Statement: 3 August 2012 - true-to-you.net (August 4, 2012)

From Morrissey-solo Wiki

Summary

Tour memories / ranking, Eric Louis Gardner (stand-in drummer), Anthony Burulcich

Statement

The rich experience of our recent tour of Italy, Turkey, Israel and Greece has thankfully matched the terrific responses we had received in Asia and South America earlier this year - a year that, to my amazement, has become the most successful of my touring life. How, exactly? And why? Once again, all I can offer is the sore throat of thanks to everyone who bought tickets and who supported us along the way. The incredible audience reactions in Istanbul, Athens and Tel-Aviv have left me insensible, and were completely at odds with the common belief that the world of music is now dumb and sterile.

Nights of wine and roses:

  1. ISTANBUL, Turkey (Cemil Topuzlu, 19 July)
  2. ATHENS, Greece (Lycabettus Theater, 16 July)
  3. TEL-AVIV, Israel (Bitan 1, 21 July)
  4. EDINBURGH, Scotland (Usher Hall, 30 July)
  5. MILAN, Italy (Teatro Degli Arcimboldi, 10 July)
  6. ROME, Italy (Auditorium Parco Della Musica, 7 July)
  7. MANCHESTER, England (Manchester Arena, 28 July)
  8. GRADO, Italy (Diga Nazario Sauro, 13 July)
  9. GENOA, Italy (Arena Del Mare, 8 July)
  10. FLORENCE, Italy (Cavea Del Nuovo Teatro Dell'Opera, 11 July)

Our army marches into Boston soon, and here we begin a lengthy American tour. We are overjoyed at news of sell-outs at Radio City (New York), Chicago, San Francisco, Atlantic City, Niagara Falls, Asheville, North Bethesda, and we are close to sold out at Terminal 5 (New York), Lincoln NE, Beaumont TX. To continue to do so well, and to continue to mean something to so many people, brings a gratitude that I will never tire of repeating. Thank you to the city of Tel-Aviv for granting me the Keys to their city. I just might die with a smile on my face, after all. Thank you to drummer Eric Louis Gardner for guiding us through our recent tour. I am pleased to announce that our new drummer is Anthony Burulcich.

And, yet! I am unable to watch the Olympics due to the blustering jingoism that drenches the event. Has England ever been quite so foul with patriotism? The "dazzling royals" have, quite naturally, hi-jacked the Olympics for their own empirical needs, and no oppositional voice is allowed in the free press. It is lethal to witness. As London is suddenly promoted as a super-wealth brand, the England outside London shivers beneath cutbacks, tight circumstances and economic disasters. Meanwhile the British media present 24-hour coverage of the "dazzling royals", laughing as they lavishly spend, as if such coverage is certain to make British society feel fully whole. In 2012, the British public is evidently assumed to be undersized pigmies, scarcely able to formulate thought. As I recently drove through Greece I noticed repeated graffiti seemingly everywhere on every available wall. In large blue letters it said WAKE UP WAKE UP. It could almost have been written with the British public in mind, because although the spirit of 1939 Germany now pervades throughout media-brand Britain, the 2013 grotesque inevitability of Lord and Lady Beckham (with Sir Jamie Horrible close at heel) is, believe me, a fate worse than life. WAKE UP WAKE UP.

Please remember PETA's 32nd birthday on 21 August: destiny for some is to save lives.

undiminished, with a heart that longs for light,

MORRISSEY, 3 August 2012.

Archived original post here.