This Charming Man
Billy Budd
Black Cloud
How Soon Is Now?
Irish Blood, English Heart
Let Me Kiss You
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Seasick, Yet Still Docked
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
The Loop
One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
I Keep Mine Hidden
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
Ask
Best Friend On The Payroll
Sorry Doesn't Help
Something Is Squeezing My Skull
I'm OK By Myself

Encore:
First Of The Gang To Die

All these songs were played, however I'm not sure if the order is correct. The middle on this set might be wrong (order wise) however I'm 100% sure about the last five songs as well as the first five songs. Review I will post later...

Viva Moz

disco dancer was amazing! show stopping. the entire set was incredible - great mix of songs. a few stage invasions and it got mighty rowdy down front during the encore, a few people got roughed up and tossed off the stage by bouncers, one guy was literally rolled off like a bowling ball - Moz was pretty chatty lots of little lyric changes and side comments. I was in the 3rd row so just out of arms reach - Moz acknowledged my outstretched hand with a "sorry" and a shrug to tell me he couldn't possibly reach me - just to make that little connection was amazing.
amazing night!

After having witnessed a virtually identical setlist at a tiny venue the night before, I shouldn't have been surprised at how nonplussed I felt at this concert. But, pressed against the stage, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a bit bored.

I ran into several people outside who had attended both shows and their sentiment was similar.

This further cements the idea that the Bowery show was a once-in-a-lifetime treat!

after a few invaders reached Moz during FotGtD, he lost track of the words and made up the bulk of the song with nonsense- "I've forgotten the words...", mumbling etc. A funny end to a great show in a wonderful venue. Hopefully someone recorded it, as there was no frisking at the door.
People were for the most part very friendly...one seemingly drunken screamer stageleft interrupted Moz's between song banter with screams of "MOORRISSEEEYYYY!" A few suited gents, probably pushing 50 or so, with their wives in the row in front of me(CC) sat through a large part of the gig(which uncomfortably placed the back of their heads, or arms since they were full of PDA, right below my beltbuckle, as it were). and they bolted before the encore.
Courteeners were great as well and should not be missed. Best Moz opening act that I've seen...
Picked up their cd signed by the band as well as the signed YoR- they had 30 signed by Moz and numbered and were up to the mid twenties on mine but you have to ask for them as there was no sign.

During FOTGTD as I was prepping for a possible invasion (I really just wanted a handshake), this shady gentleman who looked like he had wandered off from a gig with his Sugar Ray cover band decided he was going to play security guard. As I went to lean to stretch out my hand he FORCEFULLY shoved me and I was dumbfounded thinking he was un-uniformed security, then he goes, "hey man, I'm not f'ing kidding, don't hurt my girl." Well, buddy, trust me, I wasn't going to touch your precious tiny little girl (I didn't want to catch whatever it is you gave her), but rest assured if I had decided to go up your head was going to be my stepping stone.

Come on, bro. All you had to do was put her in front of you and huddle over her! She was like a foot and a half shorter than you, and you had plenty of room to "protect" her.

It's battle conditions during the encore. If you ain't ready for it, get your ass out of the pit before it starts!

The inside of the venue was beautiful. The Courteeners were awesome. I didn't take many pics, but here are some of the better ones.

Thanks Scott for getting the one of me up on stage!

http://picasaweb.google.com/idrank1itbecame4/MorrisseyAcademyOfMusicPhiladelphia# [google.com]

Thank you to the lovely lady and her brother in DDD seats 2 & 4 for the guitar pick. I know it's just a pick but the gesture means the world to me. That stuff never happens to me so I will treasure that forever.

Side note: since there was no security check at the door please tell me that someone got an audio recording of this show. Anybody?

OK this review might be lengthy so please bear with me…

I went to the Montclair show on March 16th and thought that show was amazing and probably one of the best times I’ve seen Moz. Being an Philadelphian, I was even more excited to see Moz in my own city, however since he was playing the Academy of Music, I was somewhat surprised if not somewhat disappointed because of the vast amount of better venues our city has. I was hoping more along the lines of what NYC received like the Bowery or Carnegie, etc. My disappointed was confirmed when I got to my seat, all the way in the nosebleed section, the Amphitheatre, which cropped half of the stage. The sound was good, but I felt so far removed from the action and general excited that rises in the air for a Moz show! It was even more felt when the people in my area only really cared about the Smiths songs like “Ask”, “Disco”, and “This Charming Man”, and didn’t really go over for any of the YOR songs or most of the solo catalog.

Moving along to the merch… the merch guys told me they didn’t have the signed vinyls of YOR, like everyone was saying, they also didn’t have them at Montclair, however some fellow overheard me say this while I was leaving and informed me they only made them in CDs NOT the vinyl. Go figure the internet was wrong for several days. Also the tour shirts now don’t have ANY of the Florida dates and instead start with Myrtle Beach, SC. Interesting…

Onto Moz…

Moz sounded good, but not better than Montclair or as I was told in NYC. I assume the consistence traveling back and forth between States is starting to tire Moz down, but perhaps I’m over-analyzing it. The band sounded good, and Moz also threw out one shirt during “Let Me Kiss You”, that was it. One invader made it on stage during “I’m OK By Myself”, no security touched him in the process of getting to Moz but they quickly got him off stage. The encore was FOTGTD and the security was VERY heavy-handed in putting down the invasions and from my perspective it seemed one invader who got on his knee to get a handshake from Moz was choked out from behind and thrown off stage, nobody invaded after him, I think people got intimated, could be wrong though.

