Why is audience suddenly so static?

[Anonymous]

I was at Dublin show....huge crowd, great night, Morrissey in great form and voice amazing with a significantly larger attendance than the World Peace tour at the same venue a couple of years ago...but man was the crowd dead....a lot on here complaining thatthe mid section of the setlist should be mixed up a bit but even the more popular songs were greeted with a rather muted response..I thought ..right its a Tuesday night but reports seem to be fairly consistent with this on the subsequent gigs.....Are we just all getting too old for this or is it the new thing?

 

[evennow]

My opinion is that if you are going to play a venue that involves mostly a standing section then the energy of the concert should be very high. Very simple here. Slow songs make you want to sit and fast songs make you want to stand, and more importantly move to the music. It's almost as if he has become a politician giving his stump speech to a captive crowd that would rather be entertained than lectured.

Again, not my call. He probably rather enjoys his crowds hanging on every word rather than thrusting all about. Just not my cup of tea. I never visited the music of Morrissey to form my opinions of the world and will continue not to do so. The fact that he is more outspoken now than ever before has worn the polish off a bit, but still he holds a soft place in my heart for what he brought to my life, and that he will continue to do so.

 

[URBANUS]

I was at Dublin show....huge crowd, great night, Morrissey in great form and voice amazing with a significantly larger attendance than the World Peace tour at the same venue a couple of years ago...but man was the crowd dead....a lot on here complaining thatthe mid section of the setlist should be mixed up a bit but even the more popular songs were greeted with a rather muted response..I thought ..right its a Tuesday night but reports seem to be fairly consistent with this on the subsequent gigs.....Are we just all getting too old for this or is it the new thing?

I think this has been going on since the 90's ended. Back then crowd was jumping and people did not care if they got sweaty and completely lost it for a night during a gig. Then all of a sudden no one did that and no one knows why.

This is how I remember gigs and fans and I was just like them cause that was half the fun and a way to give a band or artist their full support.



Gigs atmo died and football atmo died and now we're all fooking dead.

 

[URBANUS]

My opinion is that if you are going to play a venue that involves mostly a standing section then the energy of the concert should be very high. Very simple here. Slow songs make you want to sit and fast songs make you want to stand, and more importantly move to the music. It's almost as if he has become a politician giving his stump speech to a captive crowd that would rather be entertained than lectured.

Again, not my call. He probably rather enjoys his crowds hanging on every word rather than thrusting all about. Just not my cup of tea. I never visited the music of Morrissey to form my opinions of the world and will continue not to do so. The fact that he is more outspoken now than ever before has worn the polish off a bit, but still he holds a soft place in my heart for what he brought to my life, and that he will continue to do so.

Maybe it's all the middle class kids behaving like their soulless middle class parents?
I suspect he misses Wolverhampton -88 and realises that the energy has left not only him but his fans and of course the hardcore dropped him long ago and so the fans now are mostly made up of late comers who still to this day have no clue what the man is about.

You claim they listen to him but why then are they claiming that he is about things he doesn't at all stand for?

 

[Anonymous]

I think this has been going on since the 90's ended. Back then crowd was jumping and people did not care if they got sweaty and completely lost it for a night during a gig. Then all of a sudden no one did that and no one knows why.

This is how I remember gigs and fans and I was just like them cause that was half the fun and a way to give a band or artist their full support.



Gigs atmo died and football atmo died and now we're all fooking dead.

Saw JAMC earlier this year and mad crowd reaction so maybe something more than just age of the audience...maybe the gigs of the 90s spoilt us....KOD class btw...they shouldve been huge

 

[Pablo Honey]

I don't think Morrissey wants to be classified as a political singer, despite that fact that his last two albums are full of political messages. He simply sings about what's in front of him every day. I applaud him for using his music as a platform to express the frustration with the state of the world. He is probably fed up with revisiting his solo and the Smiths back catalogue just to please his hardcore fans. He's grown as an artist and wants to use his voice to speak about things most people would not dare to mention. He is not about digging in the past and pleasing. He is about being current and relevant. If that's going to ruffle a few feathers, so be it. Frankly, I don't think he gives a crock. But, he is also faced with a harsh criticism, which is quite natural because people (mostly the critics, the media and some fans) don't want to face the truth. The truth is not popular. But that's a story of his life and will be his legacy.

 

[AztecCamera]

I reckon it's because he is playing to foreigners now and the crowds are so old, it looks like they should be wearing adult diapers. Reckon go to a concert in Moz Angeles. Won't be static.

