Article: Manchester - Manchester Arena (July 28, 2012) post-show

[farley]

Ahhhh I thought I'd be ripped to pieces, which would be fairer than being an absolute tw*t like that guy.

[Anonymous]

About the footballer t-shirt and picture it had replaced the head of Denis Law with Morrissey's head if someone have to know. Denis played for both Manchester clubs. Here is the signed original picture:

http://www.a1sportingmemorabilia.co....ited-photo.jpg

[Fulham Road Lights]

I Like You - Precisely the reason I'm glad it didn't land on top of me. If he'd thrown the shirt a few metres to his right it would've landed on me and I wasn't up for getting my head kicked in. It looked like mayhem from where I was stood.

[Anonymous]

I am extremely happy that the injured back played so well.
The physiotherapy have done miracles to a sore back of the bassist player.
Long live the discrimination on those who do not deserve the respect of the British childish.
The weight of the pounds have strange but harsh designations...

[MORRIZSEY]

I was there and my opinion of the concert falls somewhere between the two extremes.

I have seen worse performances at previous gigs, when Morrissey's mood implied "I don't want to be here"
and holding back those words felt like tongue biting.
Manchester this time was solid and value for money, but slightly less than special by Morrissey standards.

The early start was "Odd" indeed, and set the atmosphere for the night.
The reason for this was left hanging in the air for the duration of the show, which was not entirely endearing and countered the usual waiting in darkness with anticipation and build-up.
Odd, but nothing of ruin unless you scheduled your diary for the start and lost out, in which case I have sympathy.

Other fans were mostly very friendly and warm, more so than possibly any other Moz gig I have ever attended,
so the negativity written about the show may be of set list concerns and venue/ starting time etc, which I can understand, but my personal experience was of a night I will remember almost as much as 2004, but for different reasons.

Not a classic so much as delivering the goods.

No regrets and, for me, truly a great night










Credit to 'jonyboy1968' of YouTube

[dewdrop]

It's mind numbing how many criticisms of Morrissey there are on this site. This is a microcosm of Morrissey's entire career, if you think about it. Nothing but naysayers and doubt, recommendations from nobodies on how to do it better...and yet, here he remains...selling out venues everywhere he goes...no new deal...no new songs...and the same collection of songs he's been singing in concert for 2+ years.

It's time to face it folks...Morrissey is a winner.

And that is all.

[Anonymous]

DEATH TO MOZ he did not play 1st of The Gang To Die
DEATH TO MOZ he did not punished the Israeli Gov. and dared to go and sing to some people over there who dont feel fasists
DEATH TO MOZ that he started a little earlier and not like those pop idol scums that come on stage the day after
DEATH TO MOZ that the t shirts were too few
DEATH TO MOZ that he managed to escape from poverty with a clean and sincere way
DEATH TO MOZ that he dares to stand against the forever powerful meat industry
DEATH TO MOZ that he is a real artist and not a seal performing
DEATH TO MOZ that says that there is still a royal family but the poll tax yet exists
DEATH TO MOZ that he said ΅thank you" 10 times in Athens but 5 times in Manchester
DEATH TO MOZ that Kirsteen Young is odd to some ears
DEATH TO MOZ that gary wanted to leave so he has solomon now
DEATH TO MOZ that mick ronson died
DEATH TO MOZ because he had his quiff left sided not right turned
DEATH TO MOZ he likes geneva s lake not manchester s canals anymore
DEATH TO MOZ he wore white not black
DEATH TO MOZ because he had his quiff left sided not right turned
DEATH TO MOZ he likes geneva s lake not manchester s canals anymore
DEATH TO MOZ he wore white not black
DEATH TO MOZ that italy won the match against england
DEATH TO MOZ he did not play 1st of The Gang To Die
DEATH TO MOZ he did not punished the Israeli Gov. and dared to go and sing to some people over there who dont feel fasists
DEATH TO MOZ that he started a little earlier and not like those pop idol scums that come on stage the day after
DEATH TO MOZ that the t shirts were too few
DEATH TO MOZ that he managed to escape from poverty with a clean and sincere way
DEATH TO MOZ that he dares to stand against the forever powerful meat industry
DEATH TO MOZ that he is a real artist and not a seal performing
DEATH TO MOZ that says that there is still a royal family but the poll tax yet exists
DEATH TO MOZ that he said ΅thank you" 10 times in Athens but 5 times in Manchester
DEATH TO MOZ that Kirsteen Young is odd to some ears
DEATH TO MOZ that gary wanted to leave so he has solomon now
DEATH TO MOZ that mick ronson died
DEATH TO MOZ because he had his quiff left sided not right turned
DEATH TO MOZ he likes geneva s lake not manchester s canals anymore
DEATH TO MOZ he wore white not black
DEATH TO MOZ because he had his quiff left sided not right turned
DEATH TO MOZ he likes geneva s lake not manchester s canals anymore
DEATH TO MOZ he wore white not black
DEATH TO MOZ that italy won the match against england
DEATH TO MOZ he became 53
DEATH TO MOZ just because!
DEATH TO MOZ

