Summary by Keefer
Morrissey came on the stage at 9:20pm, 40 minutes after Elckas strong performance.
He was dressed in olive coloured pants, and had on a black button-up sweater, which of
course was later removed. The buildup music was the drum solo from The
Operation, before the band started.
I managed to get Alain Whytes autograph, but Moz was simply impossible, surrounded by the
Orpheum bouncers, and whisked to his bus after the show. I was really impressed by how
Mozs voice was, considering that he had the flu earlier. Ive never heard it
better on any live recording, he was right on, and hit all the high notes with ease, very
impressive. 8 people managed to get on to the stage, but no major disruption was caused,
they were quickly removed. The show ended at 10:15, as a topless Moz exited stage
right, followed promptly by Boz, then the others. Very solid show in my opinion.
Summary by Shawn Gawdin
The concert started out rather calm and stayed that way for most of the show. Morrissey
was very outgoing and friendly with the audience. The Orpheum theatre was far from sold
out; there were at least six hundred empty seats as the entire upper balcony was nearly
completely empty. I had a great view from row two of the dress circle, actually glad that
I didnt end up on the orchestra level. During the intermission everyone down there
tried to cram the stage but the four poor security guards checked everyones tickets
and only allowed the first few rows to stand at the stage. More security came (like four
more guys) in and stood behind this group to keep everyone else back. Morrissey opened
with a big "Good Morning!"
Some other highlights: During the second refrain of "The More You Ignore Me..."
Morrissey flubbed this line big time, but just gave a grimace and kept on singing; during
the latter half of the show (Im not sure which song) when the first stage jumper got
on Morrissey got a big cheer when he shook the boys hand as security dragged him
off, unfortunately ninety percent of the audience saw that the guy was just let back into
the front of the audience; just before starting "Paint A Vulgar Picture"
Morrissey said, "Are you still all bored stiff?"- it did seem that most of the
audience was but I blame this on the venue, the Orpheum doesnt easily lend itself to
much dancing etc.(though I tried to do my part- I was the goof in silver lame for anyone
who was there).
Finally during "Teachers" more people were going on stage, including one fellow
with MOZ tattooed in huge letters across his back. He knelt down for Morrissey to see
this, Morrissey gave this grin then looked out into the audience and flexed his right arm
in a muscle builder pose as if to say "How butch!" During the encore the stage
assault got out of hand; Morrissey either had shirt ripped off, or took it off, and then
threw it into the audience (he had thrown a tambourine into the audience earlier during
"Teachers"). He was mobbed, and almost fell down backwards over someone. At this
point he wisely chose to get off the stage. Some thugs then went for the band who also
quickly left barely a quarter of the way into "Shoplifters." Most off the
audience was upset with the hooligans in the orchestra and there was was some
name-calling. The stage was dismantled really fast. Up until the end it was a great show,
most of all I was really happy not to be squished like in 92.
Summary by Noel West
I regret to tell you that the concert in Vancouver didnt go well at all. I was right
at the front against the stage. The concert was awesome up to the encore. People started
jumping on stage which has been done at previous concerts but this was different. There
were up to 5-6 people trying to get up at a time. Morrissey was being mauled and hung on
to by idiots. He quickly left the stage after the guards had knocked out the people
hanging on to him and the concert was over. I was really angry when at the beginning of
the encore people started to crunch to the stage and getting way out of control. It got to
a point where his shirt was ripped off his body. I think this was a ruin to a great
concert, and I wonder how this will affect any future tour plans. Im a little upset
and am glad to tell someone about this.
Summary by Mike Rashed
I was at the Vancouver show last night, and at the Toronto show to start the tour and it
was like night and day. Although in Toronto the music was great and Morrissey played some
unexpected gems like "Sunny" and "Nobody Loves Us", he had way more
energy in Vancouver and seemed much more into it. I was lucky enough to get sixth row
center and from the opening of "Maladjusted" it was obvious it was going to be a
great show. He was in fine voice and swinging his microphone cord all over the place until
he finally got wrapped up in it. The set was wonderful too and he was really into it,
moving with authority and having a great time. The only things he said to the audience was
"Good morning" at the beginning, and halfway through he asked "Are you
bored stiff yet?" After a big chorus of "No!" from the audience, he replied
"You will be!" As for the ending, well what can you expect. Im just glad
the chaos happened at the end and only caused us to miss the last chorus of
"Shoplifters.." I wonder how much he dislikes all the craziness because he
definitely seemed to be encouraging it, by shaking everyones hand who got up before
and while singing "Hand it over, hand it over" he was gesturing to the masses in
front, as if asking them to come up. Too bad there were too many idiots who wanted to maul
him rather than just shake his hand or touch him. Fortunately from being at the Toronto
show and reading Morrissey-solo regularly, I knew he never plays more than one encore song
so I wasnt disappointed at all. Great show, and Im glad I finally saw him
(twice!) this time around for the first time... I hope he got my bands CD that I
gave to a security guy at the back of the Orpheum, but Im not counting on it. |