Edinburgh, Scotland - Usher Hall (July 30, 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:

Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me / Everyday Is Like Sunday / Alma Matters / I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris / You Have Killed Me / Shoplifters Of The World Unite / You're The One For Me, Fatty / Speedway / Maladjusted / Still Ill / One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell / Ouija Board, Ouija Board / I Know It's Over / Let Me Kiss You / People Are The Same Everywhere / To Give (The Reason I Live) / Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want / I Will See You In Far Off Places / Meat Is Murder // How Soon Is Now?

set list provided by pubrockcoma

---

• Morrissey, Usher Hall, Edinburgh by David Pollock - The Independent. Link posted by pubrockcoma.
• Review: Morrissey, Usher Hall by Bruce Blacklaw - Edinburgh Evening News. Link posted by an anonymous person.

 

[joe frady]

Ahoy.

I am the "author" of the review...I'm afraid I don't know what you're on about! That's meant to be read as if I were speaking in a jaunty tone of voice!

Sorry!

No harm no foul. Thought you might be someone I knew in a former life.

Thanks again for your truth. Here's mine ~

Part One ~

In a city this beautiful it would seem just downright rude not to offer sublimity. An affront to our auspicious surroundings, rain or no rain. In a drunken shithole like Glasgow we takes what we gets, but here the stakes (no offence) are higher:

In three score and ten concerts I've never seen Morrissey open with such an audacious choice of songs. 'Last Night I Dreamt..' and 'Sunday' are meant to be a mid-set peak aren't they, or even pre-encore set closers? But after the (frankly too bloody long) 'Imperfect List', which is as depressingly apt now as when it was written, Moz strides on looking thunderously suave in his tailored sports-luxe zip top and proceeds to lie down on the stage, nestling his head between the two kick drums with the St. Andrews cross on them, as Gustavo tinkles the intro. As a self-loathing Scotsman I could have done without the Scotch flag bit, but I was agape at the gall of beginning a show flat on your back with a bit of pianissimo while the crowd shower their love like Scouse plastic cups.

He soars through 'Last Night' with an immaculate precision that beggars belief. I'd been concerned in Manchester that his singing sounded a little raspy (understandably so) but tonight it was like a warm, and real, embrace that one hoped would never break. I don't know where he dredges this stuff up from, not sure I want to either, but it seems as vital and alive now, on this stage, as it must have when he first put the words to paper last century. As 'The story is old, I know, but it goes on..' glides gracefully through me it occurs that it's another one of those tried and true profundities which litter Morrissey's art like diamond dust ('Does the mind rule the body..', etc) It's a distillation of existential thought that J-PS would, surely, have given his left nut for. To write the line is good enough, but to send it out into the world with a vocal melody of such defiant yearning, poignancy and resigned acceptance is Top Trumps. Giving expression to the philosophical theory whilst simultaneoulsy rendering the emotional cost. He ends the song where he came in - flat on the floor, in a foetal pose. I don't blame him.

'Everyday Is Like Sunday' continues in (with?) the same vein of majisterial melancholy, and the glorious middle eight going into the crowd-crescendo-lights-up-sing-along-a-Sunday. A true National Anthem. But I'm thinking, this is only 2 songs in? This shouldn't be. But, for me, those 2 opening songs had the crowd slurping out of the man's stigamta for the remainder of the set. He won us over in 2 rounds, he had us by 'greased tea', and we went with him the rest of the way. Following into any ficht. That, I think, is the subtle difference between the Manchester and Edinbugh shows. I enjoyed both immensely, but Edinburgh was definitely the more special. It could simply be a question of percentages (bigger crowd, more idiots) but the Edinburgh crowd were more on-side than Manchester.

And Morrissey seemed to sense it, as he launched into 'Alma Matters' with an apparent mood of gleeful and charming defiance in the delivery. He almost seemed to skip around the stage, matching the dodging and weaving within the lyric of this underrated shining pop gem.

'I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris', as always, is greeted with a roar of approval that disarms me. Don't get me wrong, I love the wee guy, but it always surprises me how popular this song is when there are others on 'Refusal' that are far greater. Tonight, for some reason, it goes in a little deeper than normal. Maybe it's being alone in a handsome town, but the gentle poignancy and bittersweet rigour have me slightly moistening. Or maybe it's cos as he chides 'Yes, you've made yourself plain..' he yanks his luxe-zip-top shut all the way to the neck! (Don't worry, he loosened it again in the dark)

'You Have Killed Me' is, as always, a joy. Sounding slightly less menacing than last summer (although that may have been due to sound 'issues' - the sound generally tonight was pretty poor: too loud, or undefined and squelchy. Not ruinously so though. Ironically, Manchester seemed to me to have clearer sound with about triple the height of tonights speaker rack.) The song is still a winning amalgam of poperatic dramatics and puckish punkish exuberance.

