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

Post your info and reviews related to this concert in the comments section below. Other links (photos, external reviews, etc.) related to this concert will also be compiled in this section as they are sent in.


Set List:

You Have Killed Me / Everyday Is Like Sunday / You're The One For Me, Fatty / How Soon Is Now? / I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris / Ouija Board, Ouija Board / Maladjusted / Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me / When Last I Spoke To Carol / People Are The Same Everywhere / I Know It's Over / To Give (The Reason I Live) / Black Cloud / Scandinavia / Meat Is Murder / Let Me Kiss You / Action Is My Middle Name / I Will See You In Far Off Places / Speedway / Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want // Still Ill

set list provided by SimonM, Because. Order corrected by telegram-sam.


 
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BrummieBoy said:
An interesting point. At what stage does the right to use powerful images to protest issues of animal welfare become a pornographic indulgence of violence and cruelty itself?

And should there be an age-appropriate warning to stop youngsters getting PTSD from watching a show? If people are warned of lazers and strobe lights, they might also be usefully warned that the show contains distressing scenes of inhuman animal butchery.
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I never mentioned porn or PTSD in youngsters (chill out a bit). I was merely asking the question. I am all in favour of and support animal rights and detest cruelty and see the value of such films from an educational perspective but there are many ways of making a point and I personally found last night's distatsteful given the setting and circumstances. But I'm merely expressing my own opinion. I'm not a health and safety or nanny state merchant either. As for the gig one word describes it in my opinion - crap.

As they say in Brum Tarah a bit!
 
Anonymous said:
The setlist was shocking. 'Ouija Board, Ouija Board' but no 'First of the Gang' or 'Irish Blood'?
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I've read plenty of people on here say they would be happy to never hear FOTGTD played again! - from what I can tell (including the 4 previous gigs I have been to) he did play it at every single gig since 2004 until recently, along with Irish Blood.
 
Anonymous said:
I've never been so disappointed in my entire life.... We were at the back and, as he'd not forked out for screens, could barely see him.....To top it off he said "I've played Israel, I've been given the keys to Tel Aviv, Manchester has given me nothing. What does that tell you?"
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Oh dear. Initially I thought this gig was a success but on further reading of these comments it seems quite troubled on many levels. It's very mean spirited and selfish not to hire side screens for those at the back of an arena gig. No wonder tickets were being given away on the streets of Manchester: if you can't see the performance the ticket is worthless and if you paid, you got ripped off. The increasing frequency of comments deploring the crown management issues at the start are also worrying. Having had a dangerous event in Athens recently, one would hope that his advisors would be able to liaise with the venue to enusre a smooth and safe entrance for excited attendees.

I've no idea why Morrissey has twice decided to play Israel, whether it was a clueless 'Queen at Sun City' fiasco or whether there was some attempted purpose in his visit. I not sure if Morrissey is very well informed politically, if he is he chooses not to share this. Whatever your political views on that situation, he cannot expect the progressive elements within Manchester City Council not to stonewall any attempt to give him 'the keys to the city'. Playing in Israel is an explicity political act and was bound to have consequences. I can see there's some validity to trying to support moderate, secular Israelis as they attempt to avoid a fundamentalist take over of their society by fanantics of either Islam or Judaism, but unless there's a counterpoint to this that also acknowledges the plight of Palestinians, visiting Israel just appears a gormlessly 'tourist' thing to do.

If he really did say "Manchester has given me nothing" in front of nearly 19000 attendees at his 'homecoming' concert, then he needs to get out a calculator and tot up the box office and merchandising. It's borderline insulting if he said this.

It seems that those keen enough to attend hours early and secure a place near the stage had an entirely different experience to the more casual visitor who may have been forced to wait for entrance to a show that started early without sufficient warning and that was badly staged with inadequate provision for those in 'the cheap seats'. Morrissey is in danger of only servicing the 'cult' fan-atics whilst alienating the casually interested observer.
 
BrummieBoy said:
If he really did say "Manchester has given me nothing" in front of nearly 19000 attendees at his 'homecoming' concert, then he needs to get out a calculator and tot up the box office and merchandising. It's borderline insulting if he said this.
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He said Manchester City Council had given him nothing so factually correct.
 
