i will have my blog updated later tonight so be sure to go that and comment as well but wait til about 8pm central time, this is a snippet i will have more on there later and i like people viewing my myspace. just wanted some early commentary since i'm here at work.
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we got to the Backyard early to check out the crowd, when we got there a little after noon I guess?, there were no more than 7-10 people in line camped out. we talked to our friend the security guard and ate a quick bite at what we then learned was a shithole of a Mexican restaurant, bought flowers and went back to the venue where, thanks to our new friend Margaret, we met all of the members of the band other than the new bass player. Bozz and I even had a quick chat about Girl in a Coma and Sam's Burger Joint!!! they were all very polite and posed for pictures that will be up as soon as they are uploaded around here. we met some more great people and we talked all things Morrissey and life and the things that flatten our head so that was nice even though the wait was long, a big hot and very taxing on my fragile back. we did not get the barricade standing we wanted but we were just behind Julia and other great people. I personally do not dislike Kristeen Young, the opener. I think she has her style, she sticks to it, and that is something to be admired. is she copycat? - sure, yet who isn't these days. i just think she was a bit out of her element maybe in the early 90's she could have opened for Moz but he should really stick to bands like Sack or the Smoking Popes as openers. on a bright note i said hello to her and waved at her when her set was done and she made eye contact with me and waved back it was so CUTE!!!!! - i hope that made her day because she really does get a bad response from the crowd and i think she realizes no one there really wants to see her.
so as i have mentioned it had been nearly 10 years to the date that I had seen Morrissey live, a quick rundown because lets face it, he is the best entertainer out there so there isn't really much more i can say about him. the opener The Queen is Dead, though rocking, though a great song - it just doesn't hit me in the gut I wish it did. i dunno if it is because that song sounded so much fresher back in '86 or what it is, but I much preferred when he opens with Irish Blood off the Who Put the M in Manchester? DVD, or when he opened with Maladjusted back in '97. he then did 1st of the Gang... as he has done at most of his shows the past few years so nothing too special in that one, but then for only the third time this year he did Last of the Famous... and it was perfect!!! i think i may have thrown my flowers during this song but a mean stagehand scooped them up.
next up two recent songs In the Future... and You Have Killed Me, in which he changed a few lyrics, which is always awesome, he put in 'Anne Sexton, you don't know who she is...' or something to that effect. this is the great thing about Mozz is he improvises, sometimes skipping lyrics if he just feels like making his trademark grunts and groans it is a thing of artistic beauty because with each song he is interpreting and sharing and feeling both at one with the song, music and crowd at the same time. a Morrissey concert, like i mentioned to my friend that day, is like a religious ritual or gathering - a bonding if you will. i think people not only get there early to get to the front of the stage, but also out of respect. next up were two crowd favorites, Disappointed and Panic. i can do without Disappointed the song drags for me until the ending with the crowd participation lines. Panic was funny because at the end he said something like 'Hang the DJ, all of them, every last one of them'.
Let Me Kiss You was next and for me, i think this, next to Pigsty, is the better slow song he has been performing live the past few years, more on that later. Boy Happy was next and that was a nice change of pace, leading in to National Front Disco and Far Off Places (which is a beautiful song and perhaps my choice to open the show with, though I think last year it was the opener). Next up the new song All You Need Is Me which is really a charming song, and then Lucky Lisp, which plays so much better live than on cd. I really doubted this songs inclusion on this tour but I don't anymore it is a great song that showcases the band and Morrissey at the same time. ok, here is where i will get yelled at, but for me, Everyday is Like Sunday, though an ok song, well its not my favorite - but the thing is, with Pigsty and Let Me Kiss You already on the setlist, why not Suedehead in its place if he wanted to put in a crowd pleaser, or even Tomorrow (if he wants to please me, that is my favorite song EVER!!). that song just really drags me down and I don't think it has a place in such a vast and solid setlist as the one he has now. he did sing it well though I will add and i loved his arm movements of the coming Armageddon and nuclear bombs. next up was Boy With the Thorn in His Side, the first Smiths song that me and my loyal sidekick had ever heard, though years apart and miles away from each other when we first heard it, a weird coincidence I know but the song takes me back.
this leads me back to Queen is Dead. I am all for Mozz playing Smiths songs, but I think that he should curb it to 2, maybe 3 Smiths songs and bring up some Vauxhall or Maladjusted or hell, I'll take Driving Your Girlfriend Home or some b-sides as well. in fact I think more b-sides and covers would be a great addition (though to be fair his Bowie cover and Ganglord were on recent setlists just not this one). and well, we only got four Smiths songs but he has been playing as many as five at other shows this year. next up were Irish Blood, English Heart, always a crowd favorite, and At Last I am Born, which I think he sang magnifico even though the crowd just wasn't into that one. for me the song is therapeutic. Jesse crashing the big cymbals in front of us was dynamic!!!
