...here I come!

No MEN. It will be a reasonably small venue-tour then.

Really?

since there is supposed to be four gigs in manchester. i'm guessing that one is soon to be added.

Opera house! How unexpected. I thought he would do the others, and MEN, however the Opera house has surprised me greatly

I haven't been to manchester ever (or england for that matter!) so I don't know if these venues are all seated or standing? I checked their websites and it seems they can change the seating for the first one (to allow for a large pit) but I don't know about the other two. Any input?

I'm not from England, I assume Manchester is a few miles north of London? Kinda by Liverpool? Can't be too hard to find. See you in Manchester gang, oh by the way, I'll need a place to crash for a few nights.

With that no-frills, clear news, you are the Chosen People to kick off the long-awaited tour!
Here we go, here we go, here we go!

date at MEN. he only sold it out last time coz many people thought it was his only European date (was the only one annouced at the time: which was a little bit sneaky TSTL) and loads of confused continentals took the boat across the North Sea and the English Channel.
J

Where do you think the birthday boy will be?

great day all the way around for manchester!

I will try not to believe it.

Has anyone heard anything? I can't find it listed on Ticketmaster or the venues' websites yet.

will lowry show be seated? i cant work it out on the website they have.

tickets will cost £35 or 40 i guess.

any suggestions for nearby hotels?

salford is a shithole innit? i guess this fits in with mozzers belief that you can come from a shithole and still be a skinhead lesbian with flurescent nail varnish.

pete burns has quoted about 8 moz/smiths song in celeb big bro

Regardless of what the diehards are saying, it is true that Moz couldn't sell out the MEN Arena as well as these other venues. In fact, even if he didn't play any other dates in Manchester, if he played many other dates outside Manchester at the same time I think he'd have a time selling out the MEN.

People came from all over to see him at the last MEN gig, because it was announced all on its own, and was the first date to be announced. They came from all over the country, and definitely from all over the North, some from even further afield.

On the 'Arena leg' of the Quarry tour, none of the Arenas sold out. Not even Earl's Court (which was, admittedly, pretty full. But not a sell out). The other arenas had loads of spare seats. Moz knows his limits. But having said that, I can understand those that are complaining that this is a victory for the touts. I think he could comfortably add another night (maybe two) at the Apollo.

According to the Lowry's website Curtis Stigers is booked at one of their theatres for this date.

I know they have two theatres but they surely wont have two events happen at the same time..??

I'm very pleased about these venues. The MEN was a wonderful "event" but I'd really prefer to see him at a more intimate venue this time round. Oh won't be saying that if they bleedin sell out before I can grab one mind........

I`ve been to all the venues bar the opera house and they're all good. Beware though, cigs are completely banned at Bridgewater!!

-Ben G

While I do prefer to see Morrissey in smaller venues there really is no need to announce what we have been told will be a 30 date tour four dates at a time. People will inevitably panic purchase tickets for the announced dates just because they have no details of potentially nearer concerts. This deprives people (in Manchester in this case) from getting tickets for their home town and the unwanted tickets end up on Ebay. My advice is that unless Manchester would be the nearest likely venue for you wait and see, 30 dates is a lot of venues and people should not panic book tickets just because they are the only announced dates.

Yes, there are Morrissey fans here in Iowa....hopefully a bunch of us will make the pilgrimage to the city where it all began..MANCHESTER!!!! Any suggestions for the ultimate Morrissey/Smiths sightseeing tour??? Go Moz we Love you!

I know Matt Chamaberlin was the drummer on the new cd but does that mean he is sticking around for the tour as well? Is he a full band member? I get the feeling from his website that he's a busy guy and is more of a hired hand for ROTT. There's no mention of him staying with Morrissey. By the way...any news if Alain is "invited" to come back (as he put it himself)? Three guitarist is a bit much.

I rang up all the gig venues today and the Lowry and the Bridgewater both said that this was the first they had heard about any Moz gigs. I know that Ms Riley is usually infallible on these matters, but I would be interested to know if anyone has heard concrete proof that Moz will be appearing.

This is great i love it everyone Panicing about if they will be able to get tickets or not.Ive checked this site about 3 times everyday since i heard about the 30 venues.Im really going to struggle i dont have any fellow Moz friends only smiths and i cant drive and im a student. But i plan to make at least 3.

... without barriers. :-)

Much as I would love love love to see these dates happen, I have to admit to feeling a little sceptical. The dates aren't on the venues' websites. If you call the box offices they know NOTHING. Some of the venues are seating-only and therefore not really suitable. And, crucially, are they REALLY going to drag the set and all their equipment across Manchester, from one venue to another to another? It'd cost so much that any promoter or tour manager would surely protest.

If this is a hoax, this means that, by posting the dates without any caveat, true-to-you.net has right away rendered itself a completely unreliable source of information. And on such an important matter! So what else is a hoax on that website? Are the Morrissey Q&As made up too? I hope we're not being taken for mugs, just so someone can raise their website's profile...

To coincide with the wonderful new plethora of Moz dates, and after the fantastic success of the post MEN Arena bash at the club in 2004, the Brickhouse Nightclub on Whitworth St will be holding a series of parties to celebrate the new 2006 dates. A special Smiths/Moz party will be held after each event (April 18th & May 6th, 7th & 8th with admission at £8 per night(deductions for NHS specs/hearing aids/gladioli(!)) or £30 for a ticket to all 4.
Each event will run from 10.30 till late (due to the new licensing laws) and will be exclusively Smiths/Moz related parties with the usual prizes, memorabilia, autographed goodies etc.
Tickets will be available from Ticketline (www.ticketline.co.uk) in the near future.
I'll keep you updated of further news.