C'mon already jeez!!

j/k

i can think of no other man who can sport a tuxedo and keep you on your toes the way morrissey does. he played a number of smiths songs and actually started the show with this charming man. he went on to play some girls are bigger than others, how soon is now, i keep mine hidden, death of a disco dancer, and ask. all in all he put on a very good show. the only downside being that he only played for an hour twenty. not bad, but he should have done at least two encore songs...jesse is from austin and i really expected a little more for the home town crowd...

There was a short video montage of a band called "Shocking Blue", the "New York Dolls", and some 50's rock star that looked and sounded like Elvis Presley. He's singing a song that sounded like "The Twist". Can anyone identify this guy in the black and white video?

I've seen tours starting from 1991 until now and I have to say this was my favorite. Bass Concert Hall had great acoustics and two balconies that seemed crowded. I don't know how close he was to selling out, but there was a lot of people there tonight.

No surprises on the setlist, he did do Billy Budd. I thought he sounded amazing on Death of A Disco Dancer. I know the music wasn't the Smiths, but they did a nice job and it got intense as the song went on. Morrissey sounded really good and true to the LP. Another favorite was Seasick, he sounded fantastic all night long, but those two songs stand out in my mind.

I haven't seen any of the other shows this tour, but from reading comments it seemed Morrissey was as energetic and playful as I've ever seen him. Some have said he's going through the motions, but I didn't get that at all.

He only threw one shirt out into the audience and the fight for the shirt was over fairly quickly. I thought the security handled things okay throughout the night. There was a smallish, weird pit area and random people came down to fill that space, but it wasn't chaotic. They told the people that filled that area to return to their seats and eventually everyone did, but as soon as the band walked out people rushed the barrier. They did not tell anyone to return that I could see and let people remain there. The space didn't totally become full and it could have been more chaotic, but things worked out. There was a super huge, and tall guy wearing a TAPOUT shirt that stood against the railing. He was so tall that he would have easily blocked anyone behind him. I thought it was amazingly nice of him to crouch down through the entire show out of respect to the people behind him. You rarely see this happen. I was on the second row and while there were tons of people behind me people were very respectful. It was miles better than the show in 2007 at the Backyard.

He was pretty chatty and asked people how far they travelled - one woman said McAllen and he kind of said eww, isn't that near Laredo and Brownsville. Pretty funny.

At the end of Charming Man he looked out into the crowd with such conviction it was truly one of the highlights of the show. He shook a lot of hands. Tends to ignore the people in the middle, it seems. But one guy was desperately trying to touch Mozzer's hand and Morrissey went out of his way to reach for the guy's hand.

Unfortunately, the bummer of the night is the encore. Partly, because you know he's leaving and partly because he keeps playing First of the Gang. I like the song, but gosh, for an encore there's so many others he could do. Plus, I don't think it would be that painful to do two encore songs. I hesitate to complain, because the show really was very exciting.

Hopefully this gives you some idea what the Austin show was like and I had no idea Jesse Tobias was from Austin. I caught one of his picks and it said MEXI-CAN on it.

except no "payroll"

wow I am home in San Antonio and nobody else has managed to say a word before me? good show, anyway.. no stage invaders. lots of nonsense singing during "bores". my favorites of the evening were "disco dancer", "the loop", and "OK by myself", the last of which just rocked.

Yay! There were some songs on the set list that I had been waiting YEARS to hear. Ask! Death of a Disco Dancer! Seasick yet still docked!

Maybe that set list will one day include "We'll let you know."

Moz had some words of inspiration about how we write our own stories and how we should make ourselves the central figure of our works.

That was also the quickest turn-around from the opening act to the main act. I think maybe it took 20 minutes. The Courteeners weren't bad at all and were a welcome addition.

The audience was into it, of course. Looked like it was sold out, but didn't get a look at the balconies.

The only criticism I have is that the guy next to me had the worst bad breath. He must have eaten the whole carton of cigarettes and chased it with droppings out of the litter box because I could smell it 2 feet away and when he was turned away from me. I wonder what that woman who was with him must think about that.

http://ultra8201.blogspot.com/2009/04/last-night-morrissey-at-bass-concert.html [blogspot.com]

whether liverpool win the leaque or not
they shall
in this neck of the woods
we are champions

irene born, bored and dusted

During "Some Girls" Morrissey added some new lyrics. From what I could hear, it sounded like:

"On the shop floor, a camera reaches out to you ..something you never knew...some girls are bigger than others"

Also: During the encore of "First of the Gang," the second half was replaced by "Swingin' on a Star," which he sang in his best Muppet voice. Odd, but intriguing.

