jeez, was anyone there?

dictates that you all run home and type out a review for us forlorn shut-ins!

Overall great show as always, but definitely a mixed crowd with some newcomers. Still undecided about the venue itself (the third story seems so far away) as its brand new here in Boston. Can't remember the entire set list in order, but he started with This Charming Man and did Last of the Gang for the encore.

He complained that the House of Blues kitchen wouldn't make him so brown rice and peppers to take on the road to Ann Arbor tonight and loud BOOOs were heard from all. Hope they changed their mind!

Great show, much better than last night. (I posted "ugh")

This is NOT a new venue to whoever said that, its just the room that was the avalon with a few minor renovations.

Also, he 100% did NOT play our frank. Nothing new, just switched the order around, the new order actually worked much better.

I left happy.

A woman who I became buddies with throughout the show, her name is Ellen Jane i believe, brought a New York Dolls postcard from 1974 to give to Morrissey. The entire show she was reaching to give it to him but with no luck.

During the encore ("First...") she ended up giving the postcard to me because Moz hadn't come over to us for a while. I told her i couldn't accept it but she insisted so i put it in my pocket. Morrissey finally made his way over to us so i took the postcard out of my pocket and was waving it infront of him frantically. He ended up reaching and grabbing it. He put it by the drums then came back over and reached for my hand and i shook it.

Ellen gave me a hug and a kiss and thanked me for finally getting the postcard into Moz's hands.

Great show, my favorite Morrissey show yet.

Thought I'd share the story with you all...

1) This Charming Man
2) Billy Budd
3) That's How People Grow Up
4) Black Cloud
5) How Soon Is Now?
6) Irish Blood, English Heart
7) I Keep Mine Hidden
8) How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
9) Ask
10) I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
11) Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed
12) Best Friend On The Payroll
13) The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores (THIS WAS NOT PLAYED, DESPITE BEING ON THE SETLIST! My friends and I swear there was a song played in its place, but we cannot remember what it was .. please help, y'all)
14) Seasick, Yet Still Docked
15) The Loop
16) Death Of A Disco Dancer
17) Let Me Kiss You
18) Sorry Doesn't Help
19) Something Is Squeezing My Skull
20) I'm OK By Myself
(Encore)
21) First Of The Gang To Die

Absolutely amazing show. The band was in top form, and Moz was particularly chatty. There was much banter in between songs; the only ones that stand out are him calling the venue the "House of Boos" upon and telling the audience to follow suit (his opening comments), as well as complaining about the staff (at the "House Of Rules") in the two kitchens not allowing him to cook brown rice and peppers for his long drive to Ann Arbor. A few shirt changes, but only one was tossed into the audience (after "Let Me Kiss You"). No successful stage invasions, but a few valiant attempts were made.

Congrats to the bequiffed gentleman who got his "YoR" signed by everyone, including Morrissey (during the show!) ... nice work.

In regards to my last post re: the set list from the printout, the track played instead of "Crashing Bores" was "When Last I Spoke To Carol," and an agreeable substitution it was.

I was so near the stage, only a few steps away from him, behind a column. Excellent spot, that everybody was avoiding, thinking about how to keep pushing their bellies to the front. Towards the end, I was so close I could almost kiss him on the cheek (if it weren't for the speakers I would), because I walked away from behind the column and got to the left corner of the stage. Never been that close to him.

There were some songs he sang OK - and others he sang with absolute passion, like Sorry Doesn't Help and When I Last Spoke To Carol, among others.
Another highlight was the usual HSIN, always brilliantly played/performed, Death of a Disco, Black Cloud.

Ha! Probably most of the songs were "a highlight" for me :)

I just woke up and still haven't started my mental engine with a cup of coffee, but I would never be good at Mozza reviews anyways... he always puts me in a trance, cause when I see him I invariably regress to the stage of a little girl of six who is looking at Santa Claus. So, I'll leave the objective critique to the critics...

Santa... speaking of Santa... if I knew about the brown rice thing, I'd have brought him some of mine - he needs to loose that belly, which he probably gets from eating too much junk vegeterian food. Morrissey, marry me, and you'll have brown rice forever!

Excellent show! Moz' voice was in tip-top shape. He hit all the high notes (e.g. in "Skull") and seemed healthy and happy (well, as happy as Morrissey gets.) Not tons of stage banter, but enough. The front barrier security pit seemed to be too much for anyone to expect to scale. 4 or 5 brave souls surfed to the front during FOTGTD and were rewarded with handshakes.

