Raleigh, NC - Nov. 16, 1997
The Ritz

Set List:

The Boy Racer / London / Alma Matters / Billy Budd / Reader Meet Author / Ambitious Outsiders / Spring-Heeled Jim / Paint A Vulgar Picture / Hold On To Your Friends / Do Your Best And Don't Worry / The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get / The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils / Satan Rejected My Soul // Shoplifters Of The World Unite

Set list provided/confirmed by: Brian Swatek and Dan Cox.



Summary by Steve Cutter

It was an excellent show, the best I have seen. The Smoking Popes opened up with an astounding performance. Morrissey seemed very talkative during this show. To begin with he said "It's nice to be here. Where am I?" then during another break he said "You know you're missing ER right now, do you care?" Then after virtually no crowd response he said "Did you hear me?" During the encore, "Shoplifters..." he stopped the band in order to stop a security guard from harming someone in the front who was trying to get on stage. After restarting the song from the beginning a few more people got on stage and near the end he ran off stage and the band quickly finished the song. This was the best Morrissey show I have ever seen and others who have seen several shows on the tour said it was the best of the tour. Morrissey seemed to be in very good spirits throughout.


Raleigh Redux by Chiefbrody

Ears Ringing
Eyes Stinging
Morrissey Singing
Gladiola Flinging
Satan Rejecting
Bouncers Ejecting
Crowds Shifting
Shoplifting!

Idle banter...
"It's nice to be here....Where am I?"
"You didn't really enjoy that one did you?" Crowd cheers. "It's too late now"
You just haven't earned it yet baby becomes "I just haven't earn it yet, baby
Satan's "all the fun in life it's cost me" turns into all the shit in life it's cost me"
"One more song before bed"

I buy the crest shirt. I see a Satan promo (with picture) that someone has in the parking lot. I drive 2 hours home where my wife and child are asleep, tolerant of my Morrissey complex.


Summary by Ward Anderson

Moz came out to do his encore - "Shoplifters", everyone went wild, Moz was even getting into it. There were about six rows of people ahead of me, so I don't know the EXACT detail of what happened, but a few people decided that this would be a good opportunity to get on stage. One guy trampled everyone in his way to get up to the barricade, then I saw his feet fly straight into the air. Then right in the middle of the song Moz says into his microphone to the band "Stop, Stop...Stop", and I do not know if he was speaking to the guy who was trying to get onto stage or a security guard, but he the says in quite a nasty voice "This isn't World War III, there's no need to kill anyone".

Moz then started "Shoplifters" from the beginning, and the show ended a few seconds early when about seven or eight people jumped on stage, but Moz still left by saying "Thank You, Thank You".


Summary by J Spencer Holm

The Raleigh concert was last night and it was the best of the three (DC, Atlanta, Raleigh) that I've seen! The venue was very small and undersold -- they didn't even open an upper level because of the low turnout. Moz himself was very animated; he smiled a lot and generally seemed to enjoy himself. The set list was very nice and the band played well.

On taking the stage, Moz greeted the crowd with a giant growl, then said: "I'm so happy to be here ... where am I?" Also, when some fans were yelling out for him to sing rarish song like "Moonriver", he said: "Yeah, right" under his breath while laughing. Introducing "Paint a Vulgar Picture," he said: "I'm so glad to have found out that Whitney Houston just covered this song." Before the encore, he quipped: "Just one more song before bedtime."

Moz's voice was incredible, though he wasn't dancing around a whole lot. The band was as together as I've ever heard at any live performance -- Boz was quite animated, and Alain was making some funny faces. They got all of their cues. Johnny even wheeled out the upright bass for "Ambitious Outsiders".

As for outfits, Moz sported a white tuxedo-ey shirt for the main performance. He kept pulling at it as if he were going to take it off -- and he got quite a cheer when he started pulling up the back of it during "Ambitious Outsiders" -- but unfortunately he stayed clothed for the entire show. Boz had on a cool tan three-button suit and green shirt, Johnny was wearing a blue western shirt and jeans, and Alain was also wearing something with mother-of-pearl buttons. Spencer had the requisite black t-shirt and jeans. Moz changed for the encore and came out with a weird black/swirled blue stripe top.

Several lucky people got to take home set lists, though the tour personnel were angry that the local bouncers passed them out after the show. In fact, one bouncer was reaching to get me one when a roadie stepped on his hand and said "NO! Those can't be passed out." During the show, Moz threw his tambourine into the crowd, followed by a sweaty towel that was ripped to shreds by the gleeful boys and girls in the front rows.

One down side to the evening was at the end of the show, when someone tried to jump the stage during "Shoplifters". The guy fell between the barricade and the stage, and evidently the bouncers were being quite rough. Morrissey stopped in mid-song and said: "You don't have to be so rough, you know. I mean it's not world war three. Just go gently. Go gently." He then shook the fan's hand and made sure security treated him nicely. I thought that would be the end of the concert, but they started "Shoplifters" again, and played almost the whole thing before Moz fled the stage after being mobbed by about 4 or 5 fans. Since it was a small place with a tiny stage, he ran to one side which didn't have an exit, then crossed the stage and left, never to return.

 


last modified: 24 Dec 1997 12:42 AM

All rights reserved. Copyright © 1997 by David Tseng