W
Worm
Guest
Given the amount of money most of us paid to see the show, was it too much to ask that he finish the one and only encore, "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"?
For those who weren't there, a fan attempted to jump onstage during that song and was firmly-- but not outrageously-- kept back by security. Morrissey managed a handshake before angrily denouncing the security and walking off, followed by the band after a quick ending to the song.
I am a fan from "way back when". Since The Smiths, actually, but never mind that. I attended the solo Pauley Pavilion show in 1991 which ended after a handful of songs when Morrissey more or less encouraged the fans to overrun security, which they did, causing a melee that ended the proceedings. That's one of my favorite Morrissey gigs, even though my friends and I had won the wristband ticket lottery and had managed to secure seats in the first twenty rows of the venue. The sudden ending of the set felt great, inspired, spontaneous-- the "teenage riot" that all pop shows ought to be. Who cares if we didn't get our seventeen songs' worth?
His ending the set tonight in the middle of the quintessential Smiths song showed not a concern for the fans, but a heightened, megalomaniac petulance. No irony in those giant letters behind the stage: M O R R I S S E Y. He basks in that iconic image without apology, and apparently thinks he can ruin an encore to make a point. About what? About whom? Are we supposed to derive some satisfaction from booing security? Should we have written bellicose letters to Radio City Music Hall? Come on. I'd like to think most of the fans were booing at Morrissey and his band, as I was.
Never mind that it was unprofessional-- Morrissey's greatness seems to come from his unprofessionalism-- it was disrespectful to the fans, most of whom are all obviously longtime apostles. Of all the Moz gigs I've been to, this ending seemed the most pre-meditated, the most concocted of them all. First sign of trouble, one fan slightly mistreated, and the show's over.
I mean, what-- did he have a cab waiting outside? What a joke. He knew damn well what would happen beforehand, and did nothing to circumvent it by planning with management or security. It's a Morrissey gig-- people try to get onstage. That's what fans have always done. That's what they'll continue to do, albeit in dwindling numbers. I refuse the notion that somehow this is such a surprise to Morrissey that he's still outraged by it to the point of summarily terminating a gig.
And I won't hear about "he always does this" or whatever. That he does it because he cares, or because he's not a robot going through the motions but a sensitive human being. No, I've seen him carry on through incidents much worse than tonight's, and not once a show but several times in the same set.
I don't support artists trotting out all the old "hits" to appease the fans. I don't support artists feeling obliged to "put on a good show" regardless of the circumstances, as if part of some Las Vegas troupe. I just feel this was too much. So against the grain from what he and The Smiths stood for. The person who wrote "What do we get for our trouble and pain?/Whalley Range" and "There's ice on the sink where we bathe" and "We may be covered in rags" is not the man who runs his fans through the ringer with concert tickets and then leaves them all disappointed because of a frankly minor incident in the front row.
Once upon a time the front sections of his gigs were as violent as a sackful of drowning kittens. Now it's a bunch of comatose yuppies and the occasional stage invader who gets physically pulled aside by some burly tough guy-- and that's worthy of sending the entire crowd home gutted? Anything to create drama, I suppose. A concert ending early because a single fan got too passionate still leaves open the idea that the rest of the fans are so passionate that his shows simmer to the point of threat, menace, physical confrontations. That must warm his heart as much as it did when that was actually true-- ten years ago.
I love Morrissey. Love his new album. I didn't stand only for the Smiths songs and sit for his newer stuff, as many did. In fact, I loved versions of his solo material like "Now My Heart Is Full" and "First Of The Gang To Die", to name but two. I cheered it all, wanted to love every moment of the show. And up to the encore, it was wonderful. But something about his truncating "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" speaks volumes about what he has become. Johnny, Mike and Andy would have finished the song, at least-- hell, Gary, Alain, Boz and Spencer would have, and did (for "Everyday Is Like Sunday" on the "Live In Dallas" video, still one of my favorite versions). For him to walk off that stage and have the band cut off the tune was a bloody disgrace, and, though it may mean f*** all to everyone here, I want to voice my disgust. I've survived thick and thin with Morrissey over the last eighteen years but this, finally, has struck a nerve.
All the more telling that it happened during the middle of one of the great, most cherished of all Smiths songs. I'd have been upset if he'd cut off "Tomorrow" or "Hairdresser On Fire" or "Irish Blood, English Heart", but "There Is A Light"...I mean, it's simply appalling. Morrissey has upheld the legacy of The Smiths better than the other three, but, no, despite what he imagines, he has not grown larger than those records. He should have finished the show properly. He owed more to the fans, he owed more to himself, and above all he owed more to the songs.
