âDonât they know, itâs the end of the world, it happened when you said⊠COUGH!â
With a comedy a capella snippet of Skeeter Davisâs 1962 crooner classic âThe End Of The Worldâ and a trademark flick of his microphone lead, Morrissey summons up the rockabilly thunder of The Smithsâ âLondonâ, its key line âdo you think youâve made the right decision this time?â hanging like diseased droplets in the air. The stage is lined with pictures of Moz in a medical mask beneath the legend âYou Are The Quarantinedâ. And thus, one of the last major gig in the UK for the foreseeable future kicks off, consequences be damned.
Morrissey, more than most, might have cause to worry about exposing his audience to potentially fatal viruses. Theyâre a limited resource. You need a significant degree of blind dedication â or, heaven forbid, to actually agree with him â to even set foot through the door these days and. But as the Moz army throws off a lifetime of social distancing at the worst possible moment and crushes to the front chanting his name, a sense of fanatical fatalism hangs heavy. âIf youâre gonna kill yourself, well for godâs sake just kill yourself,â Moz wails amid the spectacular torrent of new song âJim Jim Fallsâ, a prime example of his euphoric misanthropy taken to its logical extreme. It feels, as the faithful bounce along, like heâs about to uncork the Kool-Aid.
At the very least, heâs purifying the cult to only the most diehard devoted. The casual Moz fan has got a long wait for âIrish Blood, English Heartâ tonight. To fully appreciate this set youâll not only have to have taken a solid interest in last yearâs covers album âCalifornia Sonâ, but also be extensively acquainted with 30-odd years of obscure b-sides. Youâll have to adore the last three or â starting with 2017’s ‘Low In High School’ â more than any he put out in the â80s or â90s. And forget just knowing all of his albums inside out; you need to be able to lecture a course in the deluxe edition bonus tracks.
Itâs a deep dive as crowd-pleasing as sitting onstage burning spare toilet rolls, and its message seems to be that youâre either with Morrissey or youâre due for a purge.
The effect, though, is to highlight just how rich Morrisseyâs catalogue really is. Of tonight many ultra-obscurities, only âLow In High Schoolâ bonus track âNever Again Will I Be A Twinâ plods and drags like an off-cut should. The rest are delivered with all the grace and power of far more celebrated hits. Mediocre 1988 rarity âAt Amberâ becomes an emphatic, dynamic beast, B-side âIf You Donât Like Me, Donât Look At Meâ billows beautifully and âMunich Air Disaster 1958â unfurls as a true lost classic rescued from the âYou Are The Quarryâ deluxe edition. A sophisticated, sweeping tribute to Matt Busbyâs tragic Manchester United team, it hints at the elegance of âI Know Itâs Gonna Happen Somedayâ or âThere Is A LightâŠâ.
Talking of great lost torch songs: âIâve Changed My Plea To Guiltyâ, having languished for decades at the back of âViva Hateââs sock drawer, is polished up like a mirrorball and given its show-stopping moment to shine, married to its modern equivalent âHome Is A Question Markâ, as if to prove that Moz does indeed still make them like he used to. Mid-league singles such as âWorld Peace Is None Of Your Businessâ get rejuvenated by volcanic feedback solos from guitarist Jesse Tobias, and the covers range from jubilant â60s pop (âLady Willpowerâ) to funereal mariachi soul (âSome Say (I Got Devil)â, a sly comment on his divisive reputation). Yet he owns every one. Itâs like watching a team full of gifted substitutes lift the World Cup.
Morrissey, for his part, saunters unapologetically through all of this career flotsam with one hand in his pocket, blazer lapels occasionally raised, as if practicing Rat Pack poses for his Vegas residency. He signs a CD flung onstage â the closest his fans can get to a stage invasion in the age of corona â and drops faux-modest self-deprecations that suggest a shared sympathy for his victimhood.
As a sop to the Smithsonians he shuffles through a sublime âHalf A Personâ, but for the most part we feel as though weâre waiting dutifully upon his indulgences. Though no liberal attitudes are harmed during the making of this show, icon worship has been replaced by the sort of wary fondness youâd have for an opinionated grandparent.
Still, heâs comfortable in his rarefied niche, with his people. Other than the bits of âOnce I Saw The River Cleanâ that sound like Jean Michel Jarre doing a Duran Duran song, youâd never know he was about to release an album that marks a dramatic swerve into experimental synth rock and electronica â theyâll find that out in their own time. Right now heâs just happy in the knowledge that he still has the power to stun and seduce with an arena set in which âIâm Throwing My Arms Around Parisâ could be considered one of the biggest hits.
As the stage is obliterated by dry ice for a heart-bursting final âJack The Ripperâ, Morrisseyâs house is cleaned, the disciples re-affirmed, the compound gates shut. Welcome to the lockdown.
Morrissey played:
‘The End of the World’
‘London’
‘I Wish You Lonely’
‘Jim Jim Falls’
‘Satan Rejected My Soul’
‘At Amber’
‘Morning Starship’
‘Lady Willpower’
‘Once I Saw the River Clean’
‘Half a Person’
‘If You Don’t Like Me, Don’t Look at Me’
‘Munich Air Disaster 1958’
‘World Peace Is None of Your Business’
‘Seasick, Yet Still Docked’
‘I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris’
‘Love Is on Its Way Out’
‘Back on the Chain Gang’
‘I’ve Changed My Plea to Guilty’
‘Home Is a Question Mark’
‘Never Again Will I Be a Twin’
‘Some Say (I Got Devil)’
‘Wedding Bell Blues’
‘Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up on the Stage’
‘Irish Blood, English Heart’
‘Jack the Ripper’
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