Is there anybody who saw Morrissey on his last tour and was seriously disappointed?

Chip

Member
I am asking this sincerely. I am not trying to start a flamewar or anything of the sorts. I am just really curious, because there have been a lot of negative comments here about the quality of Morrissey's performances (yes I know Morrissey hates this word) on the last tour especially in light of the Hollywood High teaser clip. Yet, if my memory serves me right most of the comments at the time on the various post-gig threads were very positive, as were most of the press clippings from the various shows.

I personally show Morrissey three times on his last tour. Once at Terminal 5 (the second show), once at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and once at the Strathmore Theater. The first two shows I both went with different people neither of which had ever seen Morrissey before. One of them was a causal Smiths fan at best and the other seemed more into Morrissey/The Smiths. Both were very impressed with the quality of the concert, though both hated the song "The People Are the Same Everywhere" (He didn't play it at Terminal 5 much to the relief of my companion). The third time I went by myself and befriended the person in the seat next to mine and he seemed to really enjoy the show as well. No one mentioned liked Kristeen Young.

I know there's a lot of excitement and energy at a live show so it's hard to hate it even if it's bad (the only artist I ever saw I strongly disliked live was Bob Dylan) and that euphoric effect just isn't there when watching a video of the show on Youtube so flaws may be more noticeable.

Like I said I'm just curious and wonder what other people's perspectives are as I am somewhat perplexed.
 
I am asking this sincerely. I am not trying to start a flamewar or anything of the sorts. I am just really curious, because there have been a lot of negative comments here about the quality of Morrissey's performances (yes I know Morrissey hates this word) on the last tour especially in light of the Hollywood High teaser clip. Yet, if my memory serves me right most of the comments at the time on the various post-gig threads were very positive, as were most of the press clippings from the various shows.

I personally show Morrissey three times on his last tour. Once at Terminal 5 (the second show), once at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and once at the Strathmore Theater. The first two shows I both went with different people neither of which had ever seen Morrissey before. One of them was a causal Smiths fan at best and the other seemed more into Morrissey/The Smiths. Both were very impressed with the quality of the concert, though both hated the song "The People Are the Same Everywhere" (He didn't play it at Terminal 5 much to the relief of my companion). The third time I went by myself and befriended the person in the seat next to mine and he seemed to really enjoy the show as well. No one mentioned liked Kristeen Young.

I know there's a lot of excitement and energy at a live show so it's hard to hate it even if it's bad (the only artist I ever saw I strongly disliked live was Bob Dylan) and that euphoric effect just isn't there when watching a video of the show on Youtube so flaws may be more noticeable.

Like I said I'm just curious and wonder what other people's perspectives are as I am somewhat perplexed.





Well the last time we seen morrissey live in concert it was at the MEN manchester arena uk last year.
Thought it was a terrific concert!
The crowd stood up and applauded and cheered every song! which says it all !
Yep he had us all singing along and feeling happy ect, BRILLIANT!!!! :)
The only "disapointing" thing , was that we were "miles" away from the stage and it was difficult to see him proper, but thats not a fault of morrissey, he cant help selling out concerts were some of us are not as close as we wud like!

Kristeen young opened up first, she was just incredible 2 l!!!!! :)

Wouldent be the same without kristeen!
In fact if kristeen was not there 2 open up, Id feel extremely dissapointed and "cheated"
"The one who plays the keyboard like a machine gun! " :)

But 2 answer the question was morrissey dissapointing last time you seen him in concert?

NO! NOT ALL ALL !!!!!
In fact the opposite, he was just incredible !!!:)

The concert at the villa marina tho was better, it was just pure magic! was right up close! but the smaller concerts all allways the best... fact!

morrissey is an absolute legend!

Morrissey is not finished by any means, hes only just begun! :)
 
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Nah, I had a good time.
I mean, regardless of how his performances have aged along with him, it's still a very loud rock show with a lot of feeling, and he's still singing some very classic lyrics with a voice that — to me — is more interesting than a lot of acts.

The current rendition of "Maladjusted" is just packed with feeling.
 
Nah, I had a good time.
I mean, regardless of how his performances have aged along with him, it's still a very loud rock show with a lot of feeling, and he's still singing some very classic lyrics with a voice that — to me — is more interesting than a lot of acts.

The current rendition of "Maladjusted" is just packed with feeling.