Next - the true alchemy of pop: 'Shoplifters' crashes into life and I am transported, in a palpitating heartbeat, back to Glasgow Barrowland, Feb 1995, and the first time Morrissey played it, or any other Smiths song, as a solo artist. As a moment in life it beat birth, marriage and death, greeted with a roar of approval I've yet to hear the equal of, but, frankly, the man tonight is almost unrecognisable from that wintery night back West. Tonight he delivers it with such antoginistic abandonment that it is sacrely believable that there are youths in here who were just a twinkle in their father's 'Girlfiend In A Coma' 12-inch in '95. Moz was in a pretty bad way, in many ways, in '95. Some of us were thinking - how many more years could he muster? 17 years later, here some of us are thinking - why bother stopping? Particularly affecting is the 'heartless hand on my shoulder' crescendo; this section is played and sung with such an on-rush of unified and flowing perfection that it really does send shivers up my neck. Who knows what the words actually mean (I'm aware of all the theorys), essentially they may very well be poetical jibberish, but here he delivers them with such swift and silken conviction, the 'BORED before I even BEGAN' climax is rendered with such punchy veracity that I am brought to the point of tears. Happiness was never so sad, etc, and vice versa, etc...

'Fatty' is greeted as raucously as ANY Smiths song you'd care to name. I rarely ever look behind me at concerts (for fear of seeing some weeble shaped moron playing with his BetFred app or some other example of moron-ism) but as 'Fatty' leaps into life I do risk a glance and I see a classic moment - a forty-something couple front row centre of the Grand Circle leap to their feet and begin simultaneously Moz-dancing and singing the song directly to each other, faces inches apart. The couple are....pleasingly rotund. A Kodak moment (widescreen). Although slightly undercut by me looking back as Moz sings '..And I will stay' to see the fella bolting up the stairs towards the doors. Chocolates?

'Speedway' is the equal of last summer, although slightly less stark and stripped back as it was then, slightly more recognisable to the original version. It could still be said to be a sublime mix of Jacques Brel and Johnny Ramone, although last summer Jacques was on top; now Johnny's back in charge. Teasing, enticing, exploratory, celebratory and accusatory - at times almost as if Morrissey himself doesn't quite know where he's going to go with it. Tonight it seems to excite and amuse him.

The black heart of the set pulses on with 'Maladjusted'. This is manifestly the song as it was always destined to be - a dizzying spiral of stalking, seething, questing, loving menace. The dark epic intimacy of the song is fully realised. My favourite Morrissey line ever ('When the gulf between / All the things I need / And the things I receive / Is an ancient ocean wide / wild / lost /uncrossed ') is raised to it's rightful place; as he spits out each word the drums and lights underline their power. He pauses to look askance at the 'safe and stable' warm light above before spinning back into the blood red stage lighting, circling the stage, round and round until that eponymous finalé. As he repeats 'maladjuted...never to be trusted' I watch his face and truth is smeared over every inch. Gustavo seals the deal with the truest falsetto there ever was...

Saturday night's encore comes next and is greeted with similar screams. This delivers up one of my favourite moments from the night when, during the chorus, Morrissey folds to his knees on his vocal monitor and looks to the heavens beyond the gilded innards of the Usher Hall to implore 'Am I Still Ill?' Answer came there none.

'One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell' is a stay-er. It seems able to triumph in any location, something to do with that bass line and those propulsive drums. And the fact that Morrissey sings his words with absolute conviction.

 

[Deleted member 132]

Sorry folks I'm a moz fan, but thats either the set list of an angry old man or as more likely someone signalling he's on the way out. Loads of songs referencing last of/ what will you do in future etc... Read the song lyrics. Hope I'm wrong but also hope before he hang up his mic that he does a full on back cat masterpiece

you're silly.

 

[joe frady]

Part Two ~

'Ouija Board' offers a comprehensive masterclass in Morrissey stagecraft. The fact that, in the breadth of one darkened pause, he can veer from the muscular linearity of 'Goodbye' to this subtle and nuanced performance is all the testament one would require to his genius. He sings this one almost conversationally, as if to the ouija board, pleading and debating to deliver his lover. At one point he brings his right hand up to his head so that his fingers brace his jawline, and it rests there for a beat, as one might do in converstion with a person, before he pulls the hand away and looks at it with confusion and disgust and tries to throw it off. Like a Strangeways Stranglelove. The words he sings 'just can't find my place in this world', 'so horribly lonely', etc, are writ small and subtle on his very body. The performance is full of these twisted little joys. Just before each Jesse guitar break, in ghostly white light, he creases to his knees and lets out a haunted yawp to his love, from this sphere to the next. At one point he's circling backwards, almost trancelike. It's a breathtaking performance of such a 'funny little single'.

'I Know It's Over' suffers ever so slightly from comparison with the Manchester rendition, in that on Saturday night it was delivered with such volume and size into such a vast space that it became Lancashire Opera. Fittingly. Here, it's merely soul-wrenching.

The sweet and tender subtlety of 'Let Me Kiss You' suffers a little from the poor sound of the venue, and you cannot get the full warmth of Gustavo's keyed string line. Having changed his shirt at the end of 'I Know It's Over' he now rips off this fresh one and tosses it horde-wards. What if you liked them manky? Not your night then.

