Morrissey played a sold out show (and the final date on his North American tour) last night at the Royal Oak Music Theater. A few comments about the show:The show was great! Overall the set list was really similar to Saturday night's show in Chicago, give or take a song or two--I didn't write down the songs or the order. Samrx who was at the show sent me an email with the setlist, which is posted below:
I Want The One I Can't Have
First Of The Gang To Die
When Last I Spoke to Carol
You're The One For Me Fatty
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Black Cloud
Everyday Is Like Sunday
Satellite of Love (Lou Reed cover)
People Are The Same Everywhere
Maladjusted
You Have Killed Me
Speedway
All the Lazy Dykes
Meat is Murder
Ouija Board, Ouija Board
Scandinavia
I Know It's Over
One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
(encore)
Still Ill
It was great to hear "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out," live, though it was strange to hear it played so early in the set (he did that in Chicago as well.) As for the "Meat Is Murder" video that played during the song--wow, incredibly disturbing! I've seen him screen animal cruelty videos before during "Meat Is Murder" on previous tours, but this one was so much more gruesome than the others. I still shudder at the thought of it and it seemed like a lot of people were actively trying to not look at the screen.
The unfortunate part of the show was the abrupt ending due to Morrissey's displeasure with security at the venue. As is par for the course with Morrissey shows, there were a few people trying to get on stage and security got somewhat more aggressive--I wasn't at the very front & didn't see this personally though. Near the end of Moz's set there was an alleged altercation between security and Morrissey's band member, Boz. During the encore security continued to keep fans off stage and Morrissey attempted to calm things down, but it wasn't in the cards. He cut the end of "Still Ill" short, made a snarky comment about the "excellent security" at the venue, threw down the microphone, and stomped off the stage.
For fans that felt ripped off from the show ending abruptly, keep in mind Morrissey only did one encore song each night of the show, so it wasn't like he was going to play anything else, but still it was unfortunate that the show (and his tour) had to end in the manner it did.
Oh, I'd be remiss in not discussing Morrissey's outfits--he started off the show wearing a pink shirt, then eventually changed into a sequiny black number about halfway through the set. During the final song (before the encore) Moz ripped off his shirt, much to the delight of the audience, natch, but when he came back for the encore he was once again full clothed--this time wearing a forest green colored shirt. I think he rocked the forest green the best, if you ask me.
The band, by the way, were all clad in kelly green UCLA shirts, and when Morrissey introduced them near the end of the show I was surprised to find out most of them were from Chicago. I'm not sure which of them had the eye problem a couple of weeks ago, but they sounded tight as hell. Thumbs up.
The crappy part of my experience is that I learned that my iPhone totally sucks for taking pictures in a concert setting. I wasn't that far from the front, but you wouldn't know it by my crappy pictures. I posted a few of the "better" ones above but they all pretty much sucked. I did, however, get a shot of the magnificent Moz poster/cardboard cutout that was being sold at the merch booth. Brace yourself.
Oh dear. Where exactly would one put that??? By the way, if you can't tell from the picture, that was selling for 100 bucks! Good times...