 

[evennow]

Maybe it's all the middle class kids behaving like their soulless middle class parents?
I suspect he misses Wolverhampton -88 and realises that the energy has left not only him but his fans and of course the hardcore dropped him long ago and so the fans now are mostly made up of late comers who still to this day have no clue what the man is about.

You claim they listen to him but why then are they claiming that he is about things he doesn't at all stand for?

Probably all of this. There is no sense of urgency like there was over twenty years ago. Today all needs can be satiated immediately. There is no need and now even desire to wait for anything.

It used to be "Give the People What They Want" and that was a call to arms to put one's self into the mix to take what you could get when it was offered. Today it is "Give the People What They Want Now" and that is depressing. Too many competing inputs to focus on any one thing. The new world of multitasking has turned society into zombies living an unintentional life.

Being present is a present that I wish I could give the kids of today. They would just return it for something that would provide 20 seconds of immediate gratification. Smaller, faster, lighter is the theme that is the over current running through the land and there is no stopping it...even for a minute.

 

[evennow]

I don't think Morrissey wants to be classified as a political singer, despite that fact that his last two albums are full of political messages. He simply sings about what's in front of him every day. I applaud him for using his music as a platform to express the frustration with the state of the world. He is probably fed up with revisiting his solo and the Smiths back catalogue just to please his hardcore fans. He's grown as an artist and wants to use his voice to speak about things most people would not dare to mention. He is not about digging in the past and pleasing. He is about being current and relevant. If that's going to ruffle a few feathers, so be it. Frankly, I don't think he gives a crock. But, he is also faced with a harsh criticism, which is quite natural because people (mostly the critics, the media and some fans) don't want to face the truth. The truth is not popular. But that's a story of his life and will be his legacy.

Very well put this view on the current state of affairs, however, it would be interesting to know what the audience thinks about this statement. Is he really relevant today? Not so sure.

He sells out concerts, and some do enjoy his newer material, but his relevance is up for discussion. There are plenty of examples of individuals being relevant without necessarily being current. It is not that I think he gives a crock about his audience, but that in and of itself is what leaves me on the outside not looking in.

It is one thing not to live in the past, and quite another to distance yourself so far from it that it seems to hold no value. His does, and did at least in my life. I want to see that represented on stage. He has the ability to speak to what he feels strongly about today, but he can also breathe new life into those thoughts and feelings from the past that so many of us have held onto for all these many years.
Not doing so is a choice he has made and I am more than capable of facing this truth just don't expect me to buy a ticket to see this "current" version of the man who held my heart in his hand.

 

[Peppermint]

I don't think Morrissey wants to be classified as a political singer, despite that fact that his last two albums are full of political messages. He simply sings about what's in front of him every day. I applaud him for using his music as a platform to express the frustration with the state of the world. He is probably fed up with revisiting his solo and the Smiths back catalogue just to please his hardcore fans. He's grown as an artist and wants to use his voice to speak about things most people would not dare to mention. He is not about digging in the past and pleasing. He is about being current and relevant. If that's going to ruffle a few feathers, so be it. Frankly, I don't think he gives a crock. But, he is also faced with a harsh criticism, which is quite natural because people (mostly the critics, the media and some fans) don't want to face the truth. The truth is not popular. But that's a story of his life and will be his legacy.

What things does he mention that others dare not? I hear messages such as soldiers are stupid and responsible for war, and police in Venezuela are corrupt; but I don't see this as brave but rather lacking in originality, insight and depth. It's also pretty ignorant and offensive to families of soldiers who have lost their lives defending their country. And when it's set to such club-footed music it makes me want to switch off entirely. What truth is it that you think people aren't facing?

 

[Anonymous]

Morrissey has 24 songs (17 Smith, 7 post-Smith) that everyone at any given show knows and would sing/dance along to. If he plays at least 10 of these (and he often does) the atmosphere is fantastic and everyone goes home happy. However, on the current tour he's only playing 5 which means that most of the audience simply do not know most of the songs he is singing, hence the atmosphere. It's nothing to do with the age of the audience or the pace of the songs e.g. Everyday is Like Sunday is slow but is usually a highlight. It's understandable that he would play 7 or 8 off the new album. The problem is the choice of other songs. 'If you don't like me' and Munich are very dull songs (musically) with no spark to them. Bullfighter and World Peace are no-one's highlights from the WP album (his least successful). So, it's all this rubbish that's dragging things down. Adding in Playboys however, will have made a big difference.

 

[Anonymous]

The Venezuela reference, I find it vague. The issue there is a capitalist, corporate, US funded opposition, that represents rich Venezuelans & a US desire for cheap oil. People are suffering because of foreign embargo’s on medicines and other essentials such as food. Chavez was loved by the people, which is why the military coup failed. The US are to blame because they interfere in order to destabilise. Socialism cannot be seen to work, especially when the US is so gasoline thirsty.

