Morrissey prefers his pints cold? Cary Caldwell (SXSW manager of planning) story in stuff.co.nz

Story about Morrissey not coming on stage at SXSW until he knew the temperature of his beer.

National Portrait: Kiwi's life with 'music stars, secret service and CIA' - stuff.co.nz

Excerpt:

Morrissey had a problem.

The Englishman, former frontman for The Smiths, was scheduled to speak at the prestigious South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas.

..."The room was full of 800 people waiting for Morrissey to do an interview," explains Christchurch man Cary Caldwell, who works behind the scenes as SXSW manager of planning.

"One of his managers came out and said to me 'Morrissey can't go on because he's got no idea what the temperature of his beer is'."

"I said 'Take his beer's temperature? No, no, not at all'.

"He said 'this could be a deal breaker, he could pull the interview'. I said 'OK, fine, let me know' and started walking away. The guy came running after me, I said 'dude pull the show or don't pull the show. If you want to pull the show let me know and we'll get up on stage in front of all the reporters and say Morrissey isn't going to speak because we couldn't measure the temperature of his beer'."

Morrissey duly got on stage, with journalists from around the world none the wiser.

45087_cary_caldwell.jpg



Related item:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Surely there can't be creatures on earth who enjoy warm beer?
 
warm beer is that not an English thing,mine has to taste like its been brewed in the arctic.
 
warm beer is that not an English thing,mine has to taste like its been brewed in the arctic.

Real ale isn't supposed to be cold but I'm not opening that can of worms, I'm referring to standard lager :lbf:
 
Real ale isn't supposed to be cold but I'm not opening that can of worms, I'm referring to standard lager :lbf:
some of these ales taste like a can of worms,i will stick to my usual.
 
Surely there can't be creatures on earth who enjoy warm beer?
Can't you tell if the f***ing beer is sufficiently cold by holding the bottle? What an insufferable pansy he has become. I would slap his fat face if he came at me with such a trivial, wimpy request.
 
There's not much I tend to agree with Morrissey on, these days, but I'm with him on this one. Warm beer- and PARTICULARLY warm, real ale- is a crime against Humanity, :(
 
Can't you tell if the f***ing beer is sufficiently cold by holding the bottle? What an insufferable pansy he has become. I would slap his fat face if he came at me with such a trivial, wimpy request.
Tough guy.
 
A friend of mine, quite connected in the recording business, once told me that when Morrissey was recording at Hook End Manor around the time of Ouija Board he refused to come down one morning unless they found him a hairdresser.

Not knowing where to get hold of one at such short notice they instead asked the woman they employed to come in and make the food to pretend to be a hairdresser. She popped home, grabbed some scissors and odd and ends and returned promptly not as a cook, but as a hair stylist.

Morrissey happy. Recording session could begin.
 
Funny though this is, it shows the level of anxiety in the entourage when their charge has become such an irretrievable diva. You can almost hear the panic in the manager's voice. What a bleedin' circus.
 
Funny though this is, it shows the level of anxiety in the entourage when their charge has become such an irretrievable diva. You can almost hear the panic in the manager's voice. What a bleedin' circus.

Yeah, the manager was probably expecting to get the blame and collect his P45 after the show.
 
A friend of mine, quite connected in the recording business, once told me that when Morrissey was recording at Hook End Manor around the time of Ouija Board he refused to come down one morning unless they found him a hairdresser.

Not knowing where to get hold of one at such short notice they instead asked the woman they employed to come in and make the food to pretend to be a hairdresser. She popped home, grabbed some scissors and odd and ends and returned promptly not as a cook, but as a hair stylist.

Morrissey happy. Recording session could begin.

I remember reading in the late 1980s that Morrissey paid £100 for his haircuts. This at a time when the rest of us paid about a fiver.
 
Assuming the story is true, and assuming Morrissey really threatened to pull the interview (instead of some 'manager' overreacting to Moz saying "I hope the beer is cold"), then Cary Caldwell did exactly the right thing. Pandering to people does them no favours. Those yes men surrounding Moz are as toxic as the haters. If he kept his life real he'd probably have better lyrics for his songs. A soft sycophantic life is the death bell for artists.
 

Trending Threads

Back
Top Bottom