[Anonymous]

"I sing what I decide to sing before the concert. I don't know if I'll sing the old Smiths hits. Maybe I will and maybe I won't. I'm my own master on the stage. I do what I want. I decide which songs I'll sing, what the set list will be, and if I suddenly want to sing something different, I do it." Morrissey

Enough said

[Anonymous]

we can slag the band off - and yeah they suck and are dragging him down like a leaden weigh around his neck, more so than his legacy. though the main problem with all the new 'songs' is his writing is really atrocious. i would have once listed him as a influence on my writing.. but the average creative writing student would write better words that 'people are the same everywhere' etc.. what is he thinking passing substandard drek off as any kind of art. its not. its so bad.. simon cow might like it.

[Anonymous]

Sick of reading comments like this. Not all of Israel is politicized and Tel Aviv itself is mostly bursting with young, trendy liberals. Moz isn't making any political statement by playing there, he recently played Turkey too if you haven't forgotten.

I agree with you. This is exactly the point: Don't you think that it is just a tad hypocritical to condemn countries like China and Canada for the actions of their government, and yet Israel is ok? Are don't Palestinian children count as much as furry animals?

[Anonymous]

we can slag the band off - and yeah they suck and are dragging him down like a leaden weigh around his neck, more so than his legacy. though the main problem with all the new 'songs' is his writing is really atrocious. i would have once listed him as a influence on my writing.. but the average creative writing student would write better words that 'people are the same everywhere' etc.. what is he thinking passing substandard drek off as any kind of art. its not. its so bad.. simon cow might like it.

I wouldn't say 'People Are Insane Everywhere' is a major shift for him from 'Some Girls' Asses Are Bigger Than Others'.

[BrummieBoy]

There are plenty of people that would give almost anything to see Moz anywhere, let alone see him in Manchester. But all many people who went can do is complain. So sad.

Don't assume the entire audience are fully paid-up members of the co-dependent cult you and others have established with Morrissey's full co-operation and endorsement. Not everyone here or at the shows comes to fawn and prostrate themselves before a sometimes dysfunctional idol. The fact that Morrissey is equally deluded as yourself is an amusing trope to observe as the entire superstructure of 'superstar/fandom' collapses around his ears and eyes.

For those willing and able to spend their entire day waiting to pay homage, who secured a place within 100 metres of the stage, it seems like this was an excellent performance. For those who have a 'real life' and had to fit attending the concert into other equally important commitments to work, life and family: the badly planned and chaotic start was insulting, as was the rip-off meaness of not hiring side screens so those further back in the arena could see the performance.

Morrissey's decision to only play this arena rather than a residency at a smaller venue(s) or a tour of idiosyncratic venues seems to be part of a 'notice me' campaign to lure in corporate Big Music labels. If he's that bothered with mass appeal he has the option to appear on X-Factor like everyone else who craves such a level of exposure. This show exemplifies the rule of 'caveat emptor': consumers are responsible for their purchasing decisions. If they willingly choose to be abused by long commutes to a remote faux-exclusive show, dangerous crowd control, poor visibility seats and gratuitously violent imagery, then the 'flock of sheeple' deserve all they get. 'Meat is Murder' now serves as a useful 'comfort break' for toileting and refreshment. Dairy cows also get slaughtered without compassion and the gratuitous violence of the imagery robs the song of it's original teenage pathos.

This week Morrissey, last week Madonna, next week Coldplay, then Lady Gaga: Morrissey appears to have used his 'fanbase' as 'film extras' to stage a protest to the Music Industry complaining that he is being unfairly excluded from this travelling circus of corporate Big Music as it trundles around the arenas and the festivals of the world. That's hardly congruent with his insistence that he remains an existential and artistic outsider. The crisis in the recorded music industry means that the retirement income stream of many performers has vapourised, hence the massive glut of heritage / legacy acts who have to tour to keep up their lifestyles. I've no idea if Morrissey is touring for love or money or both. Elton John plays 100 shows a year, but is this because he loves to or because the download crisis means his budget for candles and flowers needs replenishing? If Morrissey has managed his personal retirement fund as well as he's 'managed' his career then ominous questions arise. The only viable current model for musicians is as endless troubadours: hard work slogging around the world. It's no different than a career in Cirque du Soleil. Morrissey has had a 30 year career. A cynic would dismiss his complaints to Manchester City Council as no more than him demanding "Where's my 'gold watch'?" at his retirement party.

