After much speculation on whether or not he'd show up and work his way through his current tour, Morrissey made his grand debut at Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg this past Friday night. And, boy, was anticipation high. [Words by Gabe, photos by Drunkcameraguy]The lush theater was packed to the gills with 1,900-plus mostly 40-something fans who came to hear the unpredictable British crooner do what he does best: sing. And sing his heart out he did. Morrissey's emotive, pained delivery was fresh, revitalized and stronger than it's sounded in recent memory. Sporting a tight pair of blue jeans, a long sleeved forest green shirt emblazoned with PeTA "Never Be Silent" stickers and a grayer version of this trademark pompadour hairstyle, Morrissey looked fit, healthy, well-preserved and distinguished as he dramatically took the stage along with his five-piece, identically-dressed backing band a little after 9 p.m.
He raised the bar immediately and threw his adoring, screaming audience into a frenzy as he launched immediately into set opener "Hand In Glove," a favorite selection from his highly influential and still-worshiped former band The Smiths and the very first song that band ever released. Morrissey swung his microphone cord around ferociously and delivered a faithful and powerful rendition of the still-fresh sounding track. While hopes were high for a memorable night, "High Hopes" was only one of the two sole Smiths visits Morrissey would make.
Instead, he dug deep into the annals of his solo output and touched on selections from his new forthcoming release, World Peace is None of Your Business, preferring to make this night more of a diehard fan's bonanza.
Moz, as he's affectionately referred to by his most devoted followers, even steered pretty clear from the hit singles he's scored throughout his quarter century career as a solo artist, dusting off deep album cuts like "Speedway" from 1994's Vauxhall and I, and "Yes, I Am Blind," a 1988 b-side.
While casual fans who'd come to hear more familiar material may have felt a little lost, the most dedicated among us were elated. Any fan of Morrissey's, from the slightly captivated to the ravenous diehards, are familiar with the man's unpredictability and his undying desire to ruffle feathers and piss people off. Sometimes bitchy, always opinionated and not afraid to hold his tongue, Morrissey knows how to rile people up and speak his mind, not to mention play whatever he damn well pleases at a show.
During his few and sporadic addresses to the audience between songs, Morrissey mocked local media coverage he'd witnessed earlier in the day dedicated to sinkholes appearing near a Florida theme park, spewing sarcastic venom regarding his disdain for seemingly unimportant news airing while "Maya Angelou hadn't settled in her grave yet." He sneeringly compared what he felt was news fluff to the dangers of living in a war torn Middle Eastern country. Again, he's never been afraid to voice his opinions, but this nothing compared to the ill feelings he'd conjure a little later in his all-too-brief set.
Working his way through mostly mid-tempo or ballad-y selections really helped show off his lovely, powerful croon. Of the new material, the slow unsubtle "The Bullfighter Dies" glorified the death of a toreador versus the bovine he maims in a bull-fighting ring.
A personal standout was his particularly searing and emotional reading of "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday," a torch song from 1992's Your Arsenal, arguably Moz's finest and most consistent album to date. Amid sparse lighting and beneath an intense spotlight, Morrissey belted his heart out with his eyes closed as he delivered a downright intoxicating version of the tune. While it was the most memorable point of the evening for me and one of the night's highlight, the same can be said for his set-closing reading of "Meat is Murder," the title track from the Smiths' 1984 sophomore album. While Moz and Johnny Marr — his chief cohort and songwriting partner from his days fronting the legendary Manchester band — have always been outspoken vegetarians and champions of animal rights for decades, many have accused Morrissey of approaching the subject matter with too heavy a hand.
As he and the band started the dark hypnotic cut familiar to all the Smiths fans in the house, the giant video screens at the rear of the stage — previously cycling through a series of charming vintage still photographs — took a gruesome turn. While Morrissey stood at the lip of the stage and delivered a particularly pained and heartfelt version of the tune, horrific and stomach-turning video images of animals being maimed, tortured and beaten in slaughterhouses and abattoirs were flashed on the screens behind him. The elation and swooning that should have occurred throughout this Smiths favorite was instead replaced with outrage and whimpers. It's obvious that Morrissey loves to push the envelope and make his point crystal clear, but the stunt seemed a bit too much like he was preaching to the choir, making a grand yet unnecessary gesture in a room full of believers who, if not all vegetarians, can already appreciate that he's a staunch spokesman for what he believes in.
His longstanding desire to slip into the role of classic crooner was never more evident than during his dramatic reading of an obscure Franki Valli number, "To Give (The Reason I Live)." The always tortured Morrissey is just as invested in being a Tom Jones-like scene stealer as he is in being a political mouthpiece. And, after all, who says he can't do both?
A somewhat paltry 80-minute set featured one encore only, a jovial reading of his 2004 single, "First of the Gang to Die." While the song seemed to pick up the crowd after the gut-wrenching video display we'd just witnessed, it also marked the evening's end. As houselights rose almost the second after the song's final chords were struck, a mass of seemingly confused and surprised Moz fans were left scratching their heads. The rest, those most devoted Moz followers, reveled in the chaos and the controversy our hero has always been able to (and is still more than capable of) instilling.
SETLIST
Hand in Glove
Speedway
Ganglord
Certain People I Know
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
The Bullfighter Dies
World Peace Is None of Your Business
Yes, I Am Blind
Trouble Loves Me
One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
Life Is a Pigsty
Istanbul
To Give (The Reason I Live)(Frankie Valli cover)
I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday
Earth Is the Loneliest Planet
Meat Is Murder
Encore:
First of the Gang to Die