Also on the way out of the venue I got lost finding the exit and got backstage (the usher told me to go to this exit which lead me to the band equipment loading dock and then when trying to get out of there, took me to the locker rooms. All in all took me about ten minutes to find an exit. Wow)

In short, good show however my point of vantage did take a lot out of the overall excitement, especially when you can’t hear the people yelling at Moz and then he makes quirky comments about it.

A good time though, don't get me wrong.

It's rather crazy how I come here after ever show to see what the responses are... I've been at the last few shows. So I like to see if anyone agrees or disagrees.
It's odd though. The philly show was the best show he's done. For anyone to think the Montclair show was better? Is bullocks. The sound system at the montclair venue is for teens.
The Academy of Music, where I've seen many operas, is the place to hear live music. Bowery is one of the most DONE places on the planet. It's been done since Bret Easton Ellis wrote glamorama.
I can't decide if the fans are getting old and more jaded, of if there is a new nothing knowing crowd that just keeps misinterpretting.
Last night Morrissey was so on he was off. The music sounded too perfect.
Or maybe it was my seat? The perfect boxed parquay? I could see everything and sat mesmorized staring at the stage... whilst apparently no one else was enjoying themselves?
Saying you are board at a morrissey concert is like going to college to meet your spouse. Grow up.

but the very unfriendly security were on a power trip with egos out of their minds! I've met Morrissey before and had hand shakes so I figured it was time to try a stage invasion. I attempted my goal, during the encore, by climbing between two huge speakers on stage left. Only to be escorted off and out the door! I wasn't successful, glad I tried and there's always next time. Enjoy the show, it's a don't miss event!!!!

(I conked out yet again while writing! I'm submitting as is; apologies for any redundancies of things already mentioned. It'll be just a confirmation of how great the show was...)

I am floored at how awesome tonight's show was. It was a total onslaught of power by Moz and his band and every moment was ecstacy. Moz whiplashed us all with a strong, rich belt; Boz, Jesse, Solomon, Matt (recognized twice by Moz tonight) were totally on their game rockin' out and giving 200% of their energy and musical talents with additional riffs, lilts (in Moz's case) and trills at full volume and energy; and Chris Pooley provided great keyboard accompaniment to the songs as well as a great steady whistle for I Keep Mine Hidden! (Whatever improv people were complaining about seems to be resolved now, imho.)

Tonight was the first time I felt Moz and his band were totally one. It was amazing and powerful and you could tell they were lovin' it, too. Setlist felt longer than usual, and the energy was so great to the end, it frankly wore me out. It was better than "s-e-x!"

A lot of Refusal was played: Black Cloud, Sorry Doesn't Help Us, Paris, Carol?, Skull, One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell (awesome power-bass opening by Solomon caught at least me by surprise). Solomon also had a featured bass-only closing, very dramatic (forgot which song in my post-show blur).

Speaking of drama, Moz made a great remark mid-show that "This is not rock n' roll...This is The-ah-tah!" It was so true and they totally delivered. The show began with a full, beautiful piano rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone." The grand entrance was quickly followed with a punchy, rockin' "This Charming Man." "Ask" was also played later in the set. "Best Friend on the Payroll" and "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself" was also good to hear.

Moz was very animated, physically and verbally communicative throughout (as was the band at least through shredding on their axes/guitars and pumping the drums all towards the audience). A light-blue shirt was stripped and playfully tossed stage right/house left during "Let Me Kiss You." Other playful things included Moz playing the tambourine on his head during "The Loop"; asking the audience if we knew who "Mott the Hoople" was and re-clarifying their name, then saying "we might as well be" or something. I don't remember all the band introductions (someone help?) except the familiar reference to Matt as "Solomon's twin" (they are so not) and "he sleeps at night wrapped in a Mexican flag, Jesse Tobias!"

Audience LP gifts from Carol & Linda were charmingly received ('59 Sinatra and not sure what else). I Drank It Became Four made the first (and only?) sucessful hug on stage (good going!). Others were pummeled, pulled, and tossed back during "First of the Gang" (no moat between pit seats/standers and the stage) where previously posted that Moz tried to keep up with at least handshakes and was scattered out of singing the words (very funny to hear him mutter-sing "I don't remember the words" repeatedly and very openly but honestly relieved when he did jump back into the verse "and he stole...").

What else...I heard that a couple lucky ducks got their wrists signed by Moz when he arrived before soundcheck and that they went straightaway to get them tattooed.

The Courteeners played very beautiful, echoing, Northern English, melodic rock. Hope they gain a good audience on their leg of the tour. Too bad Red Cortez wasn't booked for more. I'm ready for another Moz-curated festival. Speaking of which, new Siouxsie solo material was part of preshow music and someone else doing "I Have Forgiven Jesus" (who?). 12 Days of Christmas was added back into the intermission films...

