Morrissey at First Direct Arena, Leeds in 2020

MORRISSEY – FIRST DIRECT ARENA, LEEDS

FRIDAY, 06 MARCH 2020

Vocals: MORRISSEY

Guitars: BOZ BOORER

Guitars: JESSE TOBIAS

Bass: MANDO LOPEZ

Drums: MATT WALKER

Keyboards: GUSTAVO MANZUR

Support: None

Moz Tour Poster 2020: All four European Dates.  Sadly, Paris was called off due to the Corona virus (aka Miley Cyrus)

Before I begin, if I may, I’d like to go back in the mists of time now to two years ago.  After the European tour was pulled in the summer of 2018, I really thought that Moz would never play in Blighty again. I had tickets for both of the Manchester Castlefield Bowl dates, as did some of my friends who had travelled all the way from the US and Canada, and we were all devastated to say the very least.

Please do forgive my rant now, but a certain so-called “Superstar” DJ who held his pathetic little anti-Morrissey event on the same night as the ill-fated first Castlefield date, who was almost immediately prior to that selling a book which referenced Mozzer, and who had the absolute nerve to appear as a guest at that year's Moz Army Meet (I refuse to name the little Beeyatch!), before suddenly kicking up a fuss about Mozzer's supposed racist tendencies, is nothing but a mercenary, disingenuous, self-serving dickhead of a tool who NEVER says that he's originally from Birmingham.  I've lived in Manchester for nearly 28 years and could easily pretend that I'm a Manc born and bred (some people actually have thought that until I corrected them!), but every fucker on this earth knows that I come from Huddersfield as I have at no point since making the move across the Pennines EVER made a secret of that fact! Tha's a reet proper fake twat, ya knobhead!

Anyhoo, enough of THAT unpleasantness!  Fast forward to the beginning of this year, when I came into work on 17th January which was just an ordinary Friday. That is, until I checked my emails only to discover that Moz had, completely out of the blue, only gone and bloody announced some dates for 2020 in Leeds on 6th March, Cologne on 9th March, Paris on 11th March (UPDATE: this show was unfortunately CANCELLED (or with any luck just postponed, to be rescheduled on a future date maybe?) due to the French Government apparently imposing a ban on gatherings of more than 1000 people due to the fecking Corona virus! What rotten luck!  Absolutely distraught for everyone who was going to this night!  Morrissey confirmed at his Cologne show which went ahead that the Paris concert was no more, but that London was "Miley free".  Gotta love his excellent cockney rhyming slang!) and London on 14th March! Holy mother of FUCK! Get in! More shows have since been scheduled in the US and Israel. I was VERY excited to see the First Direct Arena in Super Leeds on the list, and pre-ordered the forthcoming new album (I Am Not A Dog On A Chain, due for release on 20th March 2020) so that I could get my precious pre-sale code (which was M01FE3AM, if you really want to know). I was a bit over-confident possibly and also booked a hotel in advance, hee hee!  Well, you’ve got to be in it to win it, surely?

A bit of a tale about the hotel actually, as I also reserved a room at the same one for the occasion when we last we saw Moz in Leeds in February 2018, then changed my mind several times before plumping for a different one (the Discovery), which was nearer to the train station. It has to be said that the Discovery was a bit less money too, and I admit that I’m a tight Yorkshire bastard!  We stumbled upon the ibis Styles Leeds as it happens during our travels back then, and I realised that it, along with the Arena, was much more central than I'd thought so this time I went for the ibis as I was happy to splash the cash. Real swell it is, too!  I sorted it in good time as well, seeing as we got a HUGE gas and electricity (or leccy as we call it in The North) utility bill not long after!  Ouch!

On the day of the pre-sale which was 21st January 2020, I had to get some bloods taken before I got to work (my appointment was at 8 AM!  Yikes!). I was nervous as fuck about how busy the Gigs and Tours site would be, and power walked to the office in record time then fired up my PC. Got our God damned tickets though, no problem! Ah, YEAH! I went for some seats in the lower tier again, and was pleased that they were a row nearer than last time we went to see His Very Mozzerness at the First Direct Arena back in 2018. Our days of standing are long gone I'm afraid, as we just can't hack it anymore. Soz, Moz! Still loves ya, though!

One of our tickets for First Direct Arena, Leeds 2020

The build up to the tour commencing was all the more thrilling as further details of the new album emerged.  I must say that I think all of the tracks released from it so far are fantastic. Bobby, Don't You Think They Know? featuring backing vocals from the wonderful Soul Legend Thelma Houston is an absolute delight. The phrase “White Mosquito” from that song, though! Oh my DAYS! I looked it up on Urban Dictionary, and boy did my eyes water!  All I can say is that our Bobby Lad sure knows how to have a good time! He can party, all right! Ha ha! I also adore Love Is On Its Way Out and Knockabout World. Both are rather splendid!

