Morrissey, Wireless Festival, Hyde Park, 04/07/08
July 7th, 2008
(Photo courtesy of Lady R)
Morrissey is, or at least should be, the envy of every musician, would-be musician or ex-musician. While every other pre-90’s era band is either doing greatest-hits tours or playing greatest-hits material under the pretense of touring some new shit album, Morrissey continues to maintain a level of relevance that has eluded Bowie, Smith, Black, Corgan, and any other has-been who hasn’t killed himself yet. Add to that his borderline-crazy legion of loyal fans, of all ages, and Morrissey must be the benchmark for musical longevity.
Friday’s show was, to both my dismay and glee, the first time I have seen Morrissey in the flesh. It didn’t rain, Beck had left the crowd unsatisfied and there was a fifteen minute montage of video clips to build expectation before Morrissey took to the stage just as it began to get dark. Front row space was at quite a premium. We settled for row two and reassuring tallness. A friend of mine once commented that Morrissey is actually a better singer now than he was pre-’You Are The Quarry’, and I can well believe it. He can really sing, and he was in fine form in Hyde Park. It was tremendous.
It went a little something like this:
Last of the Famous International Playboys
Ask
First of the Gang to Die
I Just Want to See the Boy Happy
That’s How People Grow up
Irish Blood, English Heart
Sister, I’m a Poet
Vicar in a Tutu
All You Need is Me
The Loop
The World is Full of Crashing Bores
Why Don’t You Find out for Yourself
Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed
Billy Budd
Death of a Disco Dancer
You Say You Don’t Love Me (Buzzcocks cover)
I’m Throwing my Arms Around Paris
Stretch Out and Wait
Life’s a Pigsty
How Soon is Now
encore:
What She Said
So as you can see - a good mix of brand-new Morrissey, recent Morrissey, old Morrissey, The Smiths and even a cover. I was particularly delighted to hear probably my favourite Morrissey song ever ‘Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself’, the classic ‘Ask’, and the sublime ‘How Soon is Now’. All were delivered with that iron sincerity (and perhaps sincere irony) that I’ve seen few other artists produce, and underpinned by the excellent band (all in matching jeans and Playboy t-shirts). Even if you don’t agree with what he’s saying/singing, you’re left in no doubt that he really means it. The doe-eyed crowd were treated to a few rants between songs, with meat, George Bush and Kylie Minogue all getting lambasted. “Ah the smell of dead animals wafting across the park,” or something like that. We are all putting illness, sickness and death into our bodies, or so we were told. I’m all for animal-biting myself, but his unbending opinions make me smile.
For those interested in fashion, Morrissey wore a black Playboy t-shirt, a black American Idol t-shirt, and two other normal shirts, all of which were peeled off and thrown to the crowd at some stage. After the show, many fans just hung around for a few minutes, ankle-deep in plastic bottles, letting it all sink in, smoking and exchanging stories with complete strangers. It was all rather triumphant.
More on the O2 Wireless Festival later.