Because said:
He said Manchester City Council had given him nothing so factually correct.
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I'm sure the issue of honouring Morrissey has been discussed within the City power structures. I'm also sure that his visits to Israel make this imporssible politically. Thank you for confirming that he specifically said "Manchester City Council have given me nothing". I quoted an earlier poster who did not add 'City Council' but seemed to suggest Morrissey was airing a general peeve about Manchester as a city. The quoted comment about an inner city area mentioned then appended with "...whatever" also suggested that he was concerned about his standing within the city.
 
BrummieBoy said:
I'm sure the issue of honouring Morrissey has been discussed within the City power structures. I'm also sure that his visits to Israel make this imporssible politically. Thank you for confirming that he specifically said "Manchester City Council have given me nothing". I quoted an earlier poster who did not add 'City Council' but seemed to suggest Morrissey was airing a general peeve about Manchester as a city. The quoted comment about an inner city area mentioned then appended with "...whatever" also suggested that he was concerned about his standing within the city.
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Nah, I wouldn't say he holds any more malice for Manchester than usual haha. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen him so cheerful and generally smiley and I'm sure the spirit of his hometown was no small factor in it!
 
After Morrissey subjecting the crowd to the video for Meat Is Murder I can't have been the only one who was highly amused to see the Golden Arches logo on the exit to the NCPo and the massive queue at the hot dog stall near The Printworls, full of folks sporting their Smiths t-shirts.

Which neatly surmises the gig itself. Preaching to the converted is very laudable but most folks out for a Saturday night want to be entertained.
 
BrummieBoy said:
Oh dear. Initially I thought this gig was a success but on further reading of these comments it seems quite troubled on many levels. It's very mean spirited and selfish not to hire side screens for those at the back of an arena gig. No wonder tickets were being given away on the streets of Manchester: if you can't see the performance the ticket is worthless and if you paid, you got ripped off. The inocreasing frequency of comments deploring the crown management issues at the start are also worrying. Having had a dangerous event in Athens recently, one would hope that his advisors would be able to liaise with the venue to enusre a smooth and safe entrance for excited attendees.

I've no idea why Morrissey has twice decided to play Israel, whether it was a clueless 'Queen at Sun City' fiasco or whether there was some attempted purpose in his visit. I not sure if Morrissey is very well informed politically, if he is he chooses not to share this. Whatever your political views on that situation, he cannot expect the progressive elements within Manchester City Council not to stonewall any attempt to give him 'the keys to the city'. Playing in Israel is an explicity political act and was bound to have consequences. I can see there's some validity to trying to support moderate, secular Israelis as they attempt to avoid a fundamentalist take over of their society by fanantics of either Islam or Judaism, but unless there's a counterpoint to this that also acknowledges the plight of Palestinians, visiting Israel just appears a gormlessly 'tourist' thing to do.

If he really did say "Manchester has given me nothing" in front of nearly 19000 attendees at his 'homecoming' concert, then he needs to get out a calculator and tot up the box office and merchandising. It's borderline insulting if he said this.

It seems that those keen enough to attend hours early and secure a place near the stage had an entirely different experience to the more casual visitor who may have been forced to wait for entrance to a show that started early without sufficient warning and that was badly staged with inadequate provision for those in 'the cheap seats'. Morrissey is in danger of only servicing the 'cult' fan-atics whilst alienating the casually interested observer.
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In fairness I thought Morrissey was his usual self-effacing self and the Manchester connections lifted the gig from disappointing to distinctly average.

As for his pro-Israeli stance he is quite renowned for being a contrary bugger who likes winding up the the liberal cognescenti. Either that or he is a member of the Zionist Illumanati, despite his protestations to the contrary.

And there is quite a substantial Jewish community in Manchester
 
Because said:
He said Manchester City Council had given him nothing so factually correct.
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And it was said rather jokingly which many of these simpletons failed to recognise or rather chose to ignore, I'm sure he doesn't give a shit that the council haven't honoured him frankly
 
Anonymous said:
Johnny Marr got an honorary doctorate from the University of Salford, so there!
Morrissey has been to Israel, Elvis Costello hasn't, so how would he know what's going on there?
There's no apartheid. The same way you wouldn't use this word to describe the North Ireland conflict.
At least the Irish had a legitimate claim, unlike the Philistines.
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It's like with Godwin's Law - all forums can predictably descend into nutjobs ranting about the ME...laughably in this case it involves crude, idiotic racial slurs, and claiming that people can't hold opinions on things if they weren't there themselves...