I'm slightly delighted that he returns in my favourite die-cut stripey luxe-tracky-top that apparently some people abhor. He looks like he could be a member of the 1920s French Tour De France ladies team. In a good way. I'm slightly disappointed however that 'People Are The Same Everywhere' is the only unreleased song given to Edinburgh tonight. I'd had 'Action' gliding around in my head all day today and 'Scandinavia' is still an instant classic to these ears, but 'People..' is still given with love and vibrancy, so should I really complain?

'To Give' is the perfect song for this auditorium, and sounds far better than in the shed in Manchester. It is also one of those songs that could easily go horribly wrong, but tonight Bassey herself could not have formed it more powerfully. It's obvioulsy a bit of a choker in any situation, but the gentle dedication to Kevin Roberts (who the audience spontaneoulsy applauded when his mate told his story) meant that some of us were puddle-esque by the close.

No point drying off, as 'Please Please Please..' follows, to a rapturous welcome. The sound that greets it is a kind of loving and gentle...roar. I know it's hard to imagine a gentle roar, but that's really what it sounded like. I tried to think of another scenario that might produce such a unique sound. The best I could come up with was if a team of 12 Nelson Mandelas were playing 12 Nelson Mandelas in the World Cup. And Nelson Mandela scored the winner. That's the sound the crowd might make.

Another heightened memory occurs during 'PPP..' when I notice the crowd singing along. As they come to the line 'So, for once in my life...' there is the sublime sound of an elongated, feminine 'ssssss' at the start of 'So'. They are waiting to catch up with Morrissey, who is singing at a slightly slower pace and with slightly different phrasing. Only slightly. But they wait. And try to follow. They are singing their version, the version that they've known ever since they first heard it, the version in their head all these years, or maybe just months, that perhaps they've grown up with, or perhaps are just growing into. But the version that means the most to them, whenever they heard it, in Thatcher's reign or in Cameron's. Their version is dichotomised with Morrissey singing it 'His Way' - the particular way that he happens to be phrasing it here, tonight. The difference is so slight as to be almost negligible, but, for me, that feminine 'sss' crystallises a perfect pop moment of love between audience and artist, sung to and sung by, old and new, memory and present. Of course, in that gap, that moment, nobody in the room happened to hear another noise - that of my tired old heart breaking. The eternal reciprocity of tears, as the poet said. (Now, if only Owen could have carried a tune.)

But then ~ towards the end of the song the crowd is struck silent as Morrissey simply intones 'PLEASE' four or five times, eyes closed. Taking their song and, gently, claiming it back as his song. His words. His life. Boiling it down to the very essence of the song. Sung with such yearning you just wouldn't believe it. Ends. Cue that gentle f***ing roar again. Twice as loud.

And, by the by, Jesse played the guitar lines on 'PPP..' to absolute perfection.

'I Will See You...' blasts away our tears, and features some particularly ferocious drumming from the new guy. Which comes into great effect again with 'Meat Is Murder' ("Don't think you're getting away that easily...") - a genuinely visceral offering which climaxes with Morrissey stood on the drum riser, back to crowd, hands clasping the nape of his neck as he gazes up at the horror-strewn screen whilst his band unleash a veritable abattoir of noise all around him.

By a process of elimination I'd already guessed what the encore would be (I would have liked it to be 'Scandinavia' but I can see the arguments against...) And so 'How Soon is Now' erupts into life and a bloody red bedlam ensues. A loving bedlam, but bedlam all the same. A few hardy souls make it on stage to be greeted with loving arms. Moz is going around collecting gifts like a kid at Christmas. And teasing and tickling straining outsretched fingertips. And standing at the drums with his perspiring-heart-back firmly turned away from the crowd, for large parts of the song, holding his fingers just like in the photograph of young Steve Morrissey of Stretford (that we can now wear on our chest), while the crowd behind writhe and bay and flail to get one inch nearer. And I'm thinking ~ 'He loves this'. What the hell is he gonna do when it's gone?

Then I'm thinking 'What the hell am I gonna do when it's gone?'

But we're here and it's now, so....

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, god... More of the list resentment. Actually, the list began in the US back during the 2004 Quarry tour, I believe in Los Angeles, in order to make it easier for those who queued overnight/all day long outside the venue to keep their place in the queue, as the majority of those on the list are the "Irregular regulars" that follow a lot of, or the majority of the tour. Often these are people that have travelled, so it is supposed to be used for people to leave the queue if they need to go check into their hotel, have a shower, get food, etc., all within a reasonable amount of time. Of course this can be subject to abuse from time to time, but generally it has worked out pretty well, minus a few exceptions like NYC in 2007. I have personally seen many people crossed off of it when they have gone away for too long, etc., so it hasn't all been "unfair." This list has also been known of by people in Morrissey's queue, who also often make sure that those who follow the tours get to the front before queue jumpers do. The same system was in place at the Manchester Arena gig as well, where a select amount of people were let in before the rest of the crowd (the barrier was completely full by the time all of the doors were open). Generally if you get there early and make it known that you are there to queue, I have never seen anyone refused to be added to the list, unless the number is already ridiculous and there is no point. Often I have seen people who are in the front of the queue ask the later arrivals if they would like to be added to the list. And to those complaining that Morrissey must get tired of seeing the same faces every night, you must have not been around for very long, because it's actually the opposite. Basically list or no list, there is always going to be a group of people that travel to many, many gigs, who will and do get special treatment, whether you agree with it or not, that's just the way it is and the way it's always been. Can't comment on the specifics of the list at the actually Edinburgh gig, but it's unfortunate some people feel hard done by at this gig in particular.

