the lack of flexibilty with his set. I mean it seems like even if he had wanted to come out again there is no room to move. It is more like a 'show' which was great, the lights and all were brilliant but it wasnt really just a band playing what they want cos they feel like it, was it.

but oh well
I SAW MOZ!!!!!!!!!!

kerrie xxx

PS. Sorry about the rant, but you know what its like ;)

Wow. This was undoubtably the best concert experience of my entire life!!! Unfortunately I didn't get to touch him (I was 1cm away from touching his hand, dispite my boyfriend's best efforts to lift me up)..... I am booking tickets for Livid!!

Some memorable audience banter (may not be worded exactly):

Audience: You are the father of my baby (from a male)!
Morrissey: That isn't impossible, could be possible....although I am crap in bed

A: How do you like the theatre?
M: Speak slower!
A: How do you like the theatre?
M: Do you mean theatre in general or this theatre?
M: Is the floor sticky?
A: Not yet!
M: I do ask silly questions.

M: Members of the first three rows please beware - I tend to have a problem with my S's. I tend to spit.
A: Bring it on baby!
M: oh, we really are a wild city.

A: I love you
M: Are you sure?
A: Yes
M: (staring at her) Have you been eating? You really should eat some weetabix or bran flakes or....

Can anyone remember any other remarks?

Amanda
XXX

Some other amusing between song banter, provided I heard correctly.

Someone in the croud shouted something that sounded like "I want to have your baby!"
This got a few laughs from the audience, which prompted Morrissey to respond with "Dont Laugh,! It is possible!............. though I am crap in bed."

Morrissey was fantastic his comments during each song were great, i am now going to Livid to catch him as well. p.s I took about 10 photos at the forum if any turn out ok i will let you guys know.Cheers

Morrissey was in terrific form at the forum. He really did look like he was enjoying himself.

The setlist was brilliant. Some highlights for me were "Jack the Ripper", "The World is Full of Crashing Bores", "Speedway" and the wonderful encore, "There is a Light that Never goes Out". The new songs are very strong in terms of his lyrics and singing. I can't wait until they are released (but that could be a bit of a wait).

Morrissey's voice sonded different on Tuesday night, when compared to some of the material I have heard from "Beethoven was Deaf" and "Live in Dallas". It wasn't as deep as it was from these rcordings, perhaps higher and happier. Even the singing on the new tracks, which I have copied on cd, sound different to some of his earlier live performances Has anyone else notices this?

At the end of the show, Boz, Alain and the rest of the band bowed before the Melbourne crowd in appreciation. This was great to see. Morrissey did take of his shirt and threw it into the crowd.

Such a mixture of personalities amongst the audience, ranging from morrissey look a likes, to mods, punks, goths, bogans and many other assorted types. Not that this matters at all. People are people. It was just good to know that Moz attracts a diverse range of people.

The forum was a fantastic venue and I am very much looking forward to seeing him again at Livid, amongst the rest of the days entertainment. Looking foward....

At the end of the concert (or maybe before the encore?) Morrissey said "God is with you, Oscar Wilde is with you, Jonathan ????? is with you. What more could you want?" Can anyone enlighten me as to the surname of he Jonathan he mentioned? Thanks!