TUESDAY, 04 OCTOBER 2022
Vocals: MORRISSEY
Guitars: JESSE
TOBIAS
Guitars: ALAIN WHYTE
Bass: JUAN GALEANO
Drums: BRENDAN
BUCKLEY
Keyboards: GUSTAVO
MANZUR
Support: None
Moz Tour Flyer 2022: It would have been ace to take in the delights of Blackpool, Donny, Glasgae, Stockton and Brum as well as my beloved Manchester, but no dice. Rats!
Well now, the little planet we call
home is an even stranger place than it was when I wrote my last review for the
wonderful Morrissey gig of 6th March 2020 that took place at the First
Direct Arena in Super Leeds. Back
then, the Covid-19 outbreak was in the post, and boy was it delivered! What an absolute catastrophe it has been. I’m very glad to have made it this far to be
quite honest with you, as there are a great many people who have not been anywhere
near as fortunate. But on the plus side,
former President “Predicament Tramp” Trump and his repugnant chum Boris “Dick”
Johnson have both been given the old heave-ho.
Good riddance!
Me and the husband (Jason Edward
“Entertainment” Cooke, also known as The Almighty Spacelord of
Ashton-under-Lyne) actually caught the dreaded Corona Virus (or Miley Cyrus
in Cockney slang) back in April of this year, after we’d been to a jam-packed
Sparks concert at the Albert Hall in Manchester. Luckily for us, it was no worse than having a
mild cold. Having said that, my ribs
felt like they’d been battered for days on end and only taking paracetamol at
regular intervals alleviated the pain.
Ouch!
Anyhoo, I digress. Morrissey has played several dates in the US
last year and earlier in 2022 since things calmed down, including a hugely
successful five-night residency in Las Vegas.
I was beginning to wonder if this side of the pond was in his bad books again
though, when BOOM, out of the blue he announced a single show for Killarney in
Ireland. Just as I was wondering how the
hell to get there and if I’d need my passport which is thankfully still in
date, the little tinker then added a whole slew of nights in the UK. Yaas!
There were quite a few which took my fancy, namely Blackpool, Doncaster,
Glasgow, Birmingham and Stockton, but in these pressing times with the cost of
living crisis a major concern and looming ever closer, it was decided that
we should regrettably just go for the one night in the Metropolis that is MANCHESTER.
Moz Tour Poster 2022: Complete
with venues and dates
Speaking of which, the date of the
Manchester concert was of particular significance for two reasons. Firstly, 4th October 1982 is when The
Smiths played their first ever show in their home city at The Ritz,
supporting Blue Rondo A La Turk (who dat?), and secondly, 4th
October 1991 is when 19 year old me, with the world at my feet, attended
Morrissey’s EPIC Hammersmith Odeon show in that there Lahndan Tahn
(giddy London), which is to this day my favourite gig of ALL time. So what better reason to get me and the
Spacelord some tickets scored?!
I had to wait until the O2 Priority
tickets had been issued as I’m not on that network which was a bit of a
nail-biting experience, but I was able to get ours purchased no problem when
the rest were made available to everyone.
They were e-tickets too, so no fretting about them getting lost in the
post or taking an age to arrive which always stresses me out no end. Phew!
One of our tickets for the
O2 Apollo Manchester 2022
2022 was shaping up to be a great
year for me, as not only did I have Morrissey’s homecoming show to look forward
to (the last time he played Manchester was in 2016, which we also attended and
was the first time I’d done a Mozzer gig of any kind since 1995!), but as well
as that I started a spanking new job, we celebrated our 10th wedding
anniversary, I turned fifty and joined the Half Century Club (oh yes, 1972, you
know - I’m a Child of the Revolution!), and I notched up three decades since
leaving home and crossing the Pennines to relocate in the MCR and start at
university. I was never one to do
anything by halves!
Not long after this, fly posters for the
Manchester date started appearing all over the city. I managed to get a photo of some whilst
walking in to work one sunny day. I
would have tried to liberate one of them to take home with me, but they were
stuck fast so no chance of that! Oh
well.
Fly Posters for the O2 Apollo
Manchester show
The summer seemed to whizz by, not
surprising at all considering how many activities I had going on and raving it
up to do, and before I knew it we were in October. Then, the date I had been waiting for
arrived. MORRISSEY DAY! Suddenly, the some two and a half years that had
passed since the Leeds show in March 2020 seemed liked mere minutes. Huzzah!
I’d already planned ahead and taken
the day off work, so I took a bus into Manchester and passed the Apollo on the
way. I saw the gaggle of hardcore fans
who were already waiting outside braving the rain falling hard on a humdrum town, and was very
impressed by their determination to get a good spot at the barrier once they
were allowed in. I’m looking at YOU,
Hamish! Balls of STEEL, my man! Some of these guys had actually camped out
overnight, and it made the local news.
