Portland - La Luna (Oct. 04, 1997)

Summary by Scott Shelley

The Portland show was my third in three nights, and because of the small size of the club, everyone waiting outside seemed far more excited than in Vancouver or Seattle. The energy of the crowd was apparent even before Elcka appeared onstage. When Bowie’s ‘Fame’ began, the precursor to their set, the crush became almost unbearable. I was very surprised at the warm reception that they received, with several people reaching up to touch Harrold as he was singing. near the end of the set, he proclaimed that Portland was his favourite show to date.

Morrissey took the stage just before eleven PM. The crowd on the floor was in an absolute frenzy. he was very talkative during this show, asking the crowd if we were ‘bored shitless’ (a commonly asked question during this tour, it seems), introducing a song that was deemed unworthy for the American market...when people screamed out ‘Sunny’, he said ‘it seems you know it’, and asking which British bands had flown through lately... screams of ‘Seahorses’, ‘Mansun’ and ‘Catherine Wheel’ flew through the air until Mozzer held out the microphone for several people to answer. After ‘Boy Racer’, he introduced himself as ‘Marilyn Manson’, following it up with ‘that wasn't funny, but here is something that is’, breaking into ‘Alma Matters’. this show was Morrissey at his best. during the last song, ‘Teachers’, I asked to be pulled out of the front, so that I could try to meet him after the show. I ran out to the bus while he played his encore, but security around the venue was too great. Morrissey ran to the bus wearing a gray golfers cap, without as much as a ‘hello’. still, I was fortunate enough to get his signature on my gold record for ‘Sunny’ - we interviewed Elcka before the show, and he got the autograph for me. All in all, it was an amazing experience which could only have been improved upon by a face to face meeting.

Summary by Kurt

The show was held at La Luna which was ideal for Morrissey since he seems to enjoy the close interaction with fans so much. La Luna is a very intimate place (as concert venues go). The stage is chest high and the entire main floor is standing only. There are two bars, one upstairs and one down. They had signs on the bars saying "per artist request all bottled beer will be served in plastic cups". Does he really have such a problem with people throwing bottles at him?

The show was great. There were two "stage jumpers" in all, both of whom hugged and kissed him, but no one got out of hand at any point in the show.

The set list was identical to those I have read. I must say I am sorry for the Vancouver fans who didn’t get to hear "Shoplifters" in its entirety because it was such a treat.

I waited 14 years to see Morrissey perform live. I had only one other opportunity to see him, but was unable to attend. I am so thankful that I finally got to go. The fact that he played La Luna made the experience all the more enjoyable.