It was an amazing night. Rocked up at the venue, the superb Festival Hall, when doors opened. There seems to have been not even the slightest investment in architectural or functional "improvements" - and the venue is better for it. A rustic charm permeates throughout, in the scent as well as the look of the place. Festival Hall smells like wooden floorboards - how homely!. It challenges the Palace Theatre as the best concert venue in Melbourne. I was very pleased when it was announced that Moz would be playing there, and the Stone Roses will be there too in 3 months time. My three gigs at the venue in 12months - Elbow, Moz and the Roses. Oh Manchester, so much to answer for.
Managed to get a position about 3-4 rows back, slightly off-centre, on Boz Boorer's side of the stage.
It is worth mentioning how poor Boz played the gig with his arm in a sling, with his guitar stationed on a stand - the poor bloke looked in some distress throughout the gig but still he trooped on. Commendable.
Kristeen Young was support and she's a talent. Seemed pretty left field from what I'd read about her, and that was reflected in her performance. Her Penultimate and third-last song seemed a bit more accessible and were thoroughly enjoyable. An impressively powerful voice on her.
As soon as her set finished, the banner lit up with video clips projected onto it, including songs from New York Dolls, Sparks and David Bowie. Was quite welcome, rather than just standing around counting down the minutes to Moz. After about 25 mins, the banner was ripped down and the stage was revealed, with a massive gong behind the drummer.
The anticipation amongst the crowd was high - Moz is a legend, one of a kind and everyone knows it. The crowd a mix of younger "hipster" folk who have been fortunate enough to have been exposed to Morrissey in the ten years since he was last in Melbourne (this was our first and possibly only chance to see him), and older people from 35 to Morrissey's age, who were nostalgically present to recapture their youth (few seemed to care much for his solo work).
Some bizarre tape played for about 3-4 minutes, mentioning all sorts of random things (Stock, Aitken & Waterman, Miscarriage) and then it begun..
I thought the band would take the stage first, prior to a grand entrance by Morrissey, however he was the first one I sighted. Kitted out in some jeans that are a crime against contemporary fashion (the type worn by a man of 53), with a polka dotted navy shirt, he and his band launched into Shoplifters of the World Unite, which was received favourably and enthusiastically by all. It is difficult to describe what I felt when I finally saw Moz strut the stage - one of the most unique frontmen of all time who has always had this mystical side to him - was quite staggering to actually see him in the flesh - felt like his existence was finally confirmed.
A crooner he may now be, but what precedes him is so much controversy and speculation - how he has altered physically is starkly fascinating as well. The lanky, bespectacled dork of the 80s, is now a rugged silver fox.
The swaggering You Have Killed followed, and the reception from the crowd was significantly less. A big fan of his solo career, I find it odd that so many of the Smiths fans of old have not been enchanted by his solo career. What turned them off, I wonder?
You're the One For Me Fatty and was better received and typified the cracking pace of the set. The songs flowed... Alma Matters engaged the crowd more than I anticipated, with Moz shaking hands with some of those in the front row. Speedway and Everyday is like Sunday proved to he highlights.
How Soon Is Now (a song I doubted would translate very well live and minus Marr) was next and was surprisingly special - the shimmering guitar and hearing Morrissey sing the "club that you'd like to go" line was a privilege.
Ouija Board followed, and is much better live than on record. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell has a storming intro that doesn't really seem to suit the rest of the song
Then followed a cover of Frankie Valli that I didn't really know, and his shirts started to be ripped from his torso and tossed into the crowd. Audience members flung themselves to where they landed, with tug of wars over the shirts lasting for up to a 4-5 songs. One landed a fair distance from me, and about 10 minutes later all of a sudden the tug of war was right next to me, so I laid a hand on some of the material, gave it a casual tug to keep the fight going, let go and had a hand full of thread. The fight finally got resolved, with some metal head looking muppet (what was he doing there?) getting whatever was left of the shirt and his extremely unimpressive girlfriend gushing over how proud she was of him, quite sickening. Really?
The gorgeous I'm Throwing my Arms around Paris followed before Morrissey's answer to Bono's Africa, Animal Rights, took centre stage with some shocking images of animal cruelty projected onto the screen. Meat Is Murder was a musical highlight, and was an impressively performed by Moz and his band- with a few words changed.
I particularly liked Moz's "Kill Meat, Kill Eat.. Murder?" (with a shrug of the shoulders, as if to suggest how obvious the crime is) which was an exceptional moment in the set.
Let Me Kiss You followed and segued surprisingly effectively given the song that preceded it, however my enjoyment of the song was minimised due to the tug of war finding it's way beside me.
This also unfortunately made me less attentive during Still Ill, as some arrogant old blokes pushed their way closer to the stage, which caused a lot of frustration amongst many of us up front. One of the blokes was severely under some kind of influence so as soon as he reached the front, security just dragged him over the barrier.
From what I can gather, Still Ill was not as majestic as I'd hoped, given my love for the song, but I am nonetheless stoked that it was on the set.
Irish Blood, English Heart was again marred by unruly pricks, but was loud and brilliant, followed by Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, which was a crowd favourite. Morrissey sang it beautifully, and the crowd was mesmerised.
The crowd thankfully settled for I Know It's Over, which Morrissey still sang as emotive now as it does on the 25-year old recording. From my position, the lighting made Morrissey appear as just a silhouette on stage during the song, the only representation in the set from my favourite album of all time Queen Is Dead.
November Spawned A Monster followed, well received by others but one of my favourite Moz songs, followed by an unlikely highlight in Youngest Was The Most Loved which was a barnstorming moment in the set.
Sweet and Tender Hooligan closed the main set, and was an exceptional closer, with Moz really prancing the stage frantically.
The encore consisted of just the one song, the brilliant First of the Gang to Die from You Are The Quarry. With another shirt thrown into the crowd and a few harmless stage invasions, the set ended on a satisfying note, with the crowd abuzz after seeing one of the legends of popular song energetically owning the stage.
A performance well worth the $97 ticket price, the merchandise looked impressive but I couldn't be bothered queueing to buy... One of the three best gigs I've ever been to. I left the venue feeling accomplished, but I couldn't stop listening to Moz on the way to and from work the next day. I'm more of a fan now than I've ever been.
It shits me that the vast majority of Aussies don't even know who he is though, yet still know who spuds like John Farnham and Bruno Mars are... A great shame.
And he did rant about the Royals, and as an anti-monarchist myself, I lapped it up!