Thursday, January 06, 2005
Morrissey Concert
Getting to the venue was a trial as I had forgotten where precisely Earls Court was. I thought it was opposite Earls Court tube station but having arrived at this spot found, by information given to me by a kind Londoner that I had come over to the wrong entrance and the polite and very articulate young lady gave me very precise directions to the site. My overpriced ticket was not going to go to waste. Coming out of this logical set of directions there it was, a shapeless mass looming up unremarkably before me. How far did it go back I thought, already counting the seat and the potential crowd size. As if I could tell the importance of the concert by numbers.
To the left of the venue a large advert for Morrissey’s ‘You are the Quarry’ album spanned the length of the wall. A twenty foot tall image of Morrissey, machine gun in hand, looking out on the passers by in the road. Men in fluorescent jackets patrolled the front checking tickets and giving advice to the slow stream of fans who had come about two hours early. Doors opened at 6.00. I decided to go get something to eat and come back. There didn’t seem to be enough people there to threaten my place in the queue.
Coming back from a tasty salad from Tesco, eating it friezing on the bench outside by the roaring traffic, I walked around the side of the building following the signs. I noted the line next to the standing entrance and joined it. It was a small line with only about a couple of hundred people in it. Ranging from people with ‘Moza’ shaved into their hair to 40 something’s standing patiently waiting. The young fans, a couple standing behind me, one with a Smiths T-shirt on who looked too young to have been around when they were playing. The two of them kept rattling on about how many Smiths songs there would be in the concert. Celebrating their knowledge of the back catalogue and trying to think of which concert they’d been to where Morrissey had sung the most Smiths songs: ‘He gotta sing at least three tonight, He sang five in Manchester’. Of course the Smiths legacy has stayed healthy due to nothing else really taking it’s place. In fact there has been a turn away from the alternative creative singer song writer bands towards an industrially manufactured wasteland of pop idols and celebrity culture.
Standing in a line for an hour in the freezing cold: Why did I come here? I hope this is worth it. Not having been to an M gig before I didn’t really know what to expect. I did feel strangely at home with people in the queue. There was a good atmosphere I thought, people had travelled down from The North, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, from what I could gather listening in to bits of conversation around me.
By the time they started letting people in there was a decent line but no more than about five hundred people? Walking into the huge interior of Earls Court gave me a disorientated feeling. Looking up at the ceilings of this huge bubble of a space, about 100 ft high. And here were the motley crew of fans lining the front of the stage. The small village hall of greying supporters dwarfed by the aircraft hanger like structure. I stood there worrying I was going to be stuck here cheering bands with the cold draft hitting the back of me and tumble weed skipping past. As the first support band came on there was still just a scattering of people in the place. It dawned on me that this could be a very maudlin affair. After all M had what was essentially a cult following. How could he possibly fill a venue like this. How could 45 year old Morrissey, not brought an album out in six years, fill a stadium this size?
The support act, in fact both support acts were not worthy of commenting on. They didn’t set up any kind of expectancy for the main act. In fact I was trying to maintain cheer that at least it was an interesting day out in London (although an expensive one). The irritated crowd started shouting semi coherent insults in the vague direction of the band. Finally the last of the bands crawled off (Is this Morrissey’s taste in music? James Maker?) Then we had to endure 45 minutes of men tuning rows of guitars and shimmying up to fix lighting and moving the set a round (probably to Morrissey’s precise request). The men sit on top of the roofof the stage and rain spotlights down like anti-aircraft guns.
My feet aching already, I passed the time by watching the people: Asian Morrissey fans were really by far the most stylish of the lot. Their brown skin seeming to tone down the Morrissey quaff hair complemented by light brown shirt and brown jacket, all brown? There was a growing tension amongst the crowd. The electric set turned on. First the Las Vegas Morrissey lights came on suddenly to a cheering crowd. A list of complaints about English working class history was read out on the loud speakers. Apparently a name to this ‘song’ I don't know. It sounded like a sermon, purposely customised for a British crowd? A bit corny maybe but what concert do you go to these days where you get a rant about Thatcherism, Miners strike, Blair, Gulf war etc, etc. However it did create a certain kind of atmosphere.
And then Elvis-Morrissey comes out and around to the front of the stage together with his crew/band lining up together and bowing, all in one quick movement. M going to the mike and saying "Why do you come here?" looking around at the stadium. By this time I was in the show and had crossed the line from distanced, perhaps sceptical, bystander to potential regressive teenage fanatical crazy person jumping with the crowd. Due to there not being a coat room in the place (so I was told by a fluorescent jacketed person standing by the set) I was still in my coat whereas other people I could see around about me seemed miraculously to have developed light wearing t-shirts? The coat didn’t seem to effect me though it did make me stand out some what. A thick winter black Ski Jacket in an indoor concert where you were supposed to dehydrate and stuff and be carried off after fainting due to the heat! Being tall my upper half was quite cool and that must have kept me from not warming up too much. I will spare you the details of coat technology but it can keep you cool as well as warm depending on the temperature.