Coming in I wasn't excited about the recent set lists, but I figured it would be OK. C'mon, it's Morrissey! I wasn't disappointed. Just the right mix of fast and slow songs. Even Disco Dancer, which has never been a favorite, was quite enjoyable. He did mix up the order a bit compared to the NY shows, which was good. My favorite song of the night was Best Friend on the Payroll...well played and one of my all time favs.
I was shouting for Carol and was psyched that it made it on in place of Crashing Bores.

The crowd was older (me too) but very "into" the music. Most seemed to know and appreciate the new songs. I think "I Keep Mine Hidden" was unknown to the majority.

The band was excellent. Boz is the quiet star over in the corner. I even liked the keyboard player that people had been slagging. He was very talented and brought a nice measure of variety to the multi-guitar bombast.

Boring details: I arrived at 6:55 and the line was all the way up Lansdowne Street to the corner of Brookline Ave (by the Cask 'n Flagon). Doors opened at 7:00 and the line moved efficiently. I was VERY impressed with the security team. They had people up and down the line doing ID checks/liquor bracelets and keeping people out of the way of other businesses. They also had barriers up to keep people from jumping in the line at the front. Very professionally managed.

Got in at about 7:25 and grabbed a spot on a rail about 1/3 of the way back. This is an excellent spot, with easy access to the bar (right behind me), a sufficiently close view, and an elevated stance a good 2 feet above the people on the floor. It was nice to have a place for my coat and not spend the entire show jockeying to see over the Ukrainian Men's Basketball team, that typically arrives at the start of most shows I attend.

16oz cans of PBR (cheap US beer) were $6, gulp! I'm guessing that better beers were even more.

The Courteeners came on a couple minutes before 8 and played until about 8:35. They were very good. One of the best opening acts Moz has ever had, IMHO. I would sum their sound up as a combination of the Arctic Monkeys and Vampire Weekend (both good bands.) Anyone know the name of the 2nd song they played? I'd like to buy that on iTunes.

The Shocking Blue video started right after their set and finished at 8:54 when the white backdrop fell. Moz was on soon thereafter and finished-up at 10:25.

All-in-all a very fine show.

What a killer show. Morrissey was in top form and really delivered last night. Death of a Disco Dancer, Best Friend on the Payroll...well you see the setlists others have posted but it was a great mix.

Was a pleasure to meet Lauren and her cousin Jill from Revere after the show. Fun conversation over Stellas after. Too bad there wasn't more time in the night and that it was a work day. So we came on our own and we left on our own... see ya at future shows hopefully. If by some weird chance either of you read this reach out to us through our web site (www.profitmotivemusic.com)

I've been a Smiths/Moz fan since the first note of Reel Around the Fountain in 1984. First saw Moz in 1991 at Nassau Coliseum (the last show of that tour because he canceled the rest). Seeing Moz is a religious experience. Last night was no exception. He was in rare form. Sounded great and was very interactive with the crowd, coming to the edge of the stage on both sides for handshakes all night. The setlist sounds like it was the usual, but he seemed very into it. Boz too.

Just two complaints:
1. Crowd was too sedate. I was in the second row, and even there people were responsive, yes, but way too reserved. 90% head bobbing and that's it. Can't we do better (yes, even in Boston)? Where was the singing? The hands? The arms?...
2. Every song seemed to devolve into a very loud, thumpy, boring mess (boom, boom, boom, boom...). Overdone. Unnecessary. I missed the old Salford Lads, and I bet Boz does too. These new guys can play well enough, but they seemed to think they're really part of the show when in fact it's all about Moz.

All in all, another great trip to church.

1. This Charming Man
2. Billy Budd
3. That's How People Grow Up
4. Black Cloud
5. How Soon is Now?
6. Irish Blood, English Heart
7. I Keep Mine Hidden
8. How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
9. Ask
10. I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
11. Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed
12. Best Friend on the Payroll
13. When Last I Spoke to Carol
14. Seasick, Yet Still Docked
15. The Loop
16. Death of a Disco Dancer
17. Let Me Kiss You
18. Sorry Doesn't Help
19. Something is Squeezing My Skull
20. I'm OK By Myself

(encore)
21. First of the Gang to Die

Found this today.

http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Music/79134-Slideshow-Morrissey-at-House-of-Blues/#TOPCONTENT [thephoenix.com]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3608/3398465123_64692787d6.jpg [flickr.com]

After hearing about the previous night I had misgivings but Moz and co. were in top form, he was very chatty and exuberant. However, I think the set list was pretty poor. B+ for performance, C- for the set list.

