22 Feb 1984 University Of Reading, Reading

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Details Courtesy Of PassionsJustLikeMine.Com

22 February 1984
University Of Reading, Reading
Hand In Glove
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Girl Afraid
This Charming Man
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Still Ill
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Barbarism Begins At Home
Back To The Old House
What Difference Does It Make?
/You've Got Everything Now

This concert wasn't the best of the tour. Troublemakers in the audience spit at the band, threw water and shouted abuse.
After "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" Morrissey scolded some troublemaker "What? Ssshhh!". Then after "Girl Afraid", he sarcastically told the disinterested audience "...not to have any heart attacks". In "This Charming Man", Morrissey changed a line to "this man said it's gruesome that someone so farty should care". "Nothing to say, except this" served as an introduction to "Pretty Girls Make Graves". Morrissey screeched "I dunno" at some point in "Still Ill", as he often did. There were a few musical mistakes in that song and the next, "This Night Has Opened My Eyes". This was probably due to the crowd's animosity distracting the band.

Morrissey himself had difficulties concentrating in "Barbarism Begins At Home", or perhaps he just lost interest because of the troublemakers. He changed the melody of many lines, improvised parts, and at times, couldn't fit the words with the music. Next on the setlist, "Back To The Old House" was introduced with "This is for all you doomed romantics." Before the final song of the main set, Morrissey asked "Well? What should we do?" The audience wasn't given a chance to answer, the band went straight into "What Difference Does It Make?".

Returning for the encore, Morrissey scolded the audience one final time: "Reading... are you listening? (crowd: yeah!) Rule #1, don't spit... old hat!" It seems like the negative elements didn't listen because one third into "You've Got Everything Now", Morrissey stopped singing and left. Very professionally the band cut short to the outro. Someone unfamiliar with the song would not even have noticed that a few verses were missing

 

[Smelly French Boy]

un grand merci.

 

[MozFanNH]

My 1984 collection has improved greatly due to your fine work...thank you...

 

[Augustus]

Thank you so much for this. It was my first Smiths concert (of many) and to hear it again makes me both happy and sad. Happy because it was such a great night despite the cretins, a great time in general for me in fact, and sad because those days have gone and can never be recaptured. By 1986 the Smiths were at their inspirational peak, with queues outside record shops on release days for their singles and albums, by my birthday in August 1987 they were gone. Twenty years ago on the 23rd August. It barely seems possible.

"The flame that burns twice as bright...".