He was chatty with the audience, and asked if anyone had any "grotesque questions"...he used a talk show host voice, asking "Yes, you: horrible question?" I kind of think I have heard these questions before a couple tours ago...[Why does the guy standing next to me think he can sing better than you?] Is Julia still touring with him.

1. Charman
2. Budd
3. B. Cloud
4. HSIN?
5. Irish
6. Carol
7. How Can?
8. Paris
9. Girls Are Bigger
10.Skull
11.Seasick
12.Loop
13.Bore
14.Disco Dancer
15.One Day
16.Hidden
17.Sorry
18.Ask
19.Lemme Kiss
20.OK By

Enc. 1st UV

This show was stress free and great. I was able to park right across the street from the hall- no kidding. It took me 3 min after the show to get back to my car! As for the show, it was fun. Six Smiths songs I think, lots of silly slang... "Well fancy that!" he said. So funny- such class. Dead crowd! What was wrong with you people- eat too may Easter eggs? Anyway, a good show. I hope it's not my last but if it is it will have all ended well. Oh, and great opening band. Best opening act in years for Morrissey!

thetexasbloke

Moz seemed to be in good spirits. He came out and said, I believe, "Hello, YouTube." (I might have misheard him.)

He was sporting a tux, and the band were wearing black suits with the white Moz ties that are for sale at the merch table.

He also said something along the lines of "Is there a better way to spend Easter Sunday?" He introduced Jesse Tobias as being "born and braised in Austin, Texas." That got a loud applause, and Moz gave a perplexed look and said, "Really? You think he's that good?"

I believe it was during "Some Girls" that he came across the front of the stage and took gifts from the crowd. He looked sincerely grateful.

The back-to-back performance of "Seasick, Yet Still Docked" and "The Loop" was incredible. I only wished they would have kept the stand-up bass out and played "Sister I'm a Poet."

As another poster wrote, he said we write our own stories so we should write ourselves "starring roles." Just before the encore he said to "hold on to your friends." (Wish they would have played that, too.)

It was an incredible night and almost made up for the fact he's canceled the last five concerts I've had tickets to.

I hate that when I go to these shows people dont know never mind even Vincent Taylor and The Shocking Blues. The girl next to me thought that The New York Dolls name was the German Tv Shows name. People are clueless.
http://www.allmylittlewordsonline.com/ [allmylittl...online.com]

Great set design and I am wondering if the large graphic of the man with REFUSAL across his chest and the big cigar in his mouth is anyone in particular. Strapping lad.

Por favor, will you play "It's Not Your Birthday Anymore?"

Would anybody happen to know who that Vincent Price-sounding man was reciting the dark poetry over the loudspeakers when the auditorium first opened up??

did noone notice how dead the crowd was.... everyone seemed like they had to much to eat and stood there in a zombie like trance.
also noticed girl in a coma there.... heading to the backstage area after the show, one of them with their new record in hand.
the sound was great.. just wish there was more energy

WOW he brang in Some goirls are bigger than others

NICE!!!!!!!!1

After 'Ask' Moz give a line from an old James Bond movie. After the song he said something like... "Do you believe it? Do you? Well, fancy that!" Classic, funny Bond line!
thetexasbloke

I had an amazing time last night! Why has Moz not been on the International Best Dressed list? He looked super delicious in his tux. After eleven shows, I finally got to shake his hand!

http://ultra8201.blogspot.com/2009/04/video-morrissey-how-soon-is-now-live-in.html [blogspot.com]

Can anyone tell me, why Moz doesn´t play "All you need is me"????? is one of the best songs of YOR and i do not see it in the last set lists.
Is it necessary to put an on-line petition Moz?

When venue security said this to the boomer-age man sitting next to me in the front row (when we were re-seated before curtain drop) who complained that he wanted to be able to see the show sitting down, I knew this was going to be a cool show.

No huge or a**hole security guards, they all knew we were going to rush the pit area and any who wanted to freely streamed down. It was actually a moment of pandemonium as people claimed their spots.

Aside from the good details everyone's shared already, Morrissey came out in a black tux with black bow-tie and proceeded to sweep us all off our feet as the grand master, big dramatic gestures, generous whipping and looping of the mic chord that actually looked like the rim of a dancing folkorico skirt after a while, imho. I thought it was also very reminiscent of Dave Vanian (he's a tux-wearing chord-whipper, too, ends up! Could be Moz's homage to him/The Damned).