 

[Anonymous]

I am still on a high having seen Moz and the band in Edinburgh. Can't stop thinking about it, set list and delivery were breathless. My addiction for Moz is ever stronger, his performance was unbelievable. I brought some friends and they are under his spell. I believe in Moz, he is more than an artist, songwriter, performer but a total inspiration for living life. I sit here with my Moz gig T shirt, now and the one I bought from Manchester 2 days before wishing I was going to NY. The Quarry night was great, Hi to all the like minded friends I made there ...Love you Moz forever Barb

 

[Anonymous]

Wow! Thank you for taking the time to tell us all about the concert. I am looking forward to his concert in late October. I purchased the tickets in memory of my brother who just passed away from a painful struggle with bone cancer. Morrissey was one of brother's favorite artists since high school and the Smiths first came out. I can't wait to experience Morrissey for my brother who I know would of purchased tickets if he were still here. You have me really excited!

What would Edinburgh be without the rain?

Who knows...but it wouldn't be Edinburgh.

What would we be without Morrissey?

Happy, well adjusted, successful...normal?

Maybe...but I'm glad I've got Morrissey even if I lack those other things.

The crowd at the Usher Hall is the usual unusual.




Balding, middle-aged men desperately tugging the last few stray strands of hair to attention in an effort to make something that vaguely resembles a quiff.

Young turks with skinny jeans, fat egos and good shoes.

Pretty girls, pretty boys.

At least one skinhead in beautiful shoes.

People old enough to know better.

People young enough to know no different.

As the imperfect list blares from the sound system the atmosphere in the hall transforms us from this rag-tag bunch of misfits into one perfectly formed mass...we're all here because of the tie that binds.

Morrissey hits the stage looking fighting fit and able...trim, muscular, perky.

"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" is, in any setting and at any time, one of the most beautiful songs in the popular music songbook. It's a bold move to open a concert with a song like this...it's haunting, affecting and full of yearning. Every line is bawled back at the master and when the roof nearly comes off the venue at it's close it all makes sense.

He then roars through "Everyday is Like Sunday" and "Alma Matters" with the band sounding tight and his voice getting stronger with every verse one can't help but feel that this could be a night to remember. Who else could take a single like "Alma" which barely made a dent in the charts and that features on an album that is, at best, patchy by his standards and make it sound like the only song you every wanted to hear?

When he hands the mic to the front row a Northern lass pleads with him; "Coom to Wigan Morrissey...please, coom to Wigan." Taking the mic back he barks "No" and then we are headlong into a clutch of four singles in a row; "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris", "You Have Killed Me", "Shoplifters of the World Tonight" and "You're the One for me Fatty". Before he introduces his band of "love hungry bachelors" we are given "Speedway" which is given a re-working but doesn't suffer as a result...if anything it sounds better than ever.

Casual observers and supporters of Morrissey would now be looking for "First of the Gang to Die", "This Charming Man" and "Irish Blood English Heart"...Morrissey isn't one for giving people what they want so instead we are given a blistering rendition of "Maladjusted" which is played with such aggression, such power and such ferocity that I am left reeling. Then it's the glory of "Still Ill", the demanding "One Day Goodbye Will be Farewell" and the hysterical but moving "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" before being emotionally assaulted by "I Know It's Over".

I'm not sure that before tonight any of those songs would feature in my personal "Best of..." collection but after hearing them tonight they won't ever be off of that collection.

At the end of "Let Me Kiss You" Morrissey strips to the waist...not an unusual sight at a Morrissey concert but one which, in recent years (if we are being honest) has resulted in a few downward glances as we have tried to avoid the fact that our personal saviour has fallen victim of middle-age spread. Not tonight. He looks fabulous. I'm saying no more for fear of plunging myself into some sort of homo-erotic coma.

"Todays lesson is that we are all, all of us, minorities..." is the introduction to the only unreleased song we hear tonight. "People are the Same Everywhere" sounds like it is cut from the same cloth as "All You Need is Me" or "Something is Squeezing my Skull". It's power-pop...rocky and raucous. I like it...so there.

The cover version of "To Give" by Frankie Valli is dedicated to Kevin Roberts a Morrissey fan given a mention by a friend in the front row. He passed away earlier this year, was a huge Morrissey fan and his friend wanted to have him remembered so when the mic came to him he told us all about him and Morrissey preceded the song with a simply "For Kevin". A beautiful moment and a none too subtle reminder of how important Morrissey is to so many of us.