We however went for the seated option, as our weary old bones aren’t cut
out for standing anymore.
I popped into Reel Around The
Fountain Records in good old St Retford to have a catch up with the
owner Nige Young, then continued with my quest to try to find a nice
winter coat to replace the charidee shop bargain that fell to bits and had to
be binned. Prior to my visit to Stretford,
I’d called in at Selfridges in town to see what they had. The only coat I would have considered was a
whopping £1790 though, not bloody likely!
Curse my expensive tastes! As my
darling Pater would most definitely say, “Not my price!”. Shame Morrissey wasn’t there at the time, I
would have asked him to lend me a few quid!
Haha!
I did manage to pick up a rather
lovely black cardigan during my travels mind, so it wasn’t a wasted journey at
least. After my little trip out, I
returned home to get some scran before Jay and I set off for the Apollo. The weather had improved considerably by the
time we headed out which was a relief, and we jumped on the infamous 192 bus
(it has its own page on Wikipedia, for goodness’ sake!) down to Ardwick
where the Apollo is to be found.
When we arrived, we were greeted by the longest queue I've laid eyes on in my entire life which we immediately joined. We waved to a few of our friends on the way including Denise and Jo who both gave me a big hug. How I love the Moz Army! One of my lovely Twitter pals John came over and introduced himself, so we all spent the time chatting away while the queue moved rather rapidly until we were at the doors. I pulled out printed versions of our tickets (they’re souvenirs you understand, which will be kept and cherished along with my others), these were scanned and then we entered the foyer of the venue.
The Mozziah and I in the
foyer of the O2 Apollo Manchester
We headed over to the merch stall
but it was rammed, and anyway I’d been forewarned that it would make more
economical sense to get anything I wanted from the online Mporium store so as
to avoid the venue mark-up. Soz Apollo,
but I ain’t made of money! So instead I
wandered over to the PETA stand, which I was delighted to find was being
officiated by more of my Twitter Moz Fam, namely Andy, George and
Tracy. Another familiar face, Matt,
also greeted us as he passed by. The guys
had a few bits and pieces which I was invited to help myself to, and we had a
quick chat and a photo before me and Jay headed upstairs to the Circle to get
drinks and find our seats.
Andy, George, Tracy, my good
self and Jay. Photo courtesy of Andy
My spoils from the gig,
including a PETA booklet in lieu of a Tour Programme
As it was a Tuesday night and we’re
both being good during the week, we opted for some soft drinks (a cordial and a Pepsi)
from the Circle bar. Talk about living
it large! We then went to the Circle itself
to take up our seats (G 33 and 34, fact fans!) which were at the end of our section
of the row. I noticed that various
members of Morrissey’s family were seated just behind the edge of the Circle
balcony a few rows directly in front of us.
I also espied Sam “Esty” Rayner and Alex “J Casa” Joannides
giving their relatives lots of hugs (Awwh!). Alex spotted me on his way back up the stairs
and actually stopped to say hello and shake my hand. Such a lovely thing to do which made my day! Cheers, Alex!
Our view of the stage from
our seats in The Circle. Not too shabby!
A lady came to claim her seat in the row directly in
front of us, who Jay recognised and turned out to be another Moz Army comrade also called Angie. The best of
names! Angie very kindly gifted me a large
Mozzer badge which was really appreciated.
We nattered away while some music played in the background, including
Candyman by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Then the videos kicked in, which included if I recall correctly in no
particular order:
Pickettywitch (Baby I
Won’t Let You Down)
Eddie Cochran (Something
Else)
Andy Williams (Danny
Boy)
Ramones (Loudmouth)
Sex Pistols (God Save
The Queen)
War (Why Can’t
We Be Friends?) – the video was insane!
T-Rex (Children
of the Revolution)
Vince Taylor (Twenty
Flight Rock)
Chloe Poems (my
favourite line from a TV show I saw Chloe on many years ago was “I asked for
an Avenue (which was pronounced as Ah-van-nue) of Beeches. Not Bitches!”)
Excellent taste as always, Mozzer!
Obligatory photo by The Spacelord of me avec La Dimples waiting for His Very Mozzerness
I was getting very excited by this
point, and the atmosphere was building up exquisitely as it always does at
these momentous occasions. Then, the
familiar sight of Lypsinka Has a Glamour Fit popped up on the screen,
and we knew that the man himself was only moments away from appearing on
stage. James Baldwin came into
view immediately after Lypsinka, complete with some clever US of A flag
graphics superimposed on his oh so wise and noble face. A massive roar came from the crowd as Our
Lord and Saviour MORRISSEY made his grand entrance, complete with the rest of the
band. It was an absolute delight to see
Alain Whyte and Moz back together again too, as it’s been a long time since I
witnessed such a spectacle.
