Morrissey Central "NEW GUITARIST" (April 13, 2023)


Carmen Vandenberg (below) will play guitars with Jesse Tobias in the new
line-up for Morrissey's forthcoming July concerts in Israel, Ireland and Britain.

full
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That's pretty much it, but you are a hater if you notice or say something. It's not near the quality it was before and Morrissey seems to have turned into a bitter old man.
I see it more as bitter old fans who are not near the quality of what the fans used to be.

Although luckily there are many exceptions.
 
People disliking this clearly didn't see Rick Astley and Blossoms live. I never said Rick Astley's voice was as good as Morrissey's, but Blossoms' playing sounded just like Smiths records. It's no surprise they can play Smiths records better than any of Morrissey's solo bands - they're better, tighter musicians by a country mile - there's nothing wrong with admitting that lmao.
That's because you're always waiting to hear the same rendition of The Smiths versions. They gave another spirit in the Moz way, and it's respectable.

Nothing to say about the super-b versions of Blosooms and Astley (great and amazing singer...nice look for that dates), but it's a famous tribute, nothing related to the Moz versions.

We have to admit that Morrissey never will want to make a Smiths song like in the past...all the Marr thing is in the middle, so never expect to hear a true rendition, be ready to hear a original adaptation of very good and 40 years ago songs.
 
Not sure if it’s been mentioned, but how come Alain hasn’t even deleted from his Instagram account his “guitarist/songwriter for Morrissey” description?

View attachment 90504
I guess that the malevolous plan of Alain Whyte is bring back to all the old stuff of musicians of Morrissey.

We have to admit: Modern times Rock N' Roll...EL JEFE knows perfect what is he doing. All these years of career are not baladi.
 
Boz the hatchet man, just as Marr was before him, until he got sick of it. I see Alain's return as similar to Moz and Marr's rapprochement from 2008. It took Alain several months to understand what Marr saw in a few days: that Morrissey hadn't changed.
When did Marr see this? When Morrissey told him the reunion was off? :unsure:
 
Boz the hatchet man, just as Marr was before him, until he got sick of it. I see Alain's return as similar to Moz and Marr's rapprochement from 2008. It took Alain several months to understand what Marr saw in a few days: that Morrissey hadn't changed
When did Marr see this? When Morrissey told him the reunion was off? :unsure:
From the Marr biography, Johnny told Moz that he had to fulfil commitments for an overseas tour with The Cribs before he could progress to any form of Smiths reunion. When Marr finished the Cribs tour, however, he apparently returned to radio silence from Morrissey.

Makes you wonder whether Morrissey was spangled on the Guinness when he originally met Marr in the pub back in 2008, and he said ‘yes’ to everything before sobering up and quickly retracting everything! 🍺🤤
 
Last edited:
Makes you wonder whether Morrissey was spangled on the Guinness when he originally met Marr in the pub back in 2008, and he said ‘yes’ to everything before sobering up and quickly retracting everything! 🍺🤤
Probably more likely Jesse found out and managed to turn him off the idea. No way was he going to let his meal ticket go.
 
From the Marr biography, Johnny told Moz that he had to fulfil commitments for an overseas tour with The Cribs before he could progress to any form of Smiths reunion. When Marr finished the Cribs tour, however, he apparently returned to radio silence from Morrissey.

Makes you wonder whether Morrissey was spangled on the Guinness when he originally met Marr in the pub back in 2008, and he said ‘yes’ to everything before sobering up and quickly retracting everything! 🍺🤤

well, if the Cribs are more important than a reunion? then …. is maybe the way Morrissey’s ego viewed it. Don’t know.
 
well, if the Cribs are more important than a reunion? then …. is maybe the way Morrissey’s ego viewed it. Don’t know.

I do think that's right, Morrissey seemed offended by Marr's personal commitment to the Cribs and didn't like to see him run off with them. "Monogamous I, polygamous he" is how Morrissey put it in his book about Johnny and Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry etc. It probably felt like betrayal once again.
 
I do think that's right, Morrissey seemed offended by Marr's personal commitment to the Cribs and didn't like to see him run off with them. "Monogamous I, polygamous he" is how Morrissey put it in his book about Johnny and Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry etc. It probably felt like betrayal once again.
This.
Interesting that Johnny decided to go solo after leaving the Cribs, too. Like it was a 'now or never' thing, Moz or not.
 
And yet... in an interview, Alain said that Morrissey had changed for the better when he rejoined.
It makes me wonder what goes wrong when things start off so well - whether old patterns return or whether some people are just expecting something from M that he can't give. I can't imagine that it is easy to navigate a situation where someone is both your employee and your friend. How do you set boundaries? How do you avoid conflict at times when you need to 'be the boss'? If you don't keep in touch when they've left the band, were they really a friend?

I think the root of some of these issues is that those boundaries are not necessarily very clear. A musician might think that he has a certain 'status' in the Mozzerverse and then when he gets a reminder that he has to follow rules or that he could be replaced, it goes down badly. Alain is a great fan of Johnny and wanted to follow in his footsteps but really, the set-up and the balance of power is not the same. Morrissey does not see his solo collaborators as his equals.
Those are some very good points imo. It is probably what causes a lot of the issues with different (ex) band members.