"We all know that the British judiciary killed Oscar Wilde and that something similar happened to Shelley, Byron, Keats and Yeats by the establishment. The British establishment rewards mediocrity and the mediocre. It also hates people who are not mediocre so..."

"Please, please, please..." is so moving tonight that, genuinely, I am in tears by the time it ends. I'm confident I'm not the only one.

"I Will See You in Far Off Places" is thumping, loud, aggressive, blistering and rage filled. It's a glorious reminder of why Morrissey matters. Without a record deal, and stubbornly refusing to do the DIY thing, it is easy to see him as old news, yesterdays man. But when he can write songs like this, that have more to say about the world we live in than any public proclamation by the vile David Cameron ever could, it is clear to see why we need him now more than ever.

Most artists like to end on a high note...a romp through a few of the "oldies", the fans favourites...Morrissey chooses to end the set with "Meat is Murder" complete with a gruesome set of images that may well serve to convert yet another generation of fans to the vegetarian cause. It's powerful and political.

An encore of "How Soon is Now" seems like the only possible way a concert like this could have ended. A trip down memory lane, the greatest single his old band never released, a clarion call to the lonely...it's everything you need to know about Morrissey.

8 singles.

A cover version.

7 Smiths songs.

Album tracks from "Maladjusted", "Vauxhall and I", "Ringleader of the Tormentors", "The Queen is Dead", "The Smiths", "Meat is Murder" and "Strangeways Here We Come" (I'm sure I've missed or mistaken some of the songs...forgive me, it's late).

1 unreleased song.

People will complain no matter what Morrissey plays...there is always something you want, something you are tired of...but the truth is that 20 songs over 90 minutes with all sorts of treats packed in isn't really a set you can complain about.

The last night of the tour...questions over whether or not he will tour again, will he ever release another album, will we see his autobiography? For now though I'm glad I was there...I sang my heart out, I laughed, I cried and I felt part of something.

What more could you want?

 

[Anonymous]

I wasn't going to post this but I just seen all the comments about the queue and felt like I had to contribute.

Right, I was on the queue, passing time playing on my smartphone and I saw this tweet. I had been tweeting about how cold it was on the queue and how I wanted my sister to bring me some soup, that silly sort ofthing that twitter is for. So I then saw this tweet.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> https://twitter.com/batterseabenn/status/229877230581477376


I twigged that the bloke in the picture was the bloke standing mere feet away giving it loads about what a brilliant fan he is, and how friendly he is to all of his other mozzy fans how it is like a family reunion at every gig. I was going to say something to him about the tweet like "whats this about mateee" but then I overheard him being a twat to someone on the queue, bragging that he had been to more gigs than them this year, that he was going to Las Angeles later on for more gigs, blah blah givin it loads he was.

Could not believe it later on when I showed it the tweet to my girlfriend who says she has been noticing his condescending comments directed at other fans on FB!!!!! Apparently Box just has to post a status update and "DAVID" will be on with replies, showing off, mostly.

Later on we overheard him and some other person having an "I hate morrissey solo" conversation, it was like listening to two blokes brag about who had the biggest house, they were tryin to outdo each other with their negative sentiments. Yes, we were that close to them and how nobody twigged us pissig ourselves at the antics of two middle-aged-men acting like tweenie twilight fans I will never know.

As for the screen capture/tweet -for all that had been said about Julia over the years I don't think she has ever done anything like this to any one. She hasn't threatened to wring their necks, has she!

David Lewin, if it is the same bloke, as other commenters were saying, well he was freaking out right before doors opened to the venue. He looked like he was facing a major life trauma!!!

 

[Giselle]

joe frady, many thanks for such a detailed, in-depth, yet heartfelt review!

Part Two ...



Another heightened memory occurs during 'PPP..' when I notice the crowd singing along. As they come to the line 'So, for once in my life...' there is the sublime sound of an elongated, feminine 'ssssss' at the start of 'So'. They are waiting to catch up with Morrissey, who is singing at a slightly slower pace and with slightly different phrasing. Only slightly. But they wait. And try to follow. They are singing their version, the version that they've known ever since they first heard it, the version in their head all these years, or maybe just months, that perhaps they've grown up with, or perhaps are just growing into. But the version that means the most to them, whenever they heard it, in Thatcher's reign or in Cameron's. Their version is dichotomised with Morrissey singing it 'His Way' - the particular way that he happens to be phrasing it here, tonight. The difference is so slight as to be almost negligible, but, for me, that feminine 'sss' crystallises a perfect pop moment of love between audience and artist, sung to and sung by, old and new, memory and present. Of course, in that gap, that moment, nobody in the room happened to hear another noise - that of my tired old heart breaking. The eternal reciprocity of tears, as the poet said. (Now, if only Owen could have carried a tune.)

But then ~ towards the end of the song the crowd is struck silent as Morrissey simply intones 'PLEASE' four or five times, eyes closed. Taking their song and, gently, claiming it back as his song. His words. His life. Boiling it down to the very essence of the song. Sung with such yearning you just wouldn't believe it. Ends. Cue that gentle f***ing roar again. Twice as loud.