Morrissey was wearing his vicars outfit, dogs collar and all. Him giving a sermon to his church goers (who have forgiven Jesus) and forming a spiritual leader to guide them. The skewed Guitar intro and drums of ‘How soon is now’ thundered into action and the crowd start jumping and shouting the words, one person right in my ear but it didn’t matter, I just pushed him out of the way. Of course the catholic M is casting himself as an anti-hero, cloaking himself in order to obscure his identity and caste verbal stones at himself. The microphone lead he lashes behind his back and on the floor. While singing to the lush sounds created by his new band (Mozza Crew, that’s what it said on their t-shirts: I bet M insisted on printing them himself?). Morrissey's vocals had never sounded better and transformed the songs to a new level, adding to this his mime acting to the emotional highs and lows. Adeptly orchestrating the crowd and creating an intriguing repertoire of movements about himself.
The crowd, all eyes honed on Morrissey’s person. He, gesturing and doing some physical theatre stunts and rolling about on the stage. At one point a man flung himself over the crowd from twenty feet back, being carried over by lofted hands, scrambling legs with arms flailing. M seeing this reached over and touched his hand. The young girls next to me or down below me and sinking into the darkness of the crowd saw this and decided that it was their moment and launched themselves as well. First one then the other over the back of the man in front of them in a crazy mad scrap to the front of the stage. Screaming out to Morrissey and disappearing into the arms of a fluorescent bouncer person. Not before attempting to throw what looked like her underwear on the stage. They just about failed to grasp the edge of the stage and fell down. What a waste and no Morrissey hand touching! What a sorry ending after all that effort. I hope she didn't miss the rest of the concert.
I considered throwing myself over but I imagined myself needing a strong crowd of supporters to hold me up and perhaps I would be sent outwards towards the dark being passed along silently with ‘Every Day is Like Sunday’ (Which he didn’t sing) echoing in the air. Out towards the exit and having to push my way to the front of the crowd again! He played ‘First Of The Gang To Die’ and the waves of the crowd pushed against the stage, people falling and swaying like wheat in a windy field. The singing fans knowing every word. Irish Blood, English Heart brought the whole arena to life and at the end the crowd gave such a chorus of screeching that I’m sure I noticed Morrissey stumble back and glance at his band members. Was he expecting that?
This in an example of the good humoured crowd around me: A girl taps a man on the back and she tells him to tap my shoulder. They both are advising me to take my winter coat off as I will dehydrate, how considerate. I tell them I’m OK and decide that I’m fine, not too hot. In fact the layers of fur etc. kind of protected me from the crowd and they just bounced of the coat. Before 'Shoplifters of the world unite' M shouts "I hope you've all finished your Christmas shoplifting"
Morrissey turns and says "We’ve got rid of Blunkett, lets get rid of Blair" and replace him with what? What solution does he have in mind? Before ‘Shop Lifters Of The World Unite’ he says "I have brought a charity single out for Christmas…and the charity is me." He changes his outfit every three songs or so. His white frilly number he takes off near the edge of the stage and rubs it all over himself and I mean all over! He throws it into the crowd right near me. I rush out of the way as teams of fans proceed to split it up amongst themselves, holding each bit up as a prize after the battle. Little grey rags for Ebay the next day. Or the MorrisseySolo.com notice boards. The experiences of flinging oneself onto the stage are posted there as well.
The wells of emotion that emanate from Morrissey concerts is quite unique. The amount of people I saw in tears of emotion swaying with the crowd. It had something of a pilgrimage feel about it. It seemed like here were people unable to stop the emotional flow. There was no holding back. Morrissey seems very close to the crowd and to react to every shout and movement that they make. The last song on the set was 'Last Night I Dreamt that Somebody Loved Me'. His words before departing were "There is goodbye and there is Farewell and this is Farewell" leading to many fears that this may be his last concert as that had been a rumour. People are left in hope.
After M had bowed out the slow moving crowd poured out through the doors. Each person had a strange glow about them and most I looked at had a strange dazed grin from cheek to cheek. Friends spotted each other and met up to talk about whether they'd thrown themselves over, ripped a piece of shirt or touched his hand etc. From the Discussion boards on the Morrissey sites afterwards it seems that the seated fans were too far away and complained of lack of atmosphere. It was obviously better to get standing tickets. The man whom I saw scramble to touch Morrissey’s hand was all over the Message boards the next day boasting of his heroic feat. Apparently there was a Morrissey and Smiths evening at a nightclub near the venue following the concert. The confusion of thousands of people exiting the building at Earl’s court and trying to get to the tube seemed to catch the police by surprise and they held everybody up and I only just caught my train home. The Train west had hardly any fans on it. They were probably all going north. An interesting Earls Court story at Morrisseytour.com.
The set list (I copied these from somebody's post on one of the message boards in Morrisseysolo.):
How Soon Is Now? / First Of The Gang To Die / November Spawned A Monster / Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice / Bigmouth Strikes Again / I Like You / Redondo Beach / Let Me Kiss You / Subway Train (into) Munich Air Disaster 1958 / There Is A Light That Never Goes Out / The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get / Friday Mourning / I Have Forgiven Jesus / The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores / Shoplifters Of The World Unite / Irish Blood, English Heart / You Know I Couldn't Last / Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me.
# posted by Neil @ 3:48 PM 
Comments:
<< Home
hi there, you sound like your a brand new morrissey fan and had no real idea what you were doing at the concert in the first place. was this your first concert and are you american?
Post a Comment
# posted by 
: 9:43 AM
: 9:43 AM << Home
