Headlong Into Harm

Raleigh, NC, 16 November, 1997

Morrissey and company took the stage to the percussion intro from "The Operation," and quickly delivered the one-two punch of "The Boy Racer" and The Smiths’ "London." The tone for the evening was set: Morrissey had a few things to get off his chest. "Alma Matters" and "Billy Budd" provided a brief sing-along respite before the band launched into a forceful rendition of "Reader Meet Author." Morrissey punctuated the anti-hypocrisy anthem by frequently pointing at the supposed author, as if s/he were right there before him.

The Ritz audience came up for air during the ballad "Ambitious Outsiders," as Morrissey wove his tale over a backdrop of purple and gold bands of light. Moz followed the Maladjusted liner notes to the letter, physically emphasizing the capitalized "BUT DON’T UNDERESTIMATE US." Bassist Jonny Bridgwood and drummer Spencer James Cobrin then picked up the tempo with a scalding "Spring-Heeled Jim," showcasing their growth as a rhythm section during Morrissey’s ode to the frustrating battle to hold back the hands of time.

Morrissey’s humor was as biting and razor-sharp as his music. Before launching into The Smiths’ classic "Paint a Vulgar Picture," he commented "I was very pleased to hear last week that this song has been covered by Whitney Houston." Memories of the 1980s failure of The Smiths to crack the American market clearly still haunt the man. As if to emphasize the point, guitarists Martin Boorer & Alain Whyte led a glorious ritardando at the song’s conclusion, honoring the power of Johnny Marr’s melody.

The band then launched into an angry "Hold On to Your Friends," and a blistering "Do Your Best and Don’t Worry" with Morrissey again seeming to address and gesture to the "you" just beyond our sight. After another sing-along ("The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get") a wall of sickly, school cafeteria green light bathed the stage, and the show climaxed with a powerful rendition of "The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils." Here Morrissey and company managed to boil down all 11 minutes and 15 seconds of the Southpaw Grammar version into a scathing few moments of music, releasing frustration and anger at a world gone wrong with lines like "when your profession is humiliation" and the repeated "to be finished would be a relief." Following "Teachers," the soon-to-be UK single "Satan Rejected My Soul" served as a pre-encore breather.

As Morrissey and company retook the stage, the singer announced that there would be "one more song before bedtime"--the now-standard encore of The Smiths’ "Shoplifters of the World Unite." After only a few bars Moz halted the song and urged the writhing crowd near the front of the stage to "stop a minute please--this isn’t World War III. Just take it gently." The band then started again from the beginning, but the song collapsed around "I tried living in the real world / instead of a shell" as multiple fans took to the stage to embrace Morrissey.

Ultimately, the aggressive tone of the music and Morrissey’s seeming need to exorcise his frustrations forcefully (along with the selection of songs) made the show at The Ritz seem much like the Southpaw Grammar tour that never was. As the strains of the instrumental version of "Interlude" poured through The Ritz, Morrissey’s Raleigh following left the venue amazed and breathless. To be finished was a release.