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty, was, for my money, the lowlight of the show. i never have been a fan of that song but I'm not gonna be picky, Morrissey wants to sing it by all means let him we were lucky to get more than a 50 minute set out of him. it did segue, however, into what I was really looking forward to, one of the top five songs Mozz has ever written, Life is a Pigsty. the thing is though, it could have been a bit anticlimactic or perhaps his voice was tired. it started out well mind you but towards the end, it seemed his voice trailed off. but then the strangest thing happened, they did the short piano bit and crashed into How Soon is Now?. now i really am not the biggest fan of this song due to it being the most played out Mozz/Smiths song ever - but when Jesse starts that infamous guitar riff i was taken aback. i never thought the song would translate well live, especially as a show closer but it did and i'm really glad they played it.
You're Gonna Need Someone.... is a great closing song in that it is fast enough to stir up the craziness that ensues with the stage rush!!! the opening was closed for some reason by two guys i guess they were protecting their girlfriends so i got shifted a little too far right of the opening and when i got to the opening and through it, everyone was off the stage the security guard was already pushing back everyone inside and the lights had come on. not that i'm some wacko that has to touch Morrissey's hand or anything, i was more just looking for someone to shove me (name the reference you win a No-Prize from trey). my friend got to touch Moz so that made her day, but again, and i'm sure i have mentioned this for other artists and the crazy fans that desire them, they are all people too that bleed the same way we do. the physical feeling you get from shaking Morrissey's hand, while euphoric when it happens, is nothing compared to the feeling you get just by being blessed to hear him sing and wiggle live and share in a collective moment with the songs that have changed and saved your life.
though for me personally not as good as the more intimate '97 show I got to see, (as well as that show he played more of my fav songs including Speedway, Now My Heart is Full, Shoplifters of the World and Paint a Vulgar Picture), it was definitely a top 20 show for me in my lifetime. it wasn't even the best show i've seen this year, which is fine, but i'm not gonna say who my favorite show was this year or one of my friends would never speak to me again!!!! - lets just say the singer wears eyeliner and leave it at that!!!
i am very fortunate to meet, talk and hang out with all these great Mozzfans from around the nation - Jay from LA and Cheryl from Austin via LA, Osiris the professional fencer and his friend from Dallas (thanks for the piece of the shirt guys and send me that pic from Dallas with Moz upside down!!), Margaret from the valley and the three youngsters from the valley who went to eat with us; Nicole, Barbara and Julia from the front row, Jose from Mex. City, Abrahan and sister from Houston, Violet from LA, Yvonne, Danielle and ? from Austin and the valley, the new Mozzfan who we sold the ticket to but we couldn't catch up with later, what happened to you surfer dude?, the cool people standing besides us - the guy with the Raymonde shirt and the guy behind me who I screamed 'Go! Go! Go!' to and laughed at all our lame Frodo jokes. i may be missing out some other people but i dunno.
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we got to the Backyard early to check out the crowd, when we got there a little after noon I guess?, there were no more than 7-10 people in line camped out. we talked to our friend the security guard and ate a quick bite at what we then learned was a shithole of a Mexican restaurant, bought flowers and went back to the venue where, thanks to our new friend Margaret, we met all of the members of the band other than the new bass player. Bozz and I even had a quick chat about Girl in a Coma and Sam's Burger Joint!!! they were all very polite and posed for pictures that will be up as soon as they are uploaded around here. we met some more great people and we talked all things Morrissey and life and the things that flatten our head so that was nice even though the wait was long, a big hot and very taxing on my fragile back. we did not get the barricade standing we wanted but we were just behind Julia and other great people. I personally do not dislike Kristeen Young, the opener. I think she has her style, she sticks to it, and that is something to be admired. is she copycat? - sure, yet who isn't these days. i just think she was a bit out of her element maybe in the early 90's she could have opened for Moz but he should really stick to bands like Sack or the Smoking Popes as openers. on a bright note i said hello to her and waved at her when her set was done and she made eye contact with me and waved back it was so CUTE!!!!! - i hope that made her day because she really does get a bad response from the crowd and i think she realizes no one there really wants to see her.
so as i have mentioned it had been nearly 10 years to the date that I had seen Morrissey live, a quick rundown because lets face it, he is the best entertainer out there so there isn't really much more i can say about him. the opener The Queen is Dead, though rocking, though a great song - it just doesn't hit me in the gut I wish it did. i dunno if it is because that song sounded so much fresher back in '86 or what it is, but I much preferred when he opens with Irish Blood off the Who Put the M in Manchester? DVD, or when he opened with Maladjusted back in '97. he then did 1st of the Gang... as he has done at most of his shows the past few years so nothing too special in that one, but then for only the third time this year he did Last of the Famous... and it was perfect!!! i think i may have thrown my flowers during this song but a mean stagehand scooped them up.
next up two recent songs In the Future... and You Have Killed Me, in which he changed a few lyrics, which is always awesome, he put in 'Anne Sexton, you don't know who she is...' or something to that effect. this is the great thing about Mozz is he improvises, sometimes skipping lyrics if he just feels like making his trademark grunts and groans it is a thing of artistic beauty because with each song he is interpreting and sharing and feeling both at one with the song, music and crowd at the same time. a Morrissey concert, like i mentioned to my friend that day, is like a religious ritual or gathering - a bonding if you will. i think people not only get there early to get to the front of the stage, but also out of respect. next up were two crowd favorites, Disappointed and Panic. i can do without Disappointed the song drags for me until the ending with the crowd participation lines. Panic was funny because at the end he said something like 'Hang the DJ, all of them, every last one of them'.
