robertzombie
Member
As I was lying in a hospital bed this morning, waiting for my operation, I was listening to a recording of The Smiths' final gig, December 12th 1986, Brixton Academy.
Passions Just Like Mine writes...
Ask
Bigmouth Strikes Again
London/Miserable Lie
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Shoplifters Of The World Unite
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Is It Really So Strange?
Cemetry Gates
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Still Ill
Panic
/The Queen Is Dead
//William It Was Really Nothing
//Hand In Glove
This concert was put together for the Artists Against Apartheid. Tickets were £8, £7, £6 and £5. It was to be the last time the Smiths would be on stage together, bar a few television appearances. What makes this gig even more special is that it turned out to be the only time songs like "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others", the yet unreleased "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" and the "London"/"Miserable Lie" medley were ever performed by the Smiths. "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" and "William It Was Really Nothing" which hadn't been played in a long time were also performed. Finally, the live staple "Hand In Glove" which had been dropped on the recent British leg of the "The Queen Is Dead" tour also returned, making the Smiths' debut single also the last song they played together in a concert.
...
During "Still Ill", Johnny moved next to Andy and Morrissey joined them. They could be seen smiling and laughing, as if they were in on some inside joke.
The last song before the Smiths entered stage was a whole recording of "Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty", not only the short snippet heard at the beginning of "The Queen Is Dead" on the album of the same name.
...
The audience was surprised to find that at the end of "London", the band moved into the fast-paced outro to "Miserable Lie". As they switched from the former to the latter, Morrissey wildly whipped the microphone cord in loops. Instead of singing "I'm just a country mile behind the world", he switched to the early lyric "I'd run a hundred miles away from you". The medley was extremely well received, the crowd roared in appreciation and Morrissey thanked them by telling them "You've got incredibly good taste".
In the next song, "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" which was being played for the first and last time ever, Morrissey added an extra verse saying "On the shop floor, there's a calendar, as obvious as snow, as if we didn't know". Morrissey replied to the loud applause that number also received by growling loudly "Hello!". A few songs later, the soon to be released "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" was introduced with "This is our new single..."
...
The Smiths then returned for a final two-song encore. The last of these was "Hand In Glove". It ended with Morrissey wailing in a high pitched voice for about 20 seconds. The Smiths didn't know it at the time, but with its final line "I'll probably never see you again", "Hand In Glove" couldn't have been a better choice of final song to perform together.
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Isn't it a bit odd that this gig was different to every other Smiths gig. Old favourites returned (This Night... and William) and some songs were played that were never played before, including Some Girls which had been released long before this gig, there was no reason why they couldn't have played in on any of the other dates. They also brought back Miserable Lie, and Morrissey even sang the lyrics as they were in it's original form.
I think to end the gig on Hand In Glove was no coincidence, it is the perfect ending and allows everything to come full circle.
I think they brought back these old songs, and played some rarer songs because they knew that it would be their final gig and their last chance to play such amazing songs together.
What do you lot think?
Passions Just Like Mine writes...
Ask
Bigmouth Strikes Again
London/Miserable Lie
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Shoplifters Of The World Unite
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Is It Really So Strange?
Cemetry Gates
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Still Ill
Panic
/The Queen Is Dead
//William It Was Really Nothing
//Hand In Glove
This concert was put together for the Artists Against Apartheid. Tickets were £8, £7, £6 and £5. It was to be the last time the Smiths would be on stage together, bar a few television appearances. What makes this gig even more special is that it turned out to be the only time songs like "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others", the yet unreleased "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" and the "London"/"Miserable Lie" medley were ever performed by the Smiths. "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" and "William It Was Really Nothing" which hadn't been played in a long time were also performed. Finally, the live staple "Hand In Glove" which had been dropped on the recent British leg of the "The Queen Is Dead" tour also returned, making the Smiths' debut single also the last song they played together in a concert.
...
During "Still Ill", Johnny moved next to Andy and Morrissey joined them. They could be seen smiling and laughing, as if they were in on some inside joke.
The last song before the Smiths entered stage was a whole recording of "Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty", not only the short snippet heard at the beginning of "The Queen Is Dead" on the album of the same name.
...
The audience was surprised to find that at the end of "London", the band moved into the fast-paced outro to "Miserable Lie". As they switched from the former to the latter, Morrissey wildly whipped the microphone cord in loops. Instead of singing "I'm just a country mile behind the world", he switched to the early lyric "I'd run a hundred miles away from you". The medley was extremely well received, the crowd roared in appreciation and Morrissey thanked them by telling them "You've got incredibly good taste".
In the next song, "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" which was being played for the first and last time ever, Morrissey added an extra verse saying "On the shop floor, there's a calendar, as obvious as snow, as if we didn't know". Morrissey replied to the loud applause that number also received by growling loudly "Hello!". A few songs later, the soon to be released "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" was introduced with "This is our new single..."
...
The Smiths then returned for a final two-song encore. The last of these was "Hand In Glove". It ended with Morrissey wailing in a high pitched voice for about 20 seconds. The Smiths didn't know it at the time, but with its final line "I'll probably never see you again", "Hand In Glove" couldn't have been a better choice of final song to perform together.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isn't it a bit odd that this gig was different to every other Smiths gig. Old favourites returned (This Night... and William) and some songs were played that were never played before, including Some Girls which had been released long before this gig, there was no reason why they couldn't have played in on any of the other dates. They also brought back Miserable Lie, and Morrissey even sang the lyrics as they were in it's original form.
I think to end the gig on Hand In Glove was no coincidence, it is the perfect ending and allows everything to come full circle.
I think they brought back these old songs, and played some rarer songs because they knew that it would be their final gig and their last chance to play such amazing songs together.
What do you lot think?