Sleeve for the new album I Am Not A Dog On A Chain

As the date of the Leeds show neared, I was worrying and fretting like a good ‘un that the gig might yet get ditched due to the ruddy Corona virus (see above for Paris!  Nightmare, such a heartbreaking development!). I reckon I'm immune mind, I must have my own strain as I've had my cough that bloody long! About 5 years, on and off! I probably should be dead by now! To add to that, the tickets also took a bit of an age to arrive, but they came in the post the week before so panic over!  Phew!

6th March 2020 arrived, FINALLY! MORRISSEY DAY, Part 3! I had, of course, already booked this most hallowed of days off work. My husband Jay (Mr Jason Edward “Entertainment” Cooke, esquire, or to give him his formal title The Almighty Spacelord of Ashton-under-Lyne), and I got the train to Leeds from Manchester Piccadilly (me resplendent in my Je Suis Morrissey tee courtesy of Erin & Alan Armstrong (top one, guys!) as per the pre-journey selfie taken at home), and visited Relics Records when we'd arrived then checked in to our hotel. We went out again and stopped by at Jumbo, Crash and HMV record shops.

My celebratory selfie just before setting off for Super Leeds!  
Je Suis Morrissey (et Angie!)!

After that, it was back to the hotel to put away Jay's purchases of the day. We changed into our tees for the night. Jay wore his burgundy Salford Lad number, and I had one featuring a photo of Moz in sunglasses from a gig circa 1986 which was taken by Alison Bell, who also designed the tee. A rarity indeed, as I don't recall seeing anyone else wearing it during the evening.

Pic by Jay: Me in the lift of our hotel, with a badge of Lil Babba Dinky Moi proudly displayed on the lapel of my coat

Pic by Jay: Schindler's Lift in the hotel 
(See what they did there?)

We bumped into the lovely Stuart Kirk on the way to Bengal Brasserie (hereby known as the BB which I booked in advance, as when we went to see Moz in 2018 and rolled up there on the night it was rammed so no room at the inn for us, unsurprisingly.  Bah!).  Stu had literally just arrived in Leeds, and was on his way to drop off his bag at his friend’s hotel room. He was ecstatic to be there as it was a last minute decision to go, as were we for him!  Once ensconced at the BB, I discovered to my horror that some (but definitely not all, as we googled it!) onion bhaji recipes require that they're made with eggs! Or hen menstruations, to give them their more accurate name!  Yuck! It’s a good job I told them I was vegan!

At one point, I was worried that a particularly dodgy right-wing poster boy was in BB, so was possibly in town to see Mozzer too, but I could only see the back of the guy's head. It wasn't him in the end thank goodness, and in fact he looked nothing like him whatsoever from the front! It gave us both a good laugh, though!  In BB I met my Social Media (Twitter and Facebook) friend Sinéad Gamble, who was with Jo Davies, an old work colleague of mine from way back when I was employed by the NHS before I was able to escape its evil clutches. Such a small world!

Pic by Sinéad Gamble: Me and Sinéad at the Bengal Brasserie

After our meal at the BB (which was delicious!), we went to a supermarket to pick up some supplies for later on, then popped back to the hotel to drop them off before making our way to the venue which was across the road.  We met an engaging young fellow from Barrow in Cumbria called Jack in the lift of our hotel on our way out to the show, and walked over with him to the arena. It was his first time seeing Moz, and he was all on his little tod, too! Awwh! He totally looked the part with his quiff and specs, he was such a darling! He said Barrow was a really small, quiet place compared to a city like Leeds, which reminded me of how I felt as a kid about my hometown of Huddersfield and the Mighty Metropolis that is Manchester. I hope to goodness that he had the VERY best of nights!

Once we'd been checked by security and made our way into the arena, I headed straight for the merch stall where I bought two ace tees.  After much deliberation, I went for the one with Elsie Tanner, as portrayed by the late, great Patricia Phoenix, and the new Morrissey March 2020 issue with vivid green writing featuring the dates for Europe and New York in the US on the back of it. Jay got some cufflinks for himself and our friend Neil Smith (who came with us to the epic Manchester Arena show back in August of 2016).

My smashing Elsie Tanner Tee

Morrissey March 2020 Tour Tee: Front

Morrissey March 2020 Tour Tee: Back (with dates for New York also, which were scrapped due to concerns relating to the Corona virus outbreak)

We went to the bar to get some drinks (no Neo-Nazi bitch ass queue jumpers this time, much to our relief!), found our seats (Block 103 in the lower Tier, Row T, Seats 19 and 20 for the fact keepers out there!), and settled down as the pre-show audio tracks were played. The somewhat odd makeshift backdrop arrangement was a picture of Elvis "The Shoplifter Pelvis" Presley (The King!), with one eye open and the other firmly closed. The videos that replaced the support act slot started shortly, which featured, if I recall correctly, the likes of Paul Jones, The Ramones, Jackie Wilson, The Who, Siouxsie and the Banshees and my beloved David Bowie amongst many others.