And, by the by, Jesse played the guitar lines on 'PPP..' to absolute perfection.

'I Will See You...' blasts away our tears, and features some particularly ferocious drumming from the new guy. Which comes into great effect again with 'Meat Is Murder' ("Don't think you're getting away that easily...") - a genuinely visceral offering which climaxes with Morrissey stood on the drum riser, back to crowd, hands clasping the nape of his neck as he gazes up at the horror-strewn screen whilst his band unleash a veritable abattoir of noise all around him.

Then I'm thinking 'What the hell am I gonna do when it's gone?'

But we're here and it's now, so....

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, god... More of the list resentment. Actually, the list began in the US back during the 2004 Quarry tour, I believe in Los Angeles, in order to make it easier for those who queued overnight/all day long outside the venue to keep their place in the queue, as the majority of those on the list are the "Irregular regulars" that follow a lot of, or the majority of the tour. Often these are people that have travelled, so it is supposed to be used for people to leave the queue if they need to go check into their hotel, have a shower, get food, etc., all within a reasonable amount of time. Of course this can be subject to abuse from time to time, but generally it has worked out pretty well, minus a few exceptions like NYC in 2007. I have personally seen many people crossed off of it when they have gone away for too long, etc., so it hasn't all been "unfair." This list has also been known of by people in Morrissey's queue, who also often make sure that those who follow the tours get to the front before queue jumpers do. The same system was in place at the Manchester Arena gig as well, where a select amount of people were let in before the rest of the crowd (the barrier was completely full by the time all of the doors were open). Generally if you get there early and make it known that you are there to queue, I have never seen anyone refused to be added to the list, unless the number is already ridiculous and there is no point. Often I have seen people who are in the front of the queue ask the later arrivals if they would like to be added to the list. And to those complaining that Morrissey must get tired of seeing the same faces every night, you must have not been around for very long, because it's actually the opposite. Basically list or no list, there is always going to be a group of people that travel to many, many gigs, who will and do get special treatment, whether you agree with it or not, that's just the way it is and the way it's always been. Can't comment on the specifics of the list at the actually Edinburgh gig, but it's unfortunate some people feel hard done by at this gig in particular.

To me, part of the point in touring is to see different places and different people. Yes, it is nice that people make an effort to travel to go and see Morrissey, myself included, but I cannot help but feel that it would be only fair for different people who may not be part of his close-knit and cliquey network of fans to be able to get to the front too. I cannot travel to every Morrissey gig as an 'Irregular Regular' or whatever you have just called them as I have a job, rent to pay and a life to live outside of Morrissey gigs, as much as I passionately love Morrissey and try to see him on at least a few tour dates of each tour! A previous poster has stated that they were at the venue at 10 and were not approached to be put on the 'list' and as I don't usually use Morrissey-solo or any other forums, I was certainly not aware of it. I didn't know that I could drop my bags off at my hotel and then come back, as those who know each other and have arranged this set-up obviously do. So yes, I do think that it was unfair. Perhaps if it was more widely known, stated on the website of the venue that this was the case and properly organised by crew members then there wouldn't be such a problem. As it happens when the staff opened the doors of Usher Hall they allowed those not on the 'list' in first anyway as they would normally do at a gig (to shouts of abuse from the charming select few) so it does beg the question of whether they were even really aware of it. Obviously they were as confused as we all were.

I have never been to a gig where a list has been neccesary. Usually the procedure is that you arrive and queue and that's it, without some fans taking it upon themselves to conduct others about as if they held some kind of supreme authority, despite having been nowhere to be seen at the venue throughout the day. It was just a bizarre spectacle which was totally new and confusing to me. Perhaps it was mainly the attitude of the person in the 'We Hate Wills and Kate' t shirt which has rankled people. He was bossy, self-important and unpleasant when questioned and if this is the sort of person whom Morrissey has chosen to irrationally favour then I think this is very sad indeed. What would Shelagh say!

 

[Anonymous]

Outstanding review and presented in a format some many of us feel when watchng the man in action~

Part Two ~

'Ouija Board' offers a comprehensive masterclass in Morrissey stagecraft. The fact that, in the breadth of one darkened pause, he can veer from the muscular linearity of 'Goodbye' to this subtle and nuanced performance is all the testament one would require to his genius. He sings this one almost conversationally, as if to the ouija board, pleading and debating to deliver his lover. At one point he brings his right hand up to his head so that his fingers brace his jawline, and it rests there for a beat, as one might do in converstion with a person, before he pulls the hand away and looks at it with confusion and disgust and tries to throw it off. Like a Strangeways Stranglelove. The words he sings 'just can't find my place in this world', 'so horribly lonely', etc, are writ small and subtle on his very body. The performance is full of these twisted little joys. Just before each Jesse guitar break, in ghostly white light, he creases to his knees and lets out a haunted yawp to his love, from this sphere to the next. At one point he's circling backwards, almost trancelike. It's a breathtaking performance of such a 'funny little single'.

