photo from http://www.23hq.com/tyz/album/661857 - more pics from someone else there

This was the second time I'd ever seen Morrissey in concert, and it'd been over a year and a half since my first Morrissey gig experience. And this was the Manchester Apollo, where all big acts in England and the UK play. I didn't bring my camera, knowing I'd be up in the circle (the uppermost tier) of the venue and I wouldn't have had a chance to take a decent picture. I know I could have taken a bus from Piccadilly Gardens to the venue, but I didn't want to risk missing Jackie (who had my Bridgewater ticket) and stumbling around Ardwick Road (a place I was told was *not* where a girl on her own should be walking around late at night), I took a taxi to and from the venue. Trying to leave the venue was a pain in the arse itself. I wasn't aware that you had to book ahead of time - via mobile phone, whichI couldn't do because I did not have a mobile when I was in England - so I ended up waiting around like an hour after the show until an Indian cab driver took pity on me and when his "job" didn't show up despite ringing him/her, he offered to take my back to my hotel. Phew. At one point I considered taking the bus (the double-decker bus!), but since I wasn't sure WHICH direction I was supposed to be going, I figured I could accidentally end up on the wrong side of town with no money in a sketchy part of town.

If I had to give an award for "most animated audience" for the four gigs I attended, the Apollo would win, hands down. The crowd was livelier, they knew the songs, and they really got into the music. At one point, I thought we might have a earthquake on our hands when people in the circle started stamping their feet to the Smiths songs. The four guys to my right continued to do the Morrissey football chant before he took the stage and whenever he left the stage. I was a little peeved when the couple to my left disappeared during a set of ROTT songs, departing at "To Me You Are a Work of Art." Give the new material a chance, sheesh! They didn't come back until Morrissey had started into Magazine's "A Song From Under the Floorboards." ::shrug:: Weird.

This was the first of 4 gigs I saw of Morrissey in England in May 2006, but it's one of the two gigs where I didn't completely empty my wallet over tickets, as I paid face value for a ticket my local friend Manchester no longer needed (see the opera house review for more about her and my other Maladie buddies). She had incredibly good ticket karma and ended up with a standing ticket (which she used) and an extra circle ticket, which was better for me anyway, knowing that down front in the Apollo would be rough and I didn't want to risk getting my feet stamped on. My vantage point was perfect - I was in the front row of the furthest back section, and I even had a wooden ledge in front of me so I used that to take some notes before the concert started and in between songs. It was not scary getting up there at all, unlike at the opera house and the London Palladium. A completely unobstructed view until some idiots started filtering their way down and standing in the big aisle between the front and back circle. I had considered moving down to the front circle but there was a guard standing right at the steps and since I had shown him my ticket, he knew where I was sitting. Note to self: find your seat yourself, so if you want to move down later, there's no one stopping you...

Here's the setlist from mozzolo.

First Of The Gang To Die / Still Ill / You Have Killed Me / The Youngest Was The Most Loved / I Will See You In Far-off Places / My Life Is A Succession Of People Saying Goodbye / Girlfriend In A Coma / On The Streets I Ran / At Last I Am Born / Life Is A Pigsty / Trouble Loves Me / To Me You Are A Work Of Art / Ganglord / A Song From Under The Floor Boards / I Just Want To See The Boy Happy / How Soon Is Now? // Irish Blood, English Heart

Morrissey came out after all the Liverpool "You'll Never Walk Alone" booing as usual, wearing a black shirt to start. (He later switched to a sky blue shirt reminiscent of the one he wore two nights later at Bridgewater Hall.) He sang a cappella, "I believe...that since my life began, the most I've had is just a talent to amuse..." before launching into "First of the Gang."

His banter between songs was quite good and memorable at this concert, here are some quotes I managed to catch: "Thank you, you are present at a night of poetry and decorum." (after "First of the Gang")

"So...here we are, Saturday night, Manchester." ::big cheer:: "...and that's that really." (after YHKM)

"So that's our new single...and I think we're all agreed that we all hate Radio One. Lucky for me!" (after "The Youngest Was the Most Loved")

"They're not from Ardwick, but nonetheless, will you say hello to Boz Boorer...Gary Day...the great Matt Walker...to Jesse Tobias...and the man with the horn, Mikey Farrell. I live permanently in a very dry well, but nonetheless, I am pleased to be here!" (after "I Will See You in Far-Off Places")

"We had to scrape this one off the gurney...because it makes you feel warm." (before "Girlfriend in a Coma")

"I think we'll all be very happy to see the end of Tony Blair. And I personally think he should be hung, then tried. Why wait?" (after "Trouble Loves Me")

"Thank you for the plop...are you well?" (huh? after "On the Streets I Ran," probably to a fan)

"And the question is, born to do what?" (after "At Last I Am Born")

"And this next song resonates with Newton Street...oh yes..." (introducing "A Song From Under the Floorboards")

"Thank you for still being here...after what now amounts to sixty-two years." (after "A Song From Under the Floorboards")

Instead of singing "goodbye" in the lyrics, he replaced it "go away" in "My Life is a Succession of People Saying Goodbye." He ditched the black shirt into the crowd after "Pigsty" and put on a sky blue one. This show was the first time I heard "Ganglord," after hearing about it from my Maladie buddies who had the good fortune of seeing him already on the current tour. I have to say I didn't really like it when I first heard it, but then I couldn't help but join in to sing, "get back to the ghetto!" once I got to the Palladium 8 days later, since I preferred singing that over shouting "U-S-A doesn't bomb you!" in "Far-Off Places." Sorry. The U.S. has some bad foreign policy going on right now, to be sure, but I *am* an American and there are still *some* things I like about my country :) My apologies also that this review isn't really chock full of details - the day before I had just arrived in Manchester, my ATM card wouldn't work, and I was just trying to absorb the spectacle of seeing Morrissey on his home turf. Excuse the spareness!

my first Moz gig in Manchester, in the Apollo of all places! I nearly cried, it had been over a year since I last saw him in the flesh, and there he was. I was pleasantly surprised by several ROTT songs that I had not cared for before. "I Want to See the Boy Happy" in particular. I came away with a better appreciation for ROTT and just how much Morrissey means to the city of Manchester.

I was ready to see him in two more smaller venues in the city, with my friends.

originally posted 05/25/06
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