Elvis "The Shoplifter Pelvis" on temporary makeshift backdrop

Pic by Jay: Me settled in at the arena, patiently waiting for Moz to come out to play.  Got my jawline back!  The beam from my dimples powered the venue for the whole night, in my dreams anyway!

After what genuinely seemed like a mere five minutes or so, the familiar footage of Lypsinka Has A Glamour Fit popped up before the cloth temporary backdrop screen was whipped away sharpish like to reveal the full stage and electronic backdrop screen proper.  This was followed by the obligatory animated still of James Baldwin, as Morrissey and the boys ran on to the stage bang on time in suitably dramatic fashion. Talk about an entrance! I wouldn't have expected anything less!  Mozzer opened with his unique version of the Elvis classic You'll Be Gone, but not before crooning to the crowd "I've got you all over my skin" which I took to be a humorous reference to the Corona virus. What's slightly bizarre is that I played Ella Fitzgerald's version of I've Got You Under My Skin a couple of days later on the International Women’s Day 2020 special edition of the Charity Shop Classics programme on ALL FM 96.9 (allfm.org), an award-winning Community Radio Station in Manchester. It was actually a pre-record though, so me and Jay had already put the show together the night before Leeds. 'Twould seem that great minds think alike!

Throughout the show, the backdrop had iconic figures such as Elvis (again, yay!), George Best, Marilyn Monroe, The New York Dolls, James Baldwin, Oscar “The Poscar” Wilde, Peter Falk of Colombo fame, Annie Walker (Doris Speed) and Elsie Tanner (the afore-mentioned Pat Phoenix) from Corrie (aka as Coronation Street, officially the world's longest running soap opera which first aired an insane 60 years ago in 1960!), a sweet shot of Young Moz as a child and Chrissie Hynde. I also noticed that Matt Walker's drum head cover had a really cool Frankenstein's Monster image on it (in the guise of the famed Horror Movie star Boris Karloff, perchance?), accompanied with the words "Dairy Is Scary" underneath which was grand!  It’s true, an’ all!

The set list was, as far as I'm concerned, a perfect mix of classic singles, new tracks from I Am Not A Dog On A Chain, well established covers, B sides, album tracks and other odds and ends.  Complaints of there not being enough "big hits" was a tad unfair in my opinion.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of the songs performed apart from Back On The Chain Gang, but that's because I'm not right keen on The Pretenders (apologies, Chrissie!  I just CANNOT lie!) to be fair rather than how it was played, and Moz did a sterling job in all honesty. My personal highlight of the entire gig however just HAS to be when Mozzer only fucking went and did That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore! This is, without a shadow of a doubt, my favourite song of all time EVER, and it made what was already a very special night absolutely INCREDIBLE! I was SO emotional when it was played, as it means the world to me.  It was a MASSIVE dream come true to hear it live!  Thank you, Moz!

Pic by Jay: Moz on stage during I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris Take 1

Pic by Jay: Moz on stage during I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris Take 2

Pic by Jay: Moz on stage during I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris Take 3

Pic by Jay: Moz on stage during I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris Take 4

As well as That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, he played The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, At Amber, I've Changed My Plea To Guilty, Seasick, Yet Still Docked, World Peace Is None of Your Business, Irish Blood, English Heart, Jack The Ripper, Home Is A Question Mark, I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris AND Half A Person for heaven's sake! Fuck me, how is that NOT a GREAT set list, with everything else that was thrown in for good measure?!  Holy SHIT, it was AMAZING, y'all!

The tracks from the new album that were given an airing for the first time (talk about privileged!), Jim Jim Falls, Love Is On Its Way Out, and Once I Saw The River Clean, were all bloody marvellous!  It was so exquisite to hear them in the flesh!  Moz was on really good form too and in a playful mood! He joked about Coca Cola (Corona!) virus, and coughed on his audience! He was being very cheeky, his (un)usual fabulous and adorable self! He wore a top tee towards the evening's end that said "I'm not far right, I'm not far left, I'm... far FORWARD"! Love it!

I really must state in the most emphatic of terms that Morrissey's voice is so freaking STRONG these days, it easily filled the auditorium and was so deep, rich, lush and inviting! Honestly, the man is on fucking FIRE right now! The old boy's still got it, that's for sure!  A most welcome point during the evening's proceedings was when an extremely lucky dude called Doug, who according to Moz had travelled further than anyone else present that night, was gifted a signed copy of the new album on (coloured?) vinyl. So generous and kind!