Morrissey sang the briefest snippet
from Jerusalem with the miraculous voice that was surely gifted to him from the Angels and Saints themselves, before launching into a
blistering How Soon Is Now? THE
BEST way to kick off a show!
Okay, a little experiment here
now. This is a first for me in all of
the reviews I’ve ever written of the Moz gigs I’ve attended, as I’m going to
give a brief rundown of my thoughts on ALL of the tracks that featured in the
setlist. I know! Here goes:
How Soon Is Now? (The Smiths)
I’ve seen both Morrissey and Marr
perform this song in recent years (separately, but of course!), and I must
confess that I firmly believe His Very Mozzerness has it absolutely nailed! The band is so damned tight too! Why James
Brown himself, that well known stickler of timekeeping and musical
excellency, would have been hugely impressed!
Not a single duff note to be heard in this track nor indeed any other
all night long!
We Hate It When Our Friends Become
Successful
This takes me back to when it was
released. At the time I thought it was
fairly lightweight (more fool me!), but I’ve come to appreciate in the years
since that as is always the case, Morrissey was bang on with his assessment of
how negatively he was perceived by his peers and the music press. He was the recipient of much vitriol and envy,
which continues to this very day. Well,
he sure did show them! Is tha listening,
Dave “Hasbeen” Haslam?
Our Frank
I’ve not heard this one live for
many years so it was marvellous to have it on the setlist, and it transported
me back to 1991 when I was still just A Girl In Da Hudd(ersfield) and eagerly
anticipating my future plans. How I do love
to fondly reminisce!
Knockabout World
From Morrissey’s last album I Am
Not A Dog On A Chain, I love this one!
It sure was something else to hear it live for the first time.
First of the Gang to Die
A stone cold classic, which had
everyone in the venue singing away along with Mozzer. Hector young fella m’lad, you’ve got a LOT to
answer for!
Irish Blood, English Heart
This has been an encore of late, so
to hear it this early on was thrilling as I wondered what on earth would top
this to end the show! A barnstorming
powerhouse of a number!
Sure Enough, The Telephone Rings
From the forthcoming new album Bonfire
of Teenagers. I like, oh yes!
Rebels Without Applause
Another from Bonfire of
Teenagers. Sounds mighty fine to me,
and such a clever title!
The Loop
It was bloody AMAZING to see and
hear this one, and in particular as I was at Hammersmith Odeon exactly 31 years
to the day prior when it was also performed.
Having Alain Whyte back in the gang is IMMENSE. Reunited, and it feels so GOOD!
Frankly Mr Shankly (The Smiths)
Oh My DAYS! WHAT a TREAT to hear this one in the flesh! I’ve always loved the spiky, spiteful lyrics
paired with the jaunty, jangly music! A
match surely made in heaven!
I Am Veronica
Another outing for a track from Bonfire
of Teenagers. If this and the others
are anything to go by, the next long player is gonna be a right CORKER!
My Hurling Days Are Done
I could have imagined it, but I think
I may have seen Morrissey wipe away a tear when he was singing what has become a
beautiful, poignant and moving eulogy to his beloved mother Elizabeth who sadly passed away two
years ago, as this was his first Manchester show without her. It set me off actually and I definitely had
something in my eye. Jay had to put his
arm around my shoulder to comfort me. So
sorry for your loss, she surely was a Wonderful Woman.
Half A Person (The Smiths)
I swear down, I did actually hear Half
A Person for the first time when I was 16, clumsy and shy back in Nineteen
Eighty Hate when Morrissey rescued me and I bought all of The Smiths’ albums in
hasty and urgent succession. Always a pleasure,
never a chore!
Bonfire of Teenagers
Obviously a contentious one here,
the title track from the new album. May
I now confess that I absolutely LOATHE and DESPISE Don’t Look Back In Anger. I’ve always hated that ruddy song, talk about
plod! I completely get where Morrissey
is coming from with this, as the attack of 2017 devastated my adopted home city
of Manchester and my blood still boils thinking about what went down with that heinous,
nefarious, evil ass shit. I do feel so very much for the families of the victims and the survivors, who must continue to live with their acute loss, pain and trauma until the day
they die.
Homemade album cover for
Bonfire of Teenagers featuring a Young Morrissey
Auld Lang Syne/Everyday Is Like
Sunday
An instrumental version of Auld
Lang Syne (nice!), which fed into my favourite Morrissey track of all
time. This is the song that truly changed
my life forevermore, I genuinely get the F.E.A.R. (For Everything A Reason,
truer words have never been spoken by Morrissey’s fellow MCR luminary Mr Ian
Brown!) thinking about just where I’d be if it hadn’t come thundering into my
life and demanded that I damned well LISTEN!
