MORRISSEY COMES TO NEWCASTLE

I wouldn’t call myself a Morrissey (or even The Smiths) fan. Having said that, I really love the music of The Smiths, but came to it a little late (late 80s). And I also loved the first few solo Morrissey albums, but after the mid-late 90s, didn’t really listen to him after that.

 

So when it came to be that Morrissey was to play my hometown of Newcastle at my beloved Civic Theatre my curiosity was piqued.

 

Some friends who were fans got tickets, but I was still pondering the whole thing. Morrissey could be a challenging performer, as a not really a fan would I appreciate it? And so I kept pondering till the point of a few weeks before and asked around who wanted to go. No one of course. Anyone worth their weight in Gladiolis already had a ticket and I couldn’t persuade anyone else to come with.

 

So with less than a week till the concert I purchased a ticket to go solo. And I actually scored an awesome seat.

 

I arrived at the Civic unsure what to expect, caught up with friends and took my seat...solo...no problemo!

Prior to the concert was a small ‘film’ of meandering clips, songs, words, videos; presumably meaningful to and curated by Morrissey himself. It was quite remarkable and enjoyable.

And then he arrived on stage, looking as hot as one can at his age, and sounding breathtakingly wonderful. Men’s singing voices (well, those that can sing in the first instance) get better with age, and his was no exception. The timbre of his baritone was superb and I was hooked.

Now there was a spattering of songs I knew and the rest I am guessing newer material, but Morrissey songs sound like Morrissey songs so it all sounded similar and familiar to me.

There were some gals down the front losing their shit a little to be in his presence. I looked upon that with amusement, as did Morrissey and with a little enjoyment too by the looks of it.

 

He was on fire, and he knew it.

Towards the end of the show he took his shirt off (oh puh-lease) and the gals scrambled for it, causing a bit of a commotion (bitch fight!?!) and the security guard got some scissors to cut the shirt into multiple pieces to satisfy them all. All the while Morrissey singing and looking on the situation rather pleased with himself.

 

The show finished and we waited for an encore, he came back on for one song, a fab cover of Judy Is A Punk (The Ramones). This was executed wildly and well, I was deeply impressed, other around me not so much.

So in all, I am pleased I decided to go solo and see ole Suedehead, it was a great experience and evening.

 

Setlist

1. Suedehead

2. All You Need Is Me

3. Speedway

4. Istanbul

5. Irish Blood, English Heart

6. Because Of My Poor Education

7. I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris

8. World Peace Is None of Your Business

9. Kiss Me A Lot

10. I Will See You in Far-Off Places

11. One of Our Own

12. The Bullfighter Dies

13. Jack The Ripper

14. The World is Full of Crashing Bores

15. All The Lazy Dykes

16. Meat Is Murder

17. Let Me Kiss You

18. What She Said

19. Good Looking Man About Town

20. Oboe Concerto

21. Encore: Judy Is A Punk