Alain surely had a point if he wanted more protagonism/credit/whatever, if he wanted to be seen more akin to how Johnny was in The Smiths, since he was Moz' most important co-writer, and it would even seem that he gave Morrissey more finished music than Johnny did. But Moz is not interested in doing the Smiths again. And really, Marr was never really an equal to Morrissey either, even if due to the way they started off and set things up they were equal partners. The songs were always more Moz's imo.

I don't see much reason to doubt Morrissey's account in his autobio about Alain wanting to appear on the covers etc. Wouldn't Alain have said something if Morrissey was saying something which wasn't true?
 
Those are some very good points imo. It is probably what causes a lot of the issues with different (ex) band members.

Alain surely had a point if he wanted more protagonism/credit/whatever, if he wanted to be seen more akin to how Johnny was in The Smiths, since he was Moz' most important co-writer, and it would even seem that he gave Morrissey more finished music than Johnny did. But Moz is not interested in doing the Smiths again. And really, Marr was never really an equal to Morrissey either, even if due to the way they started off and set things up they were equal partners. The songs were always more Moz's imo.

I don't see much reason to doubt Morrissey's account in his autobio about Alain wanting to appear on the covers etc. Wouldn't Alain have said something if Morrissey was saying something which wasn't true?
Remember Alain *did* appear on the cover of 'We hate it..' (his first co-write), so having some periodic acknowledgement doesn't seem an unrealistic aspiration to have.
I always assumed that Alain had the not unreasonable wish to be credited and that Mr Morrissey was exaggerating when claiming Alain wanted to appear on the 'cover'. I'm sure he'd have been fine with an appearance in the booklet (as was also the case with 'Beethoven').
 
Probably more likely Jesse found out and managed to turn him off the idea. No way was he going to let his meal ticket go.

‘Jesse found out’?! :LOL:

I can’t envisage Morrissey chewing down his cuticles in trepidation as he breaks the news to Jesse:
“I’m… getting The Smiths back together in 2009… I meant to tell you earlier, Jesse…”

“No! You’ll record Years of Refusal with Jesse F****n’ Tobias and you’ll like it. Understood? Now get the kettle on.”
 
Last edited:
As disappointed with this as I am, I do think we ought not to jump the gun when it comes to supposition as to why Alain is out. It could be something as banal as the dates not being convenient, or a disagreement over fees. Hell - maybe Alain just looked at Morrissey funny one night backstage and he took umbrage - at this stage we just don't know.
 
But Moz is not interested in doing the Smiths again. And really, Marr was never really an equal to Morrissey either, even if due to the way they started off and set things up they were equal partners. The songs were always more Moz's imo.
Marr was never an equal to Morrissey?!
He absolutely was an equal partner in all aspects of the band’s output and was the very petrol that kept the mythical lawnmower running! :rolleyes:

fred flintstone vintage GIF
 
Last edited:
There is only one member of the early 2023 band left.
 
I see it more as bitter old fans who are not near the quality of what the fans used to be.

Although luckily there are many exceptions.
You are more than free to like the garbage he tries to pass off as music now but you won't extend the same courtesy to people who feel it's inferior to prior output.
 
As disappointed with this as I am, I do think we ought not to jump the gun when it comes to supposition as to why Alain is out. It could be something as banal as the dates not being convenient, or a disagreement over fees. Hell - maybe Alain just looked at Morrissey funny one night backstage and he took umbrage - at this stage we just don't know.

That's true. It seemed Matt Walker left for good in 2012, only to return behind the kit a year later. Even Morrissey released this statement on June 3, 2012 regarding Walker:

"Our little covered wagon has lost drummer Matt Walker, who was eager to bring his term to an end. No bargainings could persuade him to stay, and his interest drew its last breath at Stockton. Behind the kit, Matt was a greyhound unleashed, and his great work on Years of refusal will always and forever speak up in his favor. His exit is sad, but he had no wish to continue, and a branch falls away."

I'm hoping Alain changes his mind and comes back again.
 
It's now virtually impossible to love Morrissey. He's so far removed from the wit, humour and panache he had as a solo artist circa 88-94. To allow Alain to depart is a monumental f*** up especially when Jesse is allowed to remain and continue to butcher sonically.

Morrissey needs to lighten up and appreciate the talent he's written with and mistakenly let go.

A band featuring Reilly, Street, Paresi, Alain and Gannon would have rivalled The Smiths.

And the keyboard player has been a step too far for some time now.
He's not as far removed as some people would like to think.

And the departure of a musician is certainly no different to what was happening during that era.
 
I can't wait for the new guitarist to pledge allegiance. You know what I mean. Hi I'm Carmen Vandenberg and I play for Morrissey. Maybe it will be updated. Hi I'm Jesse Tobias and I signed an NDA for Morrissey. Hi, I'm Boz Boorer and you'll NEVER know what happened to me because I signed an NDA for Morrissey. Moz and the NDA's should be the new band name. I would pay cash money to see one of those NDA's. I bet it's ludicrously paranoid.
 

Trending Threads

Back
Top Bottom