Morrissey is still extending his canon of work, albeit in a largely pedestrian re-run of previous glories, except for Art Hounds IMHO. I'm still following Morrissey with interest and the delusional cult which he engineers fascinates me just as much as his musical and lyrical journey. But I also follow Robert Plant, whose artistic and commercial integrity is a signal lesson for Morrissey to study if retirement is indeed the 'wishful thinking' of his real and imangined enemies. Plants' passion led him to a duet album with Alison Kraus rather than trundling round the world's enormodomes with a reformed Led Zepellin. Despite huge sales and critical kudos for the 'Raising Sand' project, a projected follow-up album was nixed by both Krauss and Plant as the inspiration just wasn't there. They don't endlessly tour 'Raising Sand' as past glories and have moved on to fresh challenges - with an option to reconvene later if the mojo returns. REM finally accepting they were just out of gas. Marr and Morrissey have always had,and retain, this option as well, without the encumbrages of the 'The Smiths' brand turning them into a heritage laughing stock. I wonder how many masterpieces Johnny Marr has come up with these last decades that are in a folder marked 'for Morrissey'. Robert Plant is the real Outsider within the 'star-maker machinery behind the popular song'. So is Tony Bennett:

"If you study the masters – Picasso, Jack Benny, Fred Astaire – right up to the day they died, they were performing. If you are creative, you get busier as you get older."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Bennett#No_retirement

Plant, Patti, Bennett, Cohen, the late Cesária Évora, Bruce Springsteen: there's hardly a shortage of templates for Morrissey to model his later years on. However, if he continues to borderline insult and mistreat his audience with Diva-esque turns such as suddenly bringing forward the show start-time causing dangerous crowd control issues: he will lose the more discerning members of his audience to be left with the socipathic cult who think they own the shows, the legacy and, of course, this site.

The schizophrenic split in comments about this show appear to divide along the lines of audience / fan 'cult'. Of course, once the discerning challenge the delusional the drivel torrents of 'if you don't like me/him, don't look at me/us', 'why do you come here if you're not a 'fan'? begins. I'm nobody's fan. I'm a grown man. So is Morrissey. He's a public figure so opens himself to such scrutiny. If he wants a real audience he needs to cultivate and respect it. If he wants a delusional relationship with a disturbed cult of 'fans' then the abyss beckons. The gig in Manchester seems to have been a firm move towards entrenching the latter.

regards

[Anonymous]

The only thing i was gutted about was having seating tickets. Got moaned at for standing up. What a joke! I wasnt paying all that money to be sat in my seat. Alot of people who were lucky enough to get standing tickets were stood by the back all night, not really enjoying it. Wasted tickets!! It may have been different down the front but from where i was not many people seemed to be having a good time. It wasnt Morrissey who made the evening ''flat'' it was some of the fans. Sort it out! And as for missing the start, you only have yourself to blame.

[Anonymous]

Strange how people still support the Palestinians, despite the fact that they are the same people who support Islamic terror and supported 11/9 and 7/7 etc... (just see Gaza celebrations on youtube on those days). Morrissey can obviously see beyond the lies propagated by the radical left and the so called Palestinians, who are terrorist lovers.

These people (and some of you) are blinded by hatred to Israel no matter what Israel does. The Palestinians could have had a country many years ago if their main goal weren't to eliminate completely the Jewish state of Israel.

Well done Morrissey for supporting the truth and not being brainwashed by all those lunatics who call to boycott Israel.

[Anonymous]

I've seen Morrissey about 30 times in England. I've seen him about 10 times in Ireland. And I saw him once in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv 2009 was the best concert I've ever been to. Unlike in the UK, the Israeli forums aren't full of people who complain, bitch, moan and feel ripped off. Reminiscing about some show in some town some year when the perfect set list was played (though, looking back, it probably wasn't). They adore Morrissey in Israel. And everyone could see how much Morrissey loved Israel when I lived there. On the beach in Tel Aviv, messing about, on telly, in the street. Then he comes home to Manchester and people post up 'what does he know about the Manchester, he had a big semi-detatched on Kings Road' and he hasn't lived there for twenty years, blah blah blah. He loves Israel because Israel loves him. It's a very simple relationship, based on mutual adoration. Go and read what the fans said about the Tel Aviv gig last week in Hebrew. Stick it in google translate. They were just grateful he came. So were the newspapers. So were all the people who don't even like Morrissey, because Elvis Costello is an arse who understands absolutely nothing about what life is really like in Tel Aviv, Taibe or Ramallah.

