Having managed to avoid much of Morrissey’s solo career, I rocked up to the 3Arena ready to live out my 17 year old angsty indie dreams. As a vocal supporter of UKIP, a pro-Israel, outspoken vegan, Moz – as he is known to his loyal mostly middle aged ‘bloke’ fanbase – just can’t help himself can he? Selling t-shirts with ‘trouble loves me’ emblazoned across the front just about sums up the man who can’t stand being irrelevant.
But, politics aside, I tried to keep an open mind for a gig that promised to be entertaining, if nothing else. Having arrived unfortunately early, I was treated to the surreal experience of feeling like I was in some sort of bad The Sims: Concert Expansion Pack as robotic employees walked up and down the seated area with beer cooler bags strapped to their back and flags extending beyond their heads while an eclectic mix of opera, folk, and soul blared from the speakers below. It only got weirder.
Morrissey’s cult status seemed to sell out the venue with a predominantly older male audience in attendance. In place of a supporting act, Morrissey, in true Morrissey fashion, chose to play clips of his influences ranging from The New York Dolls to Lou Reed, as well as a speech from Germaine Greer – my personal highlight of this montage was the Tatu cover of ‘How Soon Is Now’, which got the crowd going. He made interesting use of the screen behind him throughout the show, creating a different kind of concert experience whereby the focus was unusually drawn away from the performer to the screen behind him. During ‘Who Will Protect Us From The Police’, images of police brutality accompanied his performance. This had an uncomfortably jarring effect considering that moments beforehand, he was grinding into the mic stand singing ‘When You Open Your Legs.’ Here lies the fundamental tension in Morrissey’s set list and broader career. It is difficult to take someone seriously, when they declare themselves the ‘real poet laureate’, and gave his band the most generic sounding name (The Smiths) purely for the sake of irony.
Paying particular attention to the lyrics, I am convinced Morrissey chooses multisyllabic words just to show off his I’m-capable-of-yodelling vocal range, exemplified by the overly contrived ‘Stop Watching the News, Because the News Contrives to Frighten You’. A strange song given the overtly political content throughout the show. While ostensibly concerned with various social issues, the attention is always drawn back to his performative persona and how these issues affect him personally.
At one stage, he told the crowd that they “seemed nervous”. the crowd was quiet for most of the gig where I was sitting, although a few diehards were giving it socks in the front row of the pit. It seemed many expected more hits from The Smiths, but nonetheless joined in with his more well-known hits, ‘I Wish You Lonely’, ‘Everyday Is Like Sunday’ and set closer ‘Irish Blood, English Heart.’ These personal songs resonated with the audience more than his political outcries and ‘How Soon Is Now’ never seems to lose its ability to transpose the feeling of being punched in the gut into music.
Whether you love or hate them, there is a reason why people connect with the lyrics and the moaning of The Smiths. When Moz sticks to the existentialism, it’s hard to beat, as few capture the feeling of loneliness and isolation better than he. Unfortunately, his obsession with causing controversy makes his possibly genuine concerns for social issues difficult to take seriously.
After playing with the buttons of his barely closed shirt all night, he left the stage fully clothed. However, in classic Moz style, he returned for the encore in a new black shirt, only to then throw that one into the crowd, and scamper off behind the stage like a child playing hide and seek.
Hilarious as this may have been, the problem remains that Moz still thinks he is a rockstar and ultimately it’s up to you whether you can let go of his dubious politics, self-obsession and almost parodic persona, to enjoy a show which is undeniably an entertaining and interesting experience.
Morrissey performed at the 3Arena on 20th February, 2018.
