El Auditorio Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
The Boy RacerIf Morrissey had any doubts that he had a huge and fanatic following in Mexico, they were quickly dispelled. The venue was bigger than the ones he had just played in North America, and the concert was sold out. The fans were very enthusiastic, they sang along to most songs, and a few made it on stage despite the heavy security. Morrissey could not help but be into the same mood. However Mexico is at high altitude and oxygen is rarer, and this gave him trouble with his voice. He complained now and then by crying "oxygen!" between song lines.
Billy Budd
November Spawned A Monster
Hairdresser On Fire
Is It Really So Strange?
Now My Heart Is Full
Break Up The Family
I Am Hated For Loving
Half A Person
Alma Matters
The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils
Meat Is Murder
Ouija Board, Ouija Board
A Swallow On My Neck
Boxers
Tomorrow
Shoplifters Of The World Unite
/Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
The lucky Mexicans were treated to 18 songs, one more than the standard setlist length was in the United States earlier in the year. "The Boy Racer" and "Alma Matters" were only played here and there in the States, but they returned here in place of lesser known numbers like "Lost" and "I Can Have Both". The latter two titles would only be played once or twice in Latin America.
At the end of the James Bond theme intro the band hit the stage dressed in 'charro' (mariachi) costumes while Morrissey himself was wearing his PVC outfit. The man greeted his Mexican fans with a simple "Hola!" and after set opener "The Boy Racer" he extended it to "Hello amigos! It's nice to see you after so long!... And it's nice to see you..." Then after "Billy Budd" came his third greeting: "Welcome to our little show of dangerous songs. We come from a dangerous place called England! (crowd cheers)... England boo!"
After "November Spawned A Monster" Morrissey said "It's nice to see so many of our friends here: Julia's here, David is here... I'm here (crowd cheers)... Boz is here, Gary's here, Spike is here, Alain's here... and you are here!" The latter bit actually made the crowd go mad. During the intro to "Hairdresser On Fire" Morrissey chanted "Mexico! Mexico! Mexico!" with the proper Spanish pronounciation.
After his vocal part was done in "Hairdresser On Fire" Morrissey went backstage to change outfits while his band finished the song. He took a long time so the fans were treated to an extended instrumental outro. When he finally made it back to the stage Morrissey said "Mexico City... (panting) Mexico City... (struggles to get air) Sorry I got lost, but I'm back..." He then went into a conversation with fanzine editor Julia Riley: "Julia, how are you? I can't believe you're here... I can't believe you're here... I can't believe I'm here..."
After "Is It Really So Strange?" Morrissey tried to lead the crowd into a chant of "Mexico! Mexico!" (in English this time) then teasingly chanted "Guadalajara!" Portions of the audience booed and Morrissey said "Guadalajara boo... no no no!". After "Now My Heart Is Full" he answered various fans: "What would you like me to do?... Your heart is nice... Why? Where do you come from? Exeter?" In "Break Up The Family" the line "now does that sound mad?" was followed with the answer "yes!". After the song Morrissey asked again "What are you trying to say? What are you trying to say?... Exeter!... Truro!" After "I Am Hated For Loving" he started "Can I have..." but never finished his request.
After "Alma Matters" Morrissey was out of breath again and exclaimed "Air, air, oxygen... pollution, pollution... cigarettes, cigarettes..." He remained out of breath throughout "The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils". He breathlessly punctuated some "to be finished would be a relief" lines with "God!" and "Oh my God!". After the song he acknowledged this by saying "I think I actually died 10 minutes ago..." He then introduced "Meat Is Murder" with the plea: "I know in this country animals have no rights, and if it moves, kill it! If it moves, eat it! But we say, please don't kill anything..."
After "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" Morrissey enquired "Could you hear okay? No? Julia can they hear? No? Alright... (then to someone else) What's your name?" After "A Swallow On My Neck" the man used his little knowledge of the Spanish language and said "Me llamo Esteban". Following a tradition started in California earlier in the month "Tomorrow" was retitled "Mañana". All occurrence of the title word in the song were replaced by its Spanish translation.
After "Tomorrow" Morrissey asked his fans about the next destination: "Tomorrow we are going to Chile... do you like Chile? No? Okay... Alain, they don't like Chile... they hate Chile... What do you like?" Morrissey came back for the encore dressed in charro, but for some reason he didn't put on the shirt and tie and remained bare chested under his coat.
A good audience recording of the complete set is circulated on bootleg compact discs and in digital format on the internet. A second audience recording, this one featuring the second half of the set (from "Meat Is Murder" to the end) is also out there but in very limited circulation at this point in time.
Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.
Quotes
Morrissey, in a statement to the True To You website in February 2006: "Mexico was a dream come true for me. We're having difficulties getting back - no local promoter is willing to take the plunge. Otherwise, we'd be there tomorrow. But even if I never get back, it was a great experience. Oh, and I'd like to say thanks to all the bootleggers outside selling posters of Elvis Presley with the name Morrissey across the poster... the highlight of my life."