I thought the gig was great. I took my girlfriend who had never seen him before. She loved most of it - thought Maladjusted was a mess, thought Everyday Is Like Sunday was magic. I sat halfway down the side. I usually get crushed at the front so it was odd for me. But how bad could a night be when the last two songs I heard before going to sleep were Please Please Please and Still Ill?

[Anonymous]

It's mind numbing how many criticisms of Morrissey there are on this site. This is a microcosm of Morrissey's entire career, if you think about it. Nothing but naysayers and doubt, recommendations from nobodies on how to do it better...and yet, here he remains...selling out venues everywhere he goes...no new deal...no new songs...and the same collection of songs he's been singing in concert for 2+ years.

It's time to face it folks...Morrissey is a winner.

And that is all.

Amen to that.
just reading all usual wank on here- how terrible a show, then watched the please please video, amazing.
Art endures, this fella's untouchable.

[BrummieBoy]

The only thing i was gutted about was having seating tickets. Got moaned at for standing up. What a joke! I wasnt paying all that money to be sat in my seat. Alot of people who were lucky enough to get standing tickets were stood by the back all night, not really enjoying it. Wasted tickets!! It may have been different down the front but from where i was not many people seemed to be having a good time. It wasnt Morrissey who made the evening ''flat'' it was some of the fans. Sort it out! And as for missing the start, you only have yourself to blame.

Morrissey agreed to appear at the vast venue, didn't hire screens for those behind you in the seated blocks or those 'stood by the back all night, not really enjoying it', so I'm not suprised people around you moaned when you blocked their view.

Have you ever considered that some people may have health / mobility issues that mean they need to be seated for a show? If you couldn't get a desired standing ticket, isn't there some other equally valid way of spending your entertainment £'s?

Morrissey's decision to start earlier may have been revenge on those who have the temerity to pass on Kristeen Young's perennial support slot. Presumably some future Morrissey shows will randomly start early, thus ensuring those who wish to catch the start have to judge very shrewdly whether or not they wish to share Ms Young's unique vocal and visual entertainments. Of course, capturing the herd in a hanger with overpriced refreshments for hours on end is a standard performer/promoter ploy to shift merchandise and max receipts. Hanging out in a local pub till showtime is bad form from the herd.

[Morriel]

We've had a great weekend at Manchester and for us it was a great concert. We've met many nice people and we've really enjoyed the concert. For me it was the 3rd Morrissey Concert and i really hope he will be touring to Europe again....

[Anonymous]

to that person who asked about the video

-Man ringing bell "Time for school", identified as Joel Fabiani, cover star of The Smiths 'Singles' box set, and star of a favourite tv show of the young SPM ~ 'Department S' - a 1969 ITC endeavour (picture in post above). He also acted in condemned and suppressed film, 'Looking for Mr Goodbar' which contained school scenes, hard to track down.
-Shocking Blue: "Mighty Joe" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhrKqoQCF9s



- Brigitte Bardot (with Claude Brasseur) - Bubble Gum - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG9V9...layer_embedded
for german viewers:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1TNhlvYd4A

-Vince Taylor - There's a Whole Lotta Twisting Going On - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEkvrFQeTGU

-Edith Sitwell: 'Face To Face' the legendary BBC series with John Freeman, available on DVD Face To Face BBC DVD. It was broadcast 16 days before Morrissey's birth! Extra info @ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/b...ic-genius.html

-Nico: I'm Not Saying - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgdZFnZ6M0k


Francoise Hardy: All over the world-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMuNv9HiCI8
for german viewers:
http://www.jukebo.com/francoise-hard...rld,3zvu3.html


-James Baldwin: 1 snippet from documentary film by Horace Ove, 'Baldwin's Nigger' - p.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeFpz...layer_embedded ; p.2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYBcl...layer_embedded ; p.3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPXRQ...layer_embedded

(-Fabian: Video piece of fifties pop star singing his biggest chart hit The Tiger live in front of an adoring audience - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=248DI...layer_embedded


-Sparks: "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haf5s...layer_embedded

-New York Dolls: "Looking For A Kiss" (live Musik Laden) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZBIZ...eature=related

-Lypsinka: (a short self-deprecating sketch, 4 minutes in here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxjIL...eature=related

that must be it i think but didnt remember the correct oder,

some of the audio sounded interesting, recognized velvet underground ,patti smith redondo beach,but not some of the other stuff.any help on this?

[Burnage]

Moz dedicated teh gig to a JON? who was this?