For those who weren't there, a fan attempted to jump onstage during that song and was firmly-- but not outrageously-- kept back by security. Morrissey managed a handshake before angrily denouncing the security and walking off, followed by the band after a quick ending to the song.
I am a fan from "way back when". Since The Smiths, actually, but never mind that. I attended the solo Pauley Pavilion show in 1991 which ended after a handful of songs when Morrissey more or less encouraged the fans to overrun security, which they did, causing a melee that ended the proceedings. That's one of my favorite Morrissey gigs, even though my friends and I had won the wristband ticket lottery and had managed to secure seats in the first twenty rows of the venue. The sudden ending of the set felt great, inspired, spontaneous-- the "teenage riot" that all pop shows ought to be. Who cares if we didn't get our seventeen songs' worth?
His ending the set tonight in the middle of the quintessential Smiths song showed not a concern for the fans, but a heightened, megalomaniac petulance. No irony in those giant letters behind the stage: M O R R I S S E Y. He basks in that iconic image without apology, and apparently thinks he can ruin an encore to make a point. About what? About whom? Are we supposed to derive some satisfaction from booing security? Should we have written bellicose letters to Radio City Music Hall? Come on. I'd like to think most of the fans were booing at Morrissey and his band, as I was.
Never mind that it was unprofessional-- Morrissey's greatness seems to come from his unprofessionalism-- it was disrespectful to the fans, most of whom are all obviously longtime apostles. Of all the Moz gigs I've been to, this ending seemed the most pre-meditated, the most concocted of them all. First sign of trouble, one fan slightly mistreated, and the show's over.
I mean, what-- did he have a cab waiting outside? What a joke. He knew damn well what would happen beforehand, and did nothing to circumvent it by planning with management or security. It's a Morrissey gig-- people try to get onstage. That's what fans have always done. That's what they'll continue to do, albeit in dwindling numbers. I refuse the notion that somehow this is such a surprise to Morrissey that he's still outraged by it to the point of summarily terminating a gig.
And I won't hear about "he always does this" or whatever. That he does it because he cares, or because he's not a robot going through the motions but a sensitive human being. No, I've seen him carry on through incidents much worse than tonight's, and not once a show but several times in the same set.
I don't support artists trotting out all the old "hits" to appease the fans. I don't support artists feeling obliged to "put on a good show" regardless of the circumstances, as if part of some Las Vegas troupe. I just feel this was too much. So against the grain from what he and The Smiths stood for. The person who wrote "What do we get for our trouble and pain?/Whalley Range" and "There's ice on the sink where we bathe" and "We may be covered in rags" is not the man who runs his fans through the ringer with concert tickets and then leaves them all disappointed because of a frankly minor incident in the front row.
Once upon a time the front sections of his gigs were as violent as a sackful of drowning kittens. Now it's a bunch of comatose yuppies and the occasional stage invader who gets physically pulled aside by some burly tough guy-- and that's worthy of sending the entire crowd home gutted? Anything to create drama, I suppose. A concert ending early because a single fan got too passionate still leaves open the idea that the rest of the fans are so passionate that his shows simmer to the point of threat, menace, physical confrontations. That must warm his heart as much as it did when that was actually true-- ten years ago.
I love Morrissey. Love his new album. I didn't stand only for the Smiths songs and sit for his newer stuff, as many did. In fact, I loved versions of his solo material like "Now My Heart Is Full" and "First Of The Gang To Die", to name but two. I cheered it all, wanted to love every moment of the show. And up to the encore, it was wonderful. But something about his truncating "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" speaks volumes about what he has become. Johnny, Mike and Andy would have finished the song, at least-- hell, Gary, Alain, Boz and Spencer would have, and did (for "Everyday Is Like Sunday" on the "Live In Dallas" video, still one of my favorite versions). For him to walk off that stage and have the band cut off the tune was a bloody disgrace, and, though it may mean f*** all to everyone here, I want to voice my disgust. I've survived thick and thin with Morrissey over the last eighteen years but this, finally, has struck a nerve.
All the more telling that it happened during the middle of one of the great, most cherished of all Smiths songs. I'd have been upset if he'd cut off "Tomorrow" or "Hairdresser On Fire" or "Irish Blood, English Heart", but "There Is A Light"...I mean, it's simply appalling. Morrissey has upheld the legacy of The Smiths better than the other three, but, no, despite what he imagines, he has not grown larger than those records. He should have finished the show properly. He owed more to the fans, he owed more to himself, and above all he owed more to the songs.
