I was there on the opening night and the sound was a disappointment.
I'm 35 and have seen Morrissey a few times now in large and small venues. At the risk of sounding somewhat arrogant, I don't drink (anymore) and was on my own - What difference does that make? - well, I was in a position to judge the quality of the performance without being swept away by an alcohol fuelled frenzy with the lads! Not that there's anything wrong with that you understand, it's just a bit different if you are sober and watching critically! (God, that's hard to get over without sounding like a judgmental prick!)
I actually love going to see Morrissey by myself, as rarely do people I know really 'get him' like I do ... going all the way back to my school days, he's always been special, but I've seen him enough times now to be critical, rather than starstruck.
So, back the topic ... the sounds was techincally, wank. The venue was actually very good, a bit like Reading Hexagon - a little bigger but intimate still. However, the limitations of the system were soon apparent.
One of the biggest problems is that if you are center front and look up, you'll see the hanging speaker rig is actually behind your ears and pointing slightly outwards... so most of what the front third is hearing is from the bands monitors.
It's been commented on before, but on some tracks, the drums/bass were pityfully low. Indeed most of the quieter tracks just suffered from being, well, too quiet ... I shouted "turn it up" at one point mid-song and I swear they could hear me backstage.
For the first 4 songs, the crowd out-drowned the band ... It was surreal, there was a whole heard of musicians on stage ... two guitarists, a bassist and keyboardist and a drummer and this rather empty sound coming from 'over there' somewhere.
That's not to take anything away from the band, who are tight and played well. Morrissey's voice, although not top notch, was still strong (although we did notice his reluctance to sign the word 'international' from Playboys at the end...and who can blame him with a sore throat!)
Some songs suffered more than others due to the poor sound ... Death of Disco Dancer (which I was so pleased to hear) was just a bit of mess by the end due to the poor mix and yet in places, when all the band were playing full-on, it sounded on the money ... Irish Blood, Stop Me!, etc ...
The sound got better as the gig progressed (loved the new 'mama lay down on the ground (???!)) .. and I don't want to give the impression it was disaster ... it wasn't by any means ... Morrissey was entertaining and charming, the band were tight and the set-list was a lot better than the last time at Reading (where 70% was from the last 'not bad but...' album)
I'm hoping that some of this moaning/feedback will get to the sound engineers over the week, as I'm going again on Friday and Sunday. I really have to admire Morrissey for playing smaller venues rather than keeping with the same 'arena' tours ... I just wish someone would do a spot-check on the sound before hand.
Although a whole lot bigger, Carling Hammersmith Apollo has to be one of the best sounding rigs in town ... very loud, and sloping floor (for 'view anywhere') ... from Damien Rice to Flaming Lips to Guns & Roses, everyone I've seen there sounds excellent.
I guess for me, nothing will come close to the time I saw him on the South Bank at the Meltdown. A really intimate show with a really killer sound ... I stood by the stage all gig and I got the shirt at the end. I guess it was always going to be downhill from there.
Anyway, that's my ramble over ... I'll score the gig 6.5/10 ... 2 points lost for the sound ... after all, that's really what the point of a gig is, isn't it ??
Until Friday ...
S.S.