The main part of the set was concluded with a new favourite of mine, Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up On The Stage which went down well with the crowd.  I still maintain that Mozzer closes this track with the lyrics “BREXIT! BREXIT! Everybody’s heading for the EXIT!”, but maybe my ears need waxing! Then of course, Moz and the boys briefly went away but came back rapidly to attend to the much anticipated encores.  They were Half A Person (I’ve never heard this live before, WOW!) and Irish Blood, English Heart, which were magnificent, no, scratch that, majestic!  The obligatory tee toss ensued which I watched with keen interest. Mozzer also chucked his rather fetching black and red (some of my favourite colours!) checked blazer to the crowd which was ripped to shreds!  This signalled the end of the show, and everyone in the arena then went off to enjoy the rest of their evening, mostly very happy but from what I’ve seen on Social Media not everyone which is a pity.  Well, I have to say that I certainly had a fantastic night, and was rather sad that I didn’t have the money to attend any of the other shows on the tour. 

We briefly met some of the Moz Army fam, namely Brian Forbes, Andy Waind, Thomas Bower, Matt Page, Sheridan Whitehead, Cheryl Prophett and Anthony O'Brien in the Belgrave Music Hall and Canteen after the gig. Poor Thomas had lost his ticket! I was so gutted for him! I told him to sew his Wembley Arena one into his jacket, he said never mind his bloody jacket, he was going to stitch it onto his fucking head! Everyone went on to the Panic Aftershow a bit later on which was somewhere out of town, so Jay and I finished our drinks and headed back to the hotel for yet more, ahem, refreshments.

Pic by Jay: A most apt sign in the Belgrave Music Hall and Canteen

The next morning, we went to the Cosy Club after we'd checked out of our hotel (I was starving and nursing a bit of a hangover, so I had a vegan BLT with chips. Naughty but nice, and I didn't eat all my fries!), then we hit the Corn Exchange and Leeds Markets for a mooch as well as visiting a few charity shops. After that we got the train home, stopping off in the Hudd(ersfield) on the way to visit my family.  We got recognised by a mutual Instagram friend on the train to Hudds, Steve aka OnlyALibertine. I also saw my charming chum Mauro V Tombolini and said a quick hello and goodbye as Jay and I stepped off our carriage at Huddersfield.

My family were not at all impressed when I told them that I'd been to see El Mozzer as they don't much like him I'm afraid to say, but it's nothing new as it's a situation that's been at play ever since I first became a fan back in Nineteen Eighty Hate.  My Momma HATES Mozzerooni La La with a vengeance, but I bet if she ever met him he'd have her eating out of the palm of his hand within seconds!  But anyway, I fucking LUFF that man and I ALWAYS will! I don't have to agree with every single thing he does or says to love him, but having said that we're all entitled to an opinion after all. Aren't we?

My one regret of the night is that I didn't get to catch up with so many of the Moz Army crew who have become friends and were there that evening, but I'll si thees all next time...

ANGIE J COOKE nėe LEWIS

Manchester, ENGLAND

MORRISSEY – FIRST DIRECT ARENA, LEEDS

FRIDAY, 06 MARCH 2020

The full setlist for the concert is as follows:

1) You’ll Be Gone (Elvis Presley – Cover)

2) I Wish You Lonely

3) The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (The Smiths)

4) Jim Jim Falls (Debut Performance)

5) At Amber

6) Morning Starship (Jobriath – Cover)

7) Lady Willpower (Gary Puckett and the Union Gap – Cover)

8) That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore (The Smiths)

9) Once I Saw The River Clean (Debut Performance)

10) If You Don’t Like Me, Don’t Look At Me

11) Munich Air Disaster 1958

12) World Peace Is None Of Your Business

13) Seasick, Yet Still Docked

14) I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris

15) Home Is A Question Mark

16) Love Is On Its Way Out (Debut Performance)

17) Back On The Chain Gang (The Pretenders – Cover)

18) Never Again Will I Be A Twin

19) I’ve Changed My Plea To Guilty

20) Some Say (I Got Devil) (Melanie – Cover)

21) Jack The Ripper

22) Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up On The Stage

ENCORES:

23) Half A Person (The Smiths)

24) Irish Blood, English Heart

Pic by Paul Wardle: Adidas Angie 72 being represented in da house by my mate Paul!  Angie Pangie Badges were despatched to Mozzer and his nephew Sam via Moz's manager Peter Katsis (PK) last year, but despite ongoing enquiries not sure if they ever arrived.  Boo!

Moz Tour Poster 2020: Leeds and London Dates only