Sorry this review is so scattered. I'm still seeing stars from the experience!

Cheers also to Franissey.

There was a very nice photographer up front who had credentials to take photos during the first 3 songs.

He said that he would be posting them to pollstar.com which is a trade website for the concert industry. I checked this morning and they're not posted there yet.

Here's the URL: http://www.pollstar.com/photosIndexThumbnails.aspx?Tags=&SearchBy=&StartsWith= [pollstar.com]

I'll keep checking back and will update the thread if I see them.

I saw the show last night and had not seen Morrissey since the Kill Uncle tour. I loved the show and thought he spoke more than normal . He performed the songs well and with feeling. I also think Moz looks great for his age. The Academy was a beautiful place to have such a great show and the openers were good too. Hats off to Moz for all of his wonderful songs all these years. I have been a fan since 12 years old and I will always love his music. If you have never seen Morrissey-it is a must do.

I agree with the posts about the venue. Having spent a great night at the Bowery the night before I found myself up in the balcony for this show and it just isn't the same. In fact seated venues just aren't the same. The venue was fantastic to look at but just didn't do it for me in terms of atmosphere, though saying that Moz did get some good ovations from the crowd. When he took to the stage I thought the cheering wouldn't stop. Even he seemed a little taken aback.
Good set list, with the adition of Farewell and disco dancer and I thought the sound was good.
I do wonder why Morrissey doesn't have a word with his security guys, they must know by now he doesn't mind the odd hug, but they get so brutal still.

I went to see Morrissey in Philadelphia last night. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I realized that I would be off on Monday (today) and managed to get a front row ticket, far left Boz side right next to the speakers! It was great. I had my arms on the stage and squeezed Morrissey's hand and touched his knee. Unfortunately during the encore the guys in the audience started to attempt to climb/jump up on to the stage and over me and another girl! Almost lost my glasses and skinned my elbow. I was able to finally get out of the mess. Jesse called out my name and threw me his set list which he had initialed. :) My glasses are kind of mangled but ok. All in all a wonderful night! Oh, someone(I don't think it was me)broke one of the seats probably while attempting to climb over it!

Fran aka Franissey :)

Morrissey was ON last night at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. This is the 5th or 6th time I've seen him and he was at his most animated ever. Very chatty in between songs. The set list it seems does not change at all from city to city. My one complaint -- and I know this my sound like sacrilege -- is that I could have used more from the new record and less from the Smiths catalogue (I know I know -- the smiths saved my life as well, but...). Where was Carol? Not Your Birthday? I thought Charming Man was completely charmless. Where's the jangle? The lively jauntiness of the original? The band turned it into a faceless loud muscle rock song. If you know the Death Cab for Cutie version, it sounds like Moz covering a Death Cab cover. Otherwise, Ask was a real crowd pleaser, and Irish Blood went over incredibly well with the audience. Especially the guy next to me who kept hi-fiving total strangers as the band started up each song. In all, tremendous night. Moz was in rare form -- lost track of the lyrics to First Of The Gang when the stage invasions started, and began singing "I've forgotten the lyrics, but I still do it in style..." Ha Ha. But really, changing your shirt after two songs? Do you sweat that much, Stephen?

Question: Who was the band during the opening film montage -- black and white, 60's sound, girl singer. Fantastic.
And who's the sailor? Looks like a 'roided out Ben Affleck.

Go see Morrissey. Tonight, no matter which city he is in.

here are my videos from Philly
www.youtube.com/cityjet
enjoy

http://www.phrequency.com/genres/rock/Morrissey_Teaches_History_At_Academy_of_Music.html [phrequency.com]

Roll on UK gigs - especially his birthday in Manchester. They will be mad mad mad gigs. Manchester!!!

Hey all,
I'm a newcomer to the boards, and I'll be attending the Webster Hall gig. I was hoping to score a piece of merchandise signed by Morrissey. What are they selling? How many per gig? How much? And has it been difficult to snag one?

Thanks.

As someone who was sitting in the balcony--It was appalling!! Not Moz and band but the people around me! They must have been season ticket holder to the Academy--no movement, singing or even head movement! How can anyone just sit there??? As my daughter said 'It was a bunch of uncool old people" and she was right! Good thing he couldn't see up where we were!!
I hope he comes back to Philly and plays the Mann again! Now that was a great show!

Who were those suited security guys on stage? Are they Moz's security or the venue's? Can't say I have seen anyone but Ed & Arturo on stage before. Have the suited guys been onstage for other shows of the tour? Was there security in front of the stage as well?

That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore...

It was actually a Jim's whiz wit onions and a Flemish Sour Ale from Monk's Cafe........

I think it's time to drop Irish Blood and any other Quarry bullshit.

Overrated?? It's one of the best songs he or the Smiths ever put out! How can you say that??? It's over the top- incredible live. Jesse and Boz rock on this!! Moz, PLEASE do not stop playing Death of a Disco Dancer- ever!