Tulsa, OK - Nov. 04, 1997
Brady Theater (capacity: 2500)

Set List (provided by Clay Holder):

The Boy Racer / Do Your Best And Don't Worry / Billy Budd / Ambitious Outsiders / Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself / Paint A Vulgar Picture / Alma Matters / Spring-Heeled Jim / Reader Meet Author /The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get / Hold On To Your Friends  / Now My Heart Is Full / Speedway // Shoplifters Of The World Unite




Summary by Clay Holder

Well, after five and a half years of waiting, I finally saw my first Morrissey show. I was not let down. The venue, The Brady Theater, was perfect for the style of show. There was about 20 feet of space to stand and the rest was seating and a balcony. The acoustics in the "old lady at the Brady" are renowned so the sound was perfect. The Smoking Popes played to a quiet, small crowd. They played quite well, but the they knew their place. Once they left, the familiar Morrissey soccer style chant began. The smoke and "Operation" drum solo began at 9:19. The crowd erupted and floor surged forward. After what seemed like eternity Morrissey took the stage. Countless flowers flew towards him as he almost immediately began "Boy Racer." He looked incredible. After Vauxhall and I, I thought that he was losing style and hair, but gaining weight. This is simply not true. He was wearing plaid slacks and an off white shirt. He was very vibrant and extremely sexual. The microphone was definitely a phallic object. Anyway, he taunted the crowd through the first half of the show by daring us to come on stage. He gratefully accepted tossed flowers all evening. He threw one flower back at the crowd, and unbelievably I caught it.

Surprisingly he didn’t talk any "trash to the audience." In fact he didn’t say much at all. After the first song he announced that "We’re a little band from Tulsa and we’re not that good." He later refuted this, "we’re actually not from Tulsa, we’re from Galveston." Maybe this is some hint that he may hit Texas after all. Anyway, he only played two Smiths songs, "Shoplifters" and "Paint a Vulgar Picture." The less than sell out crowd responded well to these. It wasn’t until halfway into the show, that someone made it on stage. She was actually helped by Moz and the security guards on stage. About three others made it to the promised land after her. There was one instance where Morrissey tried to pull a fan on stage and security rejected the effort. Overall security was pretty laid back, they were not brutish at all. Later in the concert before "Paint a Vulgar Picture," Moz stated (forgive me if I get the name wrong) "As you know we’re touring for (Glen Campbell?) and we thought we might play one of his songs." The show was incredible. As a first timer, I was impressed at how much charisma the ole’ Mozzer has on stage. He played the crowd very well, so well, in fact that the three non-Morrissey fans I brought stated that it was the best concert they’d ever seen. My only regrets are I didn’t bring a camera or tape recorder, and I can’t live that hour and fifteen minutes over again.


Summary by Avi Goldenberg

I am a Los Angeles native and so far have gone to the Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks, Irvine, Claremont, and San Diego shows. Last night I went to the Tulsa show (don’t ask how I got there) and it was THE BEST show by far of the ones I’ve gone to. Before going, I was almost regretting the thought of going to a place that seems like a hick town, with probably a sub-par venue and mediocre fans at best.

Wow, was I wrong. Although the place didn’t sell out (was probably at 60-70% capacity), it had what seemed the most loyal fans of any of the shows I’ve been too (and hell, in Tulsa you would not get anyone to come out except the true fans). This is the first of 7 shows where the Morrissey chant was working wonderfully! It was sung in wonderful unison on at least 10 occasions (the LA shows and Vegas and San Diego all died quickly).

Also, this is the first show where people have made it on stage (that I’ve been too) to actually hug Moz. On two occassion he actually helped pull 2 people up that security was trying to keep off! He was more than active in accepting letters, objects, and cards from the crowd, pocketing items here and there.

It was also the first time I was able to get on the railing without getting crushed and was able to grab his hand twice! During the encore song, I stood on the railing and tried to catapult myself over security (since I know he only does one encore, I went right after the guitar solo on "Shoplifters" so as not to miss much). One of the damn guards caught my leg midair and I crashed into the front of the stage, no luck!

Security coming in was WEAK and I was not even searched so I am sure there should be a bootlegged video from here, and I am going to try and track it down. The set list included the usual, but was still such an incredible show.

 


last modified: 16 Nov 1997 10:48 PM

All rights reserved. Copyright © 1997 by David Tseng