Venezuela isn’t run perfectly. But neither is any other country. It is a free country though, to the point where the Bolivaran Socialist Government allow several privately owned TV channels to broadcast fake news intended on bringing it down. This fuels the upper and middle classes (US readers note, by this I mean rich people) to protest. The average poor Venezuelan support the Government, with a passion. I’m not going to claim that the Venezuelan police are perfect, but a hell of a lot of media coverage is tampered, edited, and often fake.

When Morrissey sings about being protected from the police, then ends referencing Venezuela, I’m left wondering where he gets his information from? He is free to criticise whatever he wants, but I fear that he succumbed to the pro US, corporate Opposition version of events.

This has nothing to do with static audiences. Sorry!

 

[Anonymous]

I guess a combination of ageing audience, plus the fact that the gigs just aren't that exciting anymore.

Even five years ago - the end of a Morrissey concert would be mayhem at the front, with dozens of sweaty lads and lasses swimming their way over the heads of the crowd, desperate to get on stage for a hug. These days, entire shows pass by without a single stage invasion attempt. People just stand there. Whatever it was that once possessed people to throw caution to the wind, and do anything to get to their idol, has gone. Only the shirt toss into the audience provokes any action these days.

 

[Apple Pie]

Looking forward to a proper mosh pit at the Ally Pally, roll on Friday!!

 

[URBANUS]

Saw JAMC earlier this year and mad crowd reaction so maybe something more than just age of the audience...maybe the gigs of the 90s spoilt us....KOD class btw...they shouldve been huge

Are you single?
LOL
Gender doesn't matter!

 

[Pablo Honey]

What things does he mention that others dare not? I hear messages such as soldiers are stupid and responsible for war, and police in Venezuela are corrupt; but I don't see this as brave but rather lacking in originality, insight and depth. It's also pretty ignorant and offensive to families of soldiers who have lost their lives defending their country. And when it's set to such club-footed music it makes me want to switch off entirely. What truth is it that you think people aren't facing?

soldiers who have lost their lives defending their country
That statement would be true if another country invaded the US and the soldiers were fighting the war on US soil. But that is not happening. They are not forced to go to war, they are willing participants in killing other people. Is it an honourable job? They are puppets in the hands of government officials.
You probably can't understand that there are people who hate guns, violence and war, so I'll leave it at that. You can have your truth and I'll have mine.

 

[billybu69]

The list, having people queuing all day and keeping a list is not good a front row of light weights who'll queue all day rather than fight for the spot is not good. The front row is full of knitting pattern swappers who think they got a right to be there.

Mobile phones everybodys stood here phone in hand filming or waiting for a photo opportunity.

Beer in the auditorium, the pint in each hand brigade how does that work? he's not bouncing nobody around him is either.

Kids, don't understand the passion that comes from music being the only thing you have, because today everything is instantaneous gratification, and they want for nothing.

Age, my back hurts.

 

[Anonymous]

The list, having people queuing all day and keeping a list is not good a front row of light weights who'll queue all day rather than fight for the spot is not good. The front row is full of knighting pattern swappers who think they got a right to be there.

Mobile phones everybodys stood here phone in hand filming or waiting for a photo opportunity.

Beer in the auditorium, the pint in each hand brigade how does that work? he's not bouncing nobody around him is either.

Kids, don't understand the passion that comes from music being the only thing you have, because today everything is instantaneous gratification, and they want for nothing.

Age, my back hurts.

Well penned.

The front row brigade have a huge self entitlement whereby no one else matters. They want a handshake and a thread of cotton. That’s their life. Not to actually watch the man.

 

[Harsh Truth]

It’s three or four things, all previously noted:

1. The setlist is not one for the casual fan. Yes, play some of your new songs! But playing tired WPINOYB songs, oddball covers, and deep B-Sides is not a great recipe for an arena crowd. Setlist needs a more “classics”.

2. Older crowd, who pay quite a bit of money to get in the door. Morrissey is no longer a cheap night out, so perhaps that keeps some youthful aggression outside.

3. To a lesser extent, mobile phones. I’m guilty of taking a photo or three during shows, but I’ll never understand people who watch a show through their iPhone. Or worse, just text or FB the whole time.

Like I said, nothing really new with my thoughts.

 

[NealCassidy]

outside the big fans, I think the high ticket prices mean that the body of the crowd are general interest with some cash on the hip, might know a couple but probably not 'fans'. i think a lot of 'youth' would go (And go berserk) but not at 60 quid