'I Know It's Over' suffers ever so slightly from comparison with the Manchester rendition, in that on Saturday night it was delivered with such volume and size into such a vast space that it became Lancashire Opera. Fittingly. Here, it's merely soul-wrenching.

The sweet and tender subtlety of 'Let Me Kiss You' suffers a little from the poor sound of the venue, and you cannot get the full warmth of Gustavo's keyed string line. Having changed his shirt at the end of 'I Know It's Over' he now rips off this fresh one and tosses it horde-wards. What if you liked them manky? Not your night then.

I'm slightly delighted that he returns in my favourite die-cut stripey luxe-tracky-top that apparently some people abhor. He looks like he could be a member of the 1920s French Tour De France ladies team. In a good way. I'm slightly disappointed however that 'People Are The Same Everywhere' is the only unreleased song given to Edinburgh tonight. I'd had 'Action' gliding around in my head all day today and 'Scandinavia' is still an instant classic to these ears, but 'People..' is still given with love and vibrancy, so should I really complain?

'To Give' is the perfect song for this auditorium, and sounds far better than in the shed in Manchester. It is also one of those songs that could easily go horribly wrong, but tonight Bassey herself could not have formed it more powerfully. It's obvioulsy a bit of a choker in any situation, but the gentle dedication to Kevin Roberts (who the audience spontaneoulsy applauded when his mate told his story) meant that some of us were puddle-esque by the close.

No point drying off, as 'Please Please Please..' follows, to a rapturous welcome. The sound that greets it is a kind of loving and gentle...roar. I know it's hard to imagine a gentle roar, but that's really what it sounded like. I tried to think of another scenario that might produce such a unique sound. The best I could come up with was if a team of 12 Nelson Mandelas were playing 12 Nelson Mandelas in the World Cup. And Nelson Mandela scored the winner. That's the sound the crowd might make.

Another heightened memory occurs during 'PPP..' when I notice the crowd singing along. As they come to the line 'So, for once in my life...' there is the sublime sound of an elongated, feminine 'ssssss' at the start of 'So'. They are waiting to catch up with Morrissey, who is singing at a slightly slower pace and with slightly different phrasing. Only slightly. But they wait. And try to follow. They are singing their version, the version that they've known ever since they first heard it, the version in their head all these years, or maybe just months, that perhaps they've grown up with, or perhaps are just growing into. But the version that means the most to them, whenever they heard it, in Thatcher's reign or in Cameron's. Their version is dichotomised with Morrissey singing it 'His Way' - the particular way that he happens to be phrasing it here, tonight. The difference is so slight as to be almost negligible, but, for me, that feminine 'sss' crystallises a perfect pop moment of love between audience and artist, sung to and sung by, old and new, memory and present. Of course, in that gap, that moment, nobody in the room happened to hear another noise - that of my tired old heart breaking. The eternal reciprocity of tears, as the poet said. (Now, if only Owen could have carried a tune.)

But then ~ towards the end of the song the crowd is struck silent as Morrissey simply intones 'PLEASE' four or five times, eyes closed. Taking their song and, gently, claiming it back as his song. His words. His life. Boiling it down to the very essence of the song. Sung with such yearning you just wouldn't believe it. Ends. Cue that gentle f***ing roar again. Twice as loud.

And, by the by, Jesse played the guitar lines on 'PPP..' to absolute perfection.

'I Will See You...' blasts away our tears, and features some particularly ferocious drumming from the new guy. Which comes into great effect again with 'Meat Is Murder' ("Don't think you're getting away that easily...") - a genuinely visceral offering which climaxes with Morrissey stood on the drum riser, back to crowd, hands clasping the nape of his neck as he gazes up at the horror-strewn screen whilst his band unleash a veritable abattoir of noise all around him.

By a process of elimination I'd already guessed what the encore would be (I would have liked it to be 'Scandinavia' but I can see the arguments against...) And so 'How Soon is Now' erupts into life and a bloody red bedlam ensues. A loving bedlam, but bedlam all the same. A few hardy souls make it on stage to be greeted with loving arms. Moz is going around collecting gifts like a kid at Christmas. And teasing and tickling straining outsretched fingertips. And standing at the drums with his perspiring-heart-back firmly turned away from the crowd, for large parts of the song, holding his fingers just like in the photograph of young Steve Morrissey of Stretford (that we can now wear on our chest), while the crowd behind writhe and bay and flail to get one inch nearer. And I'm thinking ~ 'He loves this'. What the hell is he gonna do when it's gone?

Then I'm thinking 'What the hell am I gonna do when it's gone?'

But we're here and it's now, so....

 

[VivaGil]

Joefrady! Thanks for not a review but an interpretation!

 

[Anonymous]

Joefrady, your review is so full of heart and emotion!
Thank you for provide such beautiful read.

 

[johnnymunro]

You know, it really doesn't matter because Moz's people will always let in the regulars, ie. people that follow most of the tour, before anyone else anyways. It's been that way for a long time.

