oh the choices Alan & Gary have made, may seem strange to some....
'(their concert with Morrissey was jaw dropping, there was no point of comparison).'
need more be said?
I certainly like Morrissey a lot... and I am not really interested in Alain or Gary.
Sometimes it is necessary to bring back some things to its context:
Someone in this thread said that he felt that "the last time" that Morrissey had a real "band" was during the Oye Esteban tour... that after that tour he never had a "band" again, but somehow became a singer who plays with session musicians who do their job, but without the spirit of a "band".
After reading that comment, I remembered my conversation with Alain and Gary during the Oye Esteban tour... and how they were VERY derogative about Morrissey when they talked to me in private. It was obvious for me during that conversation that they had a very tense relationship with Morrissey... and that the idea of "They were truly like a band" doesn't seem to be realistic. At least 2 members of his band didn't like him (during the Oye Esteban tour, I can't guess if they had a different relationship with him in the past or not).
I am not defending Gary or Alain... I honestly don't care about them.
As for the 2 concerts: the concert they gave with Morrissey was amazing. The concert of their Rockabilly side project was boring (it was simply good musicians playing rockabilly songs, but nothing that could amaze anyone).
Last, but not least, I think the whole thing behind the albums and concerts of Morrissey works because of Morrissey. The MUSIC itself has never been incredibly interesting, it is only Morrissey with his voice the one who makes it interesting. He works with good musicians, but what they do is simply to back up his voice. I can't imagine anyone getting desperate to purchase an instrumental version of ANY of the albums of Morrissey.
If I had to judge the albums of Morrissey ONLY having in mind their music, I would not give ANY of them more than 3 stars out of 5. Then again, I get that the music is simply there to back up the vocals and they have always been voice-oriented albums.