It's weird that we give him gifts just for a small reponse, but last night i gave into it and threw a hat and mesh shirt (like the ones he wore in the November Spawned a Monster video) onto the stage. Just his small response of "I knew that hat was VILE" was enough for me, even though he didn't look at the shirt (and they're both probably in the trash now).

my girlfriend even cut VILE out of a material and glued it to the hat herself and they were originally a gag gift for me a few years back, but she was more than happy to allow me to regift it for Moz.
BTW, thanks to the guy in front of me that tried to hand it to him for me but i guess it was just bad timing.

other things i can remember is moz calling the venue the house of booze and that we should live up to it and also the house of rules for not allowing him, in their 2 nice kitchens, to cook brown rice and peppers for the long road trip ahead of him. Also said that the only thing in life you can control is...(fumbled the words) then said "you can't control that"...then clarified himself and then said "is yourself" and then pretended to lose his balance.
During the encore many tried to invade and moz was trying to pull them up but security wasn't having it.
Overall a good time, 21 songs, crowd was not as crazy as my other GA experience at Hammerstein last year, only pushing during the encore.
ok, i'm done

http://www.bigtakeover.com/reviews/morrissey-with-the-courteeners-house-of-blues-boston-ma-sunday-march-29-2009 [bigtakeover.com]

more photos here:
http://narlus.zenfolio.com/p697032216

.....well, I was at the Carnegie show but I don't feel so bad now because the Boston set list was just as boring as my show! At least you guys got 1 song from Vauxhall & I! We got none.

Still, no Glamorous Glue, Suedehead, Picadilly, National Front Disco, In The Future When All's Well, Far Off Places, etc....... .....maybe in the next world.....

"For Morrissey, new material and a new attitude,"Boston Globe [boston.com]

Like the premise of one of his songs, Morrissey has always been a master at keeping his ravenous fans at bay. The more he ignores them, the closer they get.

It was surprising, then, and even heartwarming, to watch him interact with them so candidly at the House of Blues on Sunday. In fact, for a split second, it seemed as if Saint Morrissey had descended from the heavens for earthly contact. An eager fan, climbing over fellow concertgoers, got close enough to hoist a vinyl copy of Morrissey's new album, Sharpie included. Morrissey looked down, smiled (but just a little), and autographed it from the stage.

See? Who says the man is only concerned with himself?

"If I can bring one second of happiness to anyone. . .," he said drolly.

OK, maybe he is a little self-centered. But a Morrissey show revolves around him and his tastes. Before the lights went down, old video footage showed his idols (the New York Dolls, Jobriath), and when the curtain opened, Morrissey and company emerged against a backdrop of a gigantic photo of a beefcake sailor flexing his muscles and chomping on a cigar.

Morrissey is on the road supporting "Years of Refusal," his new and most enjoyable album in a decade, and his crack band - young and mostly Irish - adhered to its guitar-rock blueprint with taut precision. Oddly, Morrissey had zero chemistry with his fellow musicians; slinging his microphone chord as if he were taming lions, Morrissey was clearly the ringleader.

He's also completely suited for the role, an expressive singer and magnetic showman whose ego is part of the charm. Irascible as ever at 49, he complained at one point about the House of Blues not allowing him to use one of its kitchens backstage. An avowed vegetarian, with minions handing out literature in the lobby, Morrissey simply wanted to cook some brown rice and peppers for the pending long trip to the Midwest. "The House of Rules," as he derided it, said no.

Opening the show with "This Charming Man," Morrissey proved he has gotten more comfortable performing Smiths material. He later would work up the crowd with other staples from his previous band, including "Ask" and "How Soon Is Now?"

But his newer songs - particularly "Irish Blood, English Heart," "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris," and "I'm OK by Myself" - also sent up fervent cheers from the crowd. It was a good indication that, 15 years into his career, Morrissey is still writing songs people take to heart, even if he doesn't give them access to his.

"Morrissey’s melancholy makes fans happy," Boston Herald [bostonherald.com]

Morrissey was happy to be in a packed room of adoring fans Sunday night, but not so happy to be in Boston's House of Blues - or, as he called it, House of Rules. Seems the English singer/songsmith/icon and longtime vegan wanted to cook brown rice in the backstage kitchen to take with him on the bus to Ann Arbor, Mich.

