Morrissey - Brixton Academy, London - 7/8/11

Not the best start to the gig. Basically I'm getting e-mails from Paul
saying 'earth to George, are you alive out there?' I'm repying like 'yes
ring me dude I'm freaking out' (as I later find out ... and had worked
out my e-mails wern't getting through - this has happened once before
but now it was multiple e-mails not arriving  ... from aol to msn - ???)
... obviously I should have given him my number weeks earlier

All this on top of my normal Morrissey anxious-ness ... not a great
one hour plus waiting outside the venue ... dreadful in fact - this was
not how I'd wanting to be feeling whilst waiting to see Morrissey.
with just 30 minutes left I realised I'd have to go in - and take Paul's
ticket with me. I just hoped he got a ticket from a tout and was in there.
This is the worst I've ever felt entering a gig. Period.



okay so the music at the start (I now realise is 'The Operation ... thought it
was familiar!) I thought was some big build up into THE QUEEN IS DEAD
- which would have sent me over the edge ... but it was ... I WANT THE
ONE I CAN'T HAVE (which I love) but it was the set opener the last time
I saw him (and it was perfect then) so tonight it's just okay ... it goes into
IRISH BLOOD ENGLISH HEART there is movement in the crowd but
nothing manic like Suede, there is not one big moving throng, so I stay on
the left hand side ... and the same goes for YOU'RE THE ONE FOR ME
FATTY, added to that, it's not really a favourite of mine but then things
pick up, first with YOU HAVE KILLED ME and then with a brand new
song SCANDINAVIA which after just 1 listen easily tops the last 2 albums
real good to hear OUIJA BOARD!! which I'm sure I've never heard before

then one that I really wanted to hear live again ... ALMA MATTERS!!!
just that start is enough to melt your heart - there is some nice movement
near me with people moving around in their own little space - that chainsaw
sound it's SPEEDWAY ... one of my big faves (and crazed previous manic
crowd involvement!!!!) okay so the first part is nothing special, then it gets
to the end bit and Morrissey stops it for like 15 seconds, everywhere goes
dark and then it roars back, I surge forward and the power of this song is
unleashed all around me, similiar people springing to life, a girl to my left
looks at me just at the right moment with a smile (like she could see what
it meant to me) so perfect in itself that I immediately look away cause I
didn't want anything to ruin that moment, that special ending to the song

I KNOW IT'S OVER is a weird one ... I know there's no way it can ever
have as huge emotional impact on me at a gig as it does when it's just me
and a cd ... not to mention I've got all manner of annoying people all 
around me, topping this list is the 'model-esque girl - I know the song is 
intense and you've got 'run-your-fingers-through-your-hair' kind of hair 
but do you have to do it every 5 seconds, and then you've got everyone 
singing along all around me ... just all loud voices and the opposite of the 
beauty of the recorded version ... but the 'if you're so funny part' still 
got to me and made me misty eyed ... it was more about key moments
in the song ... and they may have been brief but they were more than 
enough

EVERY DAY IS LIKE SUNDAY is still too slow!!! in the past when I've 
been caught up in it, it's not bothered me that much, but tonight just 
watching at the side, it does!! I do like the bits where Morrissey gets 
the crowd to sing the bits back to him though, it sounded really good 
with mass voices singing out the words

okay when 'THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT' started ... 
and it got the obvious reaction, I was all set to dismiss it - there's no 
way it could top any previous times I had seen it - and the crowd here 
was nothing compared so why even attempt it. So I resigned myself to 
just watching it and not expecting much. But then it happened, just the 
words alone (+not being part of any crowd involvement like in the past)  
started to affect me ... and it was just how it happened, these words just  
plucked away at me and by the time it gets to the bit that follows '... and 
I just couldn't ask' that initial feeling is now fully realised and what made  
it even more special is because I hadn't expected it and that it was just 
these words being sang in front of me (that had always impacted me so
much) doing just the same BECAUSE OF THE VERY WORDS they are.
Just this simple reaction is why I love this song/the smiths/morrissey 
so much ... it's not always about being caught up in any manic crowd 
participtation, it's about how at the end of the day, the words will still 
get you the same even if you're just standing still.

I'M THROWING MY ARMS AROUND PARIS is sublime! I love that song
so much (and not just cause I love Paris!!) just the whole feeling that this
song encapsulates - it's a lovely thing to hear live and be a part of

and then something I didn't expect ... that a new song (ART HOUNDS!!!!!) 
would be my favourite song of the night ... when that chorus hit and he sang
the MY LIFE IS OPEN bit, it was like it cut straight to the very core of me
in a flash, laid me bare, open wide ... just totally floored me - and his voice
was like going up octaves and stuff - I just couldn't take it all in, the intensity
... I must have been open mouthed in awe for sure ... but getting that feeling 
is what it's all about



3 words. MEAT IS MURDER. exactly. I've seen it live before. But tonight
wow ... it is pretty stunning ... well not what's actually shown onto the
backdrop, I mean the statue lady on the backdrop and the colours used,
the images behind are pretty brutal ... but it's an interesting dichotomy
... the combination of all these things was really intense, and the end bit of
the song blew me away, how it was loud and powerful and engulfed you ...
I loved the animal slogans that flashed up and was really happy that I got
pictures of them ... the whole thing made me proud to be vegetarian. 

FIRST OF THE GANG TO DIE is the last song, it's a nice song to end with,
a great feeling in the crowd around me. Not super crazy at all ... but nice
and celebrationary. 

I start to queue for the merchandise, then get fed up and start to leave and 
guess who calls out to me ... Paul (who had got a ticket) he'd spent an hour 
waiting at the tube station. And as I mentioned earlier, none of my emails
had arrived. It was good to see him finally, I'm just glad he got a ticket
and got in. After he gets his train at Marylebone, I've missed the last tube 
so have to catch the 27 bus and yet again like Suede, walk the last stop 
home. Okay this time I wasn't as elated as I was then and I didn't have  
any songs running through my head. But I was happy the day had ended  
a lot better than it had began ... not to mention there had been err a few 
great Morrissey moments inbetween(!!)

I Want The One I Can't Have
Irish Blood, English Heart
You're The One For Me, Fatty
You Have Killed Me
Scandinavia
Ouija Board, Ouija Board
Black Cloud
People Are The Same Everywhere
Alma Matters
Action Is My Middle Name
Speedway
Satellite Of Love
I Know It's Over
Everyday Is Like Sunday
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Art-Hounds
Meat Is Murder

First Of The Gang To Die






below - MEAT IS MURDER













all in all I'd say it was a good gig, not a great one. It's only cause I've seen
such amazing gigs in the past that I have such high expectations ... it's all 
about the song choices

songs I wanted to hear/would've sent me violently into the crowd
... made me cry in equal measures

Alsatian Cousin
November spawned a monster
Now my heart is full
Trouble loves me
Jack the ripper

and certain others (especially one) that can't be revealed now 'cause
I still hold out hope ...

tomorrow the gig is at the PALLADIUM ... a seated gig!!!! ... we are
rows 5+6 ... will they let the crowd go near the front (they have done
in the past) ... will the set list be different .. will I get *THE* song that
I'm hoping for ... check back tomorrow!!

cheers
George