To actually bring the ranters back to the actual topic of the forum, Morrissey mentioned his trip to Tel Aviv (which is culturally a relatively tolerant and diverse part of Israel), and a few people booed - not really surprising, as that reflects public opinion, which is fair enough . Mozza held up an Israeli flag - I guess a few fans who have ever seen him, ever, at any point are perfectly aware that he likes to provoke, and to be patriotic about wherever he is, which is how he's cultivated a cult following in so many countries.

Frankly, I couldn't care less. It's not really relevant to the thread.
 
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BrummieBoy said:
I'm sure the issue of honouring Morrissey has been discussed within the City power structures. I'm also sure that his visits to Israel make this imporssible politically. Thank you for confirming that he specifically said "Manchester City Council have given me nothing". I quoted an earlier poster who did not add 'City Council' but seemed to suggest Morrissey was airing a general peeve about Manchester as a city. The quoted comment about an inner city area mentioned then appended with "...whatever" also suggested that he was concerned about his standing within the city.
Click to expand...

Jumping to conclusions, while having no real knowledge of the matter in hand, is apparently your MO.
In the same way you have no idea about Israel. Someone wrote on a message boatd that there's apartheid system there, so it must be true.
 
I have to say i am finding funny how the pro Meat Is Murder video people are pointing out to meat eaters that that's how animals are treated in some places as if people don't already know the facts already. Unlike some people i don't look to artists to open my eyes and tell me what to eat etc. I know the facts and choose to be a meat eater, that video hasn't changed my mind whatsoever i'm afraid and that was the only part of the show that i felt was a bit too indulgent.
Oh and also it's not a case of "ignorance is bliss" it's more a case of that's not what we paid £50 for , though on the plus side Boz was on our side in drag and did a good job of distracting us through most of it so all was good
 
I enjoyed the gig and agree with the comments about the Meat is Murder video. I might be wrong, but I think this video or something similar was used by The Smiths on the Meat is Murder tour. I saw the tour at Newcastle City Hall and seem to recall that they showed something like this video. However my memory is not good these days and plays tricks sometimes.

http://vintagerock.wordpress.com
 
I really enjoyed last night. I was in block 102 So just to the side of the stage. Third time i've seen Moz (1995 and 2003ish) and I thought he sounded really good vocally. I agree with people about the band being too loud and lacking the talent to play the quieter Smiths moments (although Still Ill was brilliant So they can do it) . The thing that annoys me with comments on here are the ones from people that have seen him 20 times in the last year and say "the setlist is always the same" That's because it's the same tour folks! They do have to rehearse these things you know. Plus while i'm ranting at the supposed true fans if you didn't get tickets for every gig the rest of us would stand more of a chance when it's at a small venue and you'd be more surprised with the set list if you left it a year inbetween gigs.
Anyway rant over, in the section where I was the surrounding fans consisted of a pissed up bloke singing over all the quiet ones (yes mate your version of Please Please is much better than Morrissey's) 2 people in front who just talked through everything that wasn't a Smiths song and finally when it did it become acceptable to dance like your listening to Wham in 1985 when listening to Moz? The world really has gone mad.
Sorry that appeared to be a secondary rant. Anyway I enjoyed it despite all that.
 
Didn't think last night was as bad as some people are making out but I didn't have massive expectations before the gig considering it was at the M.E.N. First time I've ever been in seating there and thought the sound was good from where I was positioned although I longed to be at the front (my friends were at the front and said it was quite tame compared to Moz gigs we've been to in the past). Thought his voice sounded strong but can see certain criticisms aimed at the band last night. Putting myself in other peoples shoes, I can see how they might have been disappointed with the set-list and in-particular the middle part but he played many songs that I love. Could tell there were a lot of people just wanting to hear Smiths songs last night, I'd rather he didn't play any, so many Morrissey solo classics could fill those spots on the set-list.

As for his comments throughout the gig, what else do you expect? Pretty much bang on classic Moz Hulme/Olympics/Israel/The Royals. Can't believe people complained about the video he plays along with Meat is Murder, have you read the bloody lyrics!

Feels like his career is coming to a head again, will attend future concerts no matter what or support his decision to call it a day if he so chooses.

P.S would give my right arm for him to play Halifax again! Best Morrissey gig I've been to.
 
Anonymous said:
Jumping to conclusions, while having no real knowledge of the matter in hand, is apparently your MO.
In the same way you have no idea about Israel. Someone wrote on a message boatd that there's apartheid system there, so it must be true.
Click to expand...

Can I assume that the 'anonymous' comments about Israel are all from you, and that you're not a usual Morrissey fan? If so, can we stick to the topic???
 
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