"You know what they said?" Morrissey asked. "No. People are just horrible, aren’t they?"

People. Eech. As both the Cramps and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds have sung in different songs, "People ain’t no good."

Morrissey, the one-time Smiths singer, has been troubled by the human race for years. What saves him from misanthropy is tuneful songwriting, self-lacerating wit and the inclusion of himself among humanity’s problems. In "Seasick, Yet Still Docked," he sang, "Wish I had the charm to attract the one I love/But you see, I’ve got no charm."

Never has any rocker gotten so much mileage out of solipsism and misery. Joy Division’s Ian Curtis might have matched him had he not hanged himself at 23. But Moz - tall, stocky and asexually sensual as he approaches his 50th birthday in May - carries on as the leader of

wished he does spring Jim instead of billy bud

alma matters would also be ok, a bit of the smiths, and 1 track of every album + the YOR
songs

he could take 2 short songs in one as he did
before, angel down we go+girl afraid

oh too much goodies, never can be a perfect setlist

this ones Ok though

I hope I'm not doing anything illegal here, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I cannot attend tonights AnnArbor show. I have one ticket for sale $46.50 main floor right row HH- I can meet you in AA right away to get to you. Please email me privately at [email protected]

I scored one of the signed LPs from the merchandise table ($50) after being pulled away from my failed attempt to jump on stage

Front [flickr.com]
Back [flickr.com]

Guitar pick was tossed by Jesse

So post-show I got to meet Laim and Mark - the lead singer and bassist for The Courteeners, respectively. I got them to sign my $50 YoR album that I bought at the stand signed by Moz himself.
Truly the highlight of the evening!

Is the guy in the front row who got Mozza to sign his album mid-show reading this? If so, I'm the guy who gave you the ticket after you lost yours. Drop me a line on here if you read this! Also, if the two lovely ladies who were behind me in line and helped me find Morrissey's cologne online read this - drop me a line as well. Ditto to the French couple I got to talk with while waiting for Morrissey after the show. I'm sorry, I've forgotten everybody's name! I was the guy with the long sideburns wearing the long black coat and carrying the umbrella. =]

liar! prove it!

Why didn't you kick him in the wantons if he had you in a choke hold?

why the fuck he didnt leave his fuckn wife home if he didnt want to get pushed.what was he expecting? sorry to hear that man.

We will slit their throats for you.

Penises are awesome! Morrissey has one...I think.

So a fly lands on your wife, you pull out the blowtorch? Can't she ask for an apology herself or do you just normally assume she's not independent enough? An accidental shove versus an assault. I would have loved you to touch me.

Rabid, overly-excited like you will take half a dozen people down in attempt to get to Moz. It's a shame you don't realize that it's not all about you and that other people are being affected by your behavior.

as a general rule, expect to be pushed around at a concert. if you can't handle it, stay home.... seriously. i'm a girl and i can't even remember how many times i've been pushed, kicked and hit in the face at concerts. someone pushed your girlfriend unintentionally, get over it.

fighting at a Morrissey concert is just WRONG!

So let me ask you this, When I was reaching in for morrisseys hand like every fucking one around me including your wife, did you really think the most appropriate action would be to grab me by my throat? I could understand if you maybe said something like hey man please scoot back a little bit or something like that but to actually grab me by my throat! don't you think that's a little much?

When Morrissey was growing up in Manchester he hated idiots like you, small minded bullies. What was your wife doing up there in the first place, get back up to the balcony where you belong or else piss and follow a band with your mentality to little man.

And here we have an insight into the mentality which produced American foreign policy since 2001......

Yeah I just bet you beat the fuck out of one. Usually the big assholes in the crowd shit there pants when someone stands up to them.

Having been RIGHT there when this happened.. I can honestly say that a handful of overly rabid douchebag fans think that their enjoyment of the concert overrides anyone else's concert experience.

i dont fucking care how much you love moz, don't just push your way to the front thinking that you can just walk in front of the people that waited an hour and a half through the opening band's set in that spot.

i would have grabbed you by the throat if you had done the same thing to me. if you don't respect me and my space, why should i respect you?

obviously when people are pushing up to reach out, that is one thing, but you guys weren't just doing that.. you were being obnoxious about 15 of us got really tired of you and eventually pushed your sorry asses to the back of the area where we were.