Let Me Kiss You was next and for me, i think this, next to Pigsty, is the better slow song he has been performing live the past few years, more on that later. Boy Happy was next and that was a nice change of pace, leading in to National Front Disco and Far Off Places (which is a beautiful song and perhaps my choice to open the show with, though I think last year it was the opener). Next up the new song All You Need Is Me which is really a charming song, and then Lucky Lisp, which plays so much better live than on cd. I really doubted this songs inclusion on this tour but I don't anymore it is a great song that showcases the band and Morrissey at the same time. ok, here is where i will get yelled at, but for me, Everyday is Like Sunday, though an ok song, well its not my favorite - but the thing is, with Pigsty and Let Me Kiss You already on the setlist, why not Suedehead in its place if he wanted to put in a crowd pleaser, or even Tomorrow (if he wants to please me, that is my favorite song EVER!!). that song just really drags me down and I don't think it has a place in such a vast and solid setlist as the one he has now. he did sing it well though I will add and i loved his arm movements of the coming Armageddon and nuclear bombs. next up was Boy With the Thorn in His Side, the first Smiths song that me and my loyal sidekick had ever heard, though years apart and miles away from each other when we first heard it, a weird coincidence I know but the song takes me back.
this leads me back to Queen is Dead. I am all for Mozz playing Smiths songs, but I think that he should curb it to 2, maybe 3 Smiths songs and bring up some Vauxhall or Maladjusted or hell, I'll take Driving Your Girlfriend Home or some b-sides as well. in fact I think more b-sides and covers would be a great addition (though to be fair his Bowie cover and Ganglord were on recent setlists just not this one). and well, we only got four Smiths songs but he has been playing as many as five at other shows this year. next up were Irish Blood, English Heart, always a crowd favorite, and At Last I am Born, which I think he sang magnifico even though the crowd just wasn't into that one. for me the song is therapeutic. Jesse crashing the big cymbals in front of us was dynamic!!!
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty, was, for my money, the lowlight of the show. i never have been a fan of that song but I'm not gonna be picky, Morrissey wants to sing it by all means let him we were lucky to get more than a 50 minute set out of him. it did segue, however, into what I was really looking forward to, one of the top five songs Mozz has ever written, Life is a Pigsty. the thing is though, it could have been a bit anticlimactic or perhaps his voice was tired. it started out well mind you but towards the end, it seemed his voice trailed off. but then the strangest thing happened, they did the short piano bit and crashed into How Soon is Now?. now i really am not the biggest fan of this song due to it being the most played out Mozz/Smiths song ever - but when Jesse starts that infamous guitar riff i was taken aback. i never thought the song would translate well live, especially as a show closer but it did and i'm really glad they played it.
You're Gonna Need Someone.... is a great closing song in that it is fast enough to stir up the craziness that ensues with the stage rush!!! the opening was closed for some reason by two guys i guess they were protecting their girlfriends so i got shifted a little too far right of the opening and when i got to the opening and through it, everyone was off the stage the security guard was already pushing back everyone inside and the lights had come on. not that i'm some wacko that has to touch Morrissey's hand or anything, i was more just looking for someone to shove me (name the reference you win a No-Prize from trey). my friend got to touch Moz so that made her day, but again, and i'm sure i have mentioned this for other artists and the crazy fans that desire them, they are all people too that bleed the same way we do. the physical feeling you get from shaking Morrissey's hand, while euphoric when it happens, is nothing compared to the feeling you get just by being blessed to hear him sing and wiggle live and share in a collective moment with the songs that have changed and saved your life.
though for me personally not as good as the more intimate '97 show I got to see, (as well as that show he played more of my fav songs including Speedway, Now My Heart is Full, Shoplifters of the World and Paint a Vulgar Picture), it was definitely a top 20 show for me in my lifetime. it wasn't even the best show i've seen this year, which is fine, but i'm not gonna say who my favorite show was this year or one of my friends would never speak to me again!!!! - lets just say the singer wears eyeliner and leave it at that!!!
i am very fortunate to meet, talk and hang out with all these great Mozzfans from around the nation - Jay from LA and Cheryl from Austin via LA, Osiris the professional fencer and his friend from Dallas (thanks for the piece of the shirt guys and send me that pic from Dallas with Moz upside down!!), Margaret from the valley and the three youngsters from the valley who went to eat with us; Nicole, Barbara and Julia from the front row, Jose from Mex. City, Abrahan and sister from Houston, Violet from LA, Yvonne, Danielle and ? from Austin and the valley, the new Mozzfan who we sold the ticket to but we couldn't catch up with later, what happened to you surfer dude?, the cool people standing besides us - the guy with the Raymonde shirt and the guy behind me who I screamed 'Go! Go! Go!' to and laughed at all our lame Frodo jokes. i may be missing out some other people but i dunno.
and I sure want to get up front..Im going to try my best!..So wish me Luck! ..