Unless you run this website maybe?!

 

[Anonymous]

so, in conclusion, "the list" is not authorized by anyone with any authority, therefore no one has to abide by anything. just as i suspected.

 

[goinghome]

Everything about this concert was simply quite transcendent. The hall was magnificent. Kristeen Young was a tour de force, superb. Morrissey's backdrop switched often during the show between Oscar Wilde, the Batman actors and page-like shadows tumbling over the screen. Indeed the appreciation of the audience was most intelligent and their performance too a great success...culminating in a prolonged standing ovation at the end from a full house. Morrissey had hand on heart a lot near the end. I think he and the band felt the pounding relentless waves of love. I doubt anyone there could have wished for more. To many such future assemblies... And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne!

The Independent's review of the concert - http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...s/morrissey-usher-hall-edinburgh-7993931.html

 

[geordie]

stick yer Q the mozza royal family were quite venomous when the other doors opened and let the poor paupers in that had been there since 10`oclock so the Q doesnt realy work still got up to the barrier must have annoyed them

 

[girl still ill]

I wasn't going to post this but I just seen all the comments about the queue and felt like I had to contribute.

Right, I was on the queue, passing time playing on my smartphone and I saw this tweet. I had been tweeting about how cold it was on the queue and how I wanted my sister to bring me some soup, that silly sort ofthing that twitter is for. So I then saw this tweet.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> https://twitter.com/batterseabenn/status/229877230581477376


I twigged that the bloke in the picture was the bloke standing mere feet away giving it loads about what a brilliant fan he is, and how friendly he is to all of his other mozzy fans how it is like a family reunion at every gig. I was going to say something to him about the tweet like "whats this about mateee" but then I overheard him being a twat to someone on the queue, bragging that he had been to more gigs than them this year, that he was going to Las Angeles later on for more gigs, blah blah givin it loads he was.

Could not believe it later on when I showed it the tweet to my girlfriend who says she has been noticing his condescending comments directed at other fans on FB!!!!! Apparently Box just has to post a status update and "DAVID" will be on with replies, showing off, mostly.

Later on we overheard him and some other person having an "I hate morrissey solo" conversation, it was like listening to two blokes brag about who had the biggest house, they were tryin to outdo each other with their negative sentiments. Yes, we were that close to them and how nobody twigged us pissig ourselves at the antics of two middle-aged-men acting like tweenie twilight fans I will never know.

As for the screen capture/tweet -for all that had been said about Julia over the years I don't think she has ever done anything like this to any one. She hasn't threatened to wring their necks, has she!

David Lewin, if it is the same bloke, as other commenters were saying, well he was freaking out right before doors opened to the venue. He looked like he was facing a major life trauma!!!

Firstly, the thread referenced in the tweet is from over two years ago and was part of a whole tongue and cheek thread. So why would someone save such a thing?? This post is lie after lie after lie posted 'anonymously'. Get a life.

 

[Anonymous]

Is there any reason why you just sat there silently, instead of going up to whoever was organising the list, asking what was going on and getting your name on it? Speaking about it AT THE TIME might have helped sort out whatever your problem was, and got you in at the right place. Doing nothing at the time and bitching about it online later isn't going to help anybody. It sounds like someone just f***ed up, and amidst all the other fans milling about the place didn't realise that you hadn't added your names to the list. Try speaking to people at the concerts next time.

The poster already explained they were significantly younger than those organising the lists and didn't want to cause a scene. No person should feel intimidated about keeping a space they queued for and are entitled to.

This list business might have been started with the best intentions but it sounds like a farce now. Also the characters mentioned - although commendable in their support - only serve to fracture the fan base and create division. It certainly struck me how close knit and 'snobby' some of them were, I have no idea why and it was something I was surprised about. No ones experience should be blighted because they have been to less gigs or don't have a 'wrist-band' on. (Although mines wasn't and I had a great time it would appear several people, and I did witness one disgruntled fan dealing with a mentioned 'regular', had a bit of trouble. Shame. Fantastic gig, really was)

 

[Anonymous]

Then the list is a moot point, and I for one, certainly won't be taking directives from "Q" should his delusional ass show up at the fall tour.

What, you mean he follows The Fall as well as Morrissey?

 

[Anonymous]

This whole list bollocks is exactly that. Bollocks.
I was sharing an apartment with a load of fans (about 12 / 14 of us crashed on the floor) in New York in 2007 (5 nights in the Hammerstein Ballroom).
There were groups of three, working in shifts. The first 3 were outside as soon as the gig finished until around 2am when the second 3 replaced them. Around 5 or 6am the next 3 got up and replaced the second 3. And so on.
Me? I crashed for the whole night and in the morning explored New York!
But these 9 fans all thought that they all had the right to be at the front because they had all queued up. at some point, with a 6 hour absence!
Yes, by all means, go for a piss and something to eat... but a 6 hour sleep is taking the piss....
Should I ever be near the front (extremely unlikely when there is a bar near by!) I'd simply refuse to give any ''List Organizer' my name and tell them they can stick the list up their backside!