Moz later changed into a thin, bright aquamarine tie-dye-like shirt. Then a black shirt (without cufflinks it seemed, this time ;)
which was tossed to the audience. Last, a bright, thin, fuschia tie-dye designed shirt (it wasn't spiral tie-dye, but sort of horizontal layers/shades).

He did a great job making it an intimate show even though there was a barrier with a 5-6 foot moat separating. I don't think there were any successful stage invaders (a little bit of effort for it during the encore). Moz passed the microphone around and bantered a good amount in the latter half of the show. It was nice that before that, he took all gifts at once during Some Girls (?). I gave him an issue of Mojo mag with great history of Buzzcocks (including Ludus in the story), 20pp of Elvis (the cover star of the issue), and immediately following, a great pic of Moz to promote the Kevin Cummins book (the actual review listed later in the pages). A couple people gave him necklaces. He separated I think the charm off of one and proceeded to spin the necklace itself while he sang.

Performance highlights: The Loop, Moz was an even crazier tambourine shaking mo-fo in Austin than in Houston (which was already rockin, bouncing off the walls). Jesse gave his all for the Austin crowd, coming downstage several times to shine. After Moz did his band introduction of him, the crowd went bonkers and Jesse shot a very bright smile. I also noticed last night that the flag J took to his hip pocket at the end of the Houston show was displayed again on his amps at Austin. It's a Mexican flag with Moz's face in the middle instead of an eagle. Very witty, I thought. Was that a fan gift? Then for I'm Okay by Myself, the presentation of Solomon's gutteral, punching bass-line ending was perfect: tight spotlight on just him, the rest (including Moz) in shadow, Moz posed watching him, Boz facing stage left sideways (was good he adjusted and opened his stance a bit more to the audience, I thought), Jesse completely still downstage (front) and upright with his back towards the audience. Their timing getting into places, and their placement was impeccable. The effect of it was strong and the drama of the moment was markedly felt.

Moz's exit was really cute. He was shaking a lot of hands during and at the ending of FOTGTD. He feigned not being able to choose the last hands to shake, pointing from his waist level, elbows bent, then the funniest and most human thing I've ever seen him do at a show, changing the direction of his pointing to offstage left and letting his index fingers lead his eyes and body to exit. It was the cutest thing. Hard to describe in words, but I hope people can visualize to some degree.

One last note, I must say that Moz's crew are some of the nicest people on this planet. I got to talking with the merch guy after the show and he shared that he used to run several indie record labels, one of them being that of The Breeders and Sonic Youth (!). So piracy of the music industry has brought him to be doing this, being the go between for us and the material objects of our Moz-fetish!

Read the rest of this comment...

Long story,but I'm on a stopover in Las Vegas to get back to Texas. Paris was just played over the sound system at the airport! Hope it sparked attention from some high rollers here!

Just thought I'd share the random thrill! Yes, slightly off-topic, sorry.

I have an extra ticket in ORCH SEC, ROW N - just 13 rows from the front of the stage! Anyone interested, please reply. $

Morrissey passed the mic out last night and this guy Travis yelled something at him. He then said "Oh, Travis...!". Does anyone know this guy? We was tall and bald. I thought we looked like a big knobhead and a buzzkill.

I was finally able to hand Moz the MOZ pendant I created during Something Is Squeezing My Skull in Austin. I reached out, dangled the pendant in front of him, he looked at it, raised his eyebrows in a gesture of curiosity,surprise and thanks and continued to twirl it around his fingers during the rest of the song! Toward the end of the song he holds it over his chest and it almost seems like he he wearing it! Eventually he places it down near the drum set along with some of the other gifts he received. If you'd like to see what it looks like up close go to VivaMoz.com. Also gave him the Viva Moz pendant later during FOTGTD which he also twirled around and eventually slipped into his left pocket. Another great Morissey concert! Did anyone happen to get a photo of him holding it? I managed to get a pretty good video from the front row despite how strict security was on cameras. Here's the link if you'd like to see it on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtwjAjf18wY

ˇViva Moz! ˇViva Austin!

being from brownsville i was wondering specifically what he said

where u from

-mcallen

is that near brownsvile something something something

????

This really was a great show. Can't believe it's been almost a month. The U.S. tour sure went fast. Let's hope he swings around again in the fall. I'd see him again... for the 8th time!
thetexasbloke