Thanks. That's pretty much the way I feel--down to the part about the current rendition of Maladjusted. The first time I heard it live particularly--at Terminal 5--it was especially moving. The other two times I remember being glad to hear it, but not feeling moved in the same way.
 
saw him at various points in 2011 including the intimate Hawick Town Hall Gig to the HopFarm Headline Festival slot - he was great every single time

Manchester Arena gig last year was fun, but he came on very early which resulted in many people missing the first few songs - and the setlist made for a few dips in tempo/atmosphere etc with his back catalogue you always wish for more though

He's always been very witty in between songs and good value

the setlist posted from his cancelled South American Tour looked very promising (asleep, hand in glove, girl least etc)

A member here posted some very nice close up recordings of his Australian shows late last year (see youtube) and you only need to watch these to see the man has still got 'it' when it comes to singing live and everything that entails. If he was to announce a UK Tour tomorrow I would still go to as many gigs as possible :confused: :o

I just think the Hollywood High concert may be a bit much for the casual smiths/moz fan who will make up the majority going to watch it upon release
 
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I am a very recent fan, so nostalgia is not weighing into my perception. I saw 5 shows in total in the past year on 3 continents (and missed 10+ with all the cancellations...). In comparison to all the other shows I saw in the meantime (The largest show I saw was Springsteen & the smallest The Sparks with quite a few in between) he shines with a great voice & stage presence. You have to hand it to him the voice was amazing & he really turns on the stage drama. The energy with the fans is also incredible for a newcomer like me. Most artists never have this level of crazy interaction. And finally I have to say I am always impressed by the random mix of attendees at his concerts & this was true from Asia to North America. Most artist have a crowd that looks all alike, at least to me. So to answer, no it wasn't a disappointment, far from it, I am actually hooked & hope I get the opportunity to catch more shows. I brought a few acrnivores along who had no idea of who he was, they had a great time even taking the "Meat is Murder" bit into account.
 
I thought that the MEN gig was awful. One of the worst I have been to. The last decent one I witnessed was Stoke on Trent in 2011. That was a good one.

None are a patch on the unsigned tour of 2002.....That was quality
 
Portchester was f***ing awesome. The gigs were all solid. Band sounded great. Moz looked super fit in his Russian Figure Skater zip-up shirts. Julia was looking stone cold foxy.
 
The consensus is probably that the recent Morrissey tours/shows have been among his best ever mainly because of the great set-list. He's drawing on all periods of his past now, and finally realised that he shouldn't force-feed so much of his (generally poor quality) 21st century material on people. As it's years since the last album, we don't have to hear much of that either. The biggest problem is the new songs. It's 5 years since he recorded YOR (4 since release), longer than the lifetime of the Smiths, and yet he's showcasing People Are The Same and Action as the very best stuff he's come up with, which is utterly and truly depressing, and says it all really about how deluded he's become recently. He blames everyone else for his lack of a record contract - the industry, journalists, radio stations, but the truth is that the main problem is the appalling quality of his new songs. Still, the live shows are fantastic (apart from when we have to sit through People Are The Same).
So, it's possible to love the recent tour but still feel utterly bewildered/dismayed by his current attitude to the new songs (which is 'they are amazing - major record companies should be offering me multi-million pound deals')...
 
Just the internet talking.

Point taken. But I always regard the anonymous trolls out of hand. There are some other naysayers on the other thread that seem more legit. But still the internet is always a den of hypercriticism and doom.
 
I'm a newbie too, although I was familiar with The Smiths growing up, I was in another direction musically. In in my 40+ years have seen hundreds of shows around the world, including following a few other bands to places far and wide. I saw my first (and only) 7 Morrissey shows between Boston and LA 2012-13. I think Brooklyn was perhaps one of the, if not the, best shows I've ever seen by anyone. There was a vibe there that was impossible to describe other than the over-used and insufficient "electric". I also thought Reading and Port Chester were really good too. I will travel for bands if I get a high off them, and it says something that I'd agreed to go with my diehard sister to 15 more after my first Morrissey show. Unfortunately only got to 7. But when he hits the road again, I'm following.

Kristeen Young was "meh". I've always considered opening acts to be a necessary evil, and she's no exception. I've only liked opening acts a few times in my history, having discovered Arcade Fire, Stereophonics and Ash that way.
 
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