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San Francisco, CA (Dec. 11, 1999)

Moz in SF

Posted By: Jay <[email protected]>
Date: Friday, Dec. 17 1999, at 7:47 p.m.

I flew in from Dallas to attend both shows at the Maritime and I must say Morrissey was his usual wonderful contrary self both nights. The Friday show was a bit more peaceful. "Tomorrow" and "Speedway" were my personal favorites. "Last Night I Dreamt..." was a bit overblown but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. Glad he's not ignoring Your Arsenal like he did on the Maladjusted Tour. "November" was quite nice as well. He should alternate it every other night with "Playboys" though just for a better mix. "Swallow" was a welcome surprise, one of Moz's most personal and introspective lyrics of the last 5 years. "Breakup the Family" has always been a bit of a ramble. And "Alma Matters" and "Reader Meet Author" are nice humable melodies, but lack the hook to be true Moz classics. He's always seemed to like "Reader" but I always preferred "Southpaw" or "The Operation" from Southpaw Grammar. "Boy Racer" had all the right punches and "Hairdresser" has always been Moz's sarcastic best. "Teachers" was a bit of a rock-opera stretch and I fully expected it to be removed from the set list the next night but there it was complete with Morrissey's apology for making us sit/stand thru it. "Is it Really so Strange" is a 2-minute toss off, effortlessly and quickly thrown out to thunderous applause. "Billy Budd" quick and disposable as well. "Now My Heart Is Full" great lyrics for anybody who's read the book, pig latin to those who haven't. And opening with "You're Gonna Need..." is the balls to the wall glam rock move worthy of high praise. And the all-time weird moment for Morrissey is that rock-dirge version of "Meat is Murder." Of all the great Smiths songs to play, "Meat" is NOT one of them, as one critic already said, "the one nobody wanted to hear." But bathed in red light, he preaches his vegetarian stance. Does he eat meat these days? I haven't kept up. Maybe next tour somebody can coax him into playing "Well I Wonder." That would be worthy of white light. Saturday night saw the omission of "Breakup the Family" and "Billy Budd." Two songs I expected to hear twice. I figured "Teachers" and "Swallow" as most likely to get cut. But they were there along with "Half A Person" to EVERYONE'S rapturous approval, "Lost" was quite good and powerful if unappreciated by the audience as was the earnest schmaltz of "Trouble Loves Me." Would love to have heard "Sunny" or "Boxers" but hopefully the year 2000 won't change anyone here and I'll get to see him again. (I know, I said I didn't care for that song, but the lyric was on the t-shirt. Kicking myself for not buying that pillow case.) I think I've covered all the bases so I'll close by saying that I enjoyed seeing "Last Night I Dreamt..." in full Friday night and seeing it truncated on Saturday. Both versions were brilliant; both were oh so Morrissey.

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