Never Had No One Ever (The Smiths)
In my humble opinion, the best
track on The Queen Is Dead album!
The demo version released back in 2017 reinforced my view that this
number is The Blues right here! I could so
easily imagine the likes of Billie Holiday crooning her way through this
one! Such an honour and a sheer delight to
hear it live! SWOON!
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get
What I Want (The Smiths)
Quite possibly the most gorgeous rendition to date of this wondrous song!
It was breath-taking when the audience sang it back to Mozzer, fair made
my heart swell it did. Got me in the feels, man!
Jack The Ripper
I never, ever get tired of this
being played, it’s life-affirming despite the subject matter! I much prefer the live rendition to the
studio recorded version if the truth be known!
ENCORE:
Sweet And Tender Hooligan (The
Smiths)
GOD DAYUM! WHAT a track to end the night with! It just about lifted the roof off the Apollo,
so intense was the ferocity! This was
where the expected shirt toss DIDN’T happen!
Unheard of! Yes, Morrissey ripped
his rather charming Ena Sharples tee, but then seemed to change his mind and
ran away which was so cute and adorable.
Love that man!
I suspect that Morrissey saw how on
it the security was (I definitely saw at least one person who had tried to get
onto the stage being dragged away!) and didn’t want to risk anyone injuring
themselves during the melee of the shirt scrum, so he possibly decided to not
go ahead in the interests of patron safety.
So there you have it, my rundown of
all the tracks on the setlist. Just to
mention as well that Morrissey did indeed acknowledge the 40th
anniversary of The Smiths’ first ever gig in Manchester. “This hour, this day, is 40 years since
four not very sweet, not very tender hooligans played for the first time in
this city”. To have been present and
have the privilege of spending the evening with this renowned Son of the Stage, this
highly esteemed Son of Manchester on this most special of nights was beyond
anything I could have ever dreamed of when I first had my head turned back in
Nineteen Eighty Hate. This was Morrissey
show number 13 for me too, definitely lucky for some!
Morrissey did also say that,
although we’d think he was lying, the new album Bonfire of Teenagers is
due to drop (still down with the kids!) VERY soon! Ooh!
When Morrissey was introducing the
band during the show, my undoubted and undisputed favourite was “From Tesco,
East Finchley – Alain Whyte”! So
funny!
“I luff you, I luff you, I luff
you, I luff you, I LUFF YOU!”.
Right back at ya, dude!
Morrissey’s voice is as dynamic, commanding and compelling as it’s ever been, it’s aged like a fine wine! The boys are so astonishingly accomplished in their melodious wizardry as mentioned earlier it’s unbelievable!
David, David and Steven with The Band
Well hello there, Mr
Johansen!
Kevin Keegan Sans Perm and
Mr Shankly
Da Noo Yoik Dawlls
So, after Morrissey had got off the
stage and the lights went up, Jay and I made our weary way downstairs back to
the foyer. We saw a few more of the Moz Fam
at this point: as well as Denise again (love that girl, Yorkshire Posse
ahoy!) we also saw Vanessa The Girl Racer from the US, and Big Jimmy
Thompson who is the frontman for the excellent The(se) Smiths tribute
band. There were so many of our other much loved compadres we sadly didn’t get to catch up with which was a real shame as we
weren't able to attend any of the aftershow parties, but we had a hell of a time and
thoroughly enjoyed the night. Looking
forward to the next one already!
Huddersfield Town Hall, here we come!
ANGIE J COOKE nėe LEWIS
Manchester, ENGLAND
Morrissey Fly Poster for O2
Apollo Manchester, SOLD OUT!
MORRISSEY – O2 APOLLO, MANCHESTER
TUESDAY, 04 OCTOBER 2022
The full setlist for the concert is
as follows:
ENTRANCE: Jerusalem (Morrissey
Acapella)
01) How Soon Is Now? (The
Smiths)
02) We Hate It When Our
Friends Become Successful
03) Our Frank
04) Knockabout World
05) First of the Gang to
Die
06) Irish Blood, English Heart
07) Sure Enough, The Telephone
Rings
08) Rebels Without Applause
09) The Loop
10) Frankly Mr Shankly (The
Smiths)
11) I Am Veronica
12) My Hurling Days Are
Done
13) Half A Person (The
Smiths)
14) Bonfire of Teenagers
15) Auld Lang Syne/Everyday
Is Like Sunday
16) Never Had No One Ever (The Smiths)
17) Please, Please, Please
Let Me Get What I Want (The Smiths)
18) Jack The Ripper
ENCORE:
19) Sweet And Tender
Hooligan (The Smiths)
Courtesy of Thom Haydon via
Twitter. You lucky little lad!
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