18 August 2002
Summer Sonic Festival, Chiba, Japan

I Want The One I Can't Have
Suedehead
Hairdresser On Fire
First Of The Gang To Die
Jack The Ripper
Late Night, Maudlin Street
I Like You
Mexico
Sister I'm A Poet
Alsatian Cousin
Little Man, What Now?
Everyday Is Like Sunday
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
Meat Is Murder
Speedway
November Spawned A Monster
/There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
The second of two appearances by Morrissey at Japan's Summer Sonic Festival went down well despite the audience's general lack of enthusiasm (bar the fans in the few front rows). Security was still very tight and no one made it on stage. Morrissey was quite talkative and in a playful mood. He teased his fans by caressing himself and occasionally adressed the crowd with a few words in Japanese, like "Hai!" ("yes") or "Sayonara!" ("goodbye"). There was no change in the setlist.

As was tradition on this tour Morrissey entered stage to the sound of church bells. He greeted his fans "Good morning Tokyo!... Hallo... We are what's left of Morrissey!" After opening song "I Want The One I Can't Have" he added "We are typhoon number fourteen... and we have some nasty songs from England... England... England..." After "Suedehead" he teased "Thank you, you are a good lay!" then asked someone "Say what? Can you speak slower?" After "Hairdresser On Fire" he introduced the next planned number with "You are very gracious, as you know... and this is a new song, which is called 'The First Of The Gang To Die'."

After the latter new composition Morrissey told the quiet audience "You have great patience." After "Jack The Ripper" he replied to shouts with "Did you say 'Irish Blood, English Heart'? Very clever... you've obviously come from Plastor or somewhere... Catford?... Oh my God! And you're still alive?". At that point in time "Irish Blood, English Heart" had yet to be released or performed in front of an audience, so it wasn't the song that was being requested. That title was a rumoured one for his next album and this is probably why it was shouted to him.

Following "Late Night, Maudlin Street" Morrissey replied to someone "Yes it's definitely a song, and so is this... which is new... have courage... it's called 'I Like You'." After that one he asked "Do you like it?" and got a reply that prompted the response "You like my ass? Thank you!". Then, in a growling American accent he told someone "Hey, you're really macho, man!". After "Sister I'm A Poet" he announced "Now it's your turn to say something..." He must not have been impressed with what was shouted back because this was followed with "Okay... never mind..."

In "Alsatian Cousin" Morrissey mistakenly started by singing the second verse. He noticed, hesitated, he was probably trying to figure out a way back to where he was supposed to be in the song. Finally he decided to change a line to "under canvas with your legs open wide, like this" while miming the words with his arms. He saw that the fans thought this was funny and cheekily asked "Why is everybody smiling?" After the second verse he returned to the missed first one to balance everything out. After "Little Man, What Now?" he said in a matter-of-fact tone "You're still here" then got a reaction out of the audience by saying "Hai-hai-hai!"

New track "The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores" was introduced with the line "This is another new song (crowd cheers)... strange reaction! And the song is called... Boz, the song is called Boz..." At the end of the song, for some strange reason, he exclaimed "Shazam!" He then whispered "So quiet in Tokyo..." The vegetarian anthem "Meat Is Murder" was preceded by the short speech "Seafood? No! Sea life? Yes! Sushi? (thumbs down gesture) Pppfftt!". That song's performance was a very dramatic one, at the end of it Morrissey ended up lying on stage as if he was dying or dead.

Morrissey then introduced his musicians: "You know Boz... You know Gary... You know Dean... (looks at Alain but acts as if he doesn't know him) Huh? You know Alain! (someone shouts 'who are you?' and Morrissey replies in a Japanese accent) I am Morrissey!". Following "Speedway"'s slow intro he shouted "Goodbye!" and pretended to leave the stage. After the song he said "Don't hold back, let it out, otherwise: flatulence!... Your eyes are drooping... Yes!".

Before launching into the encore Morrissey gave a round of thanks, and turned it into the introduction of the final song of the evening: "We would like to say thank you to the people of Summer Sonic... we would like say thank you to you... and we would like to say thank you to Elvis Presley because there is a light that never goes out..."

A portion of this concert was broadcast on Japanese television with a Morrissey interview. The songs broadcast were: "I Want The One I Can't Have" / "Suedehead" / "First Of The Gang To Die" / "Late Night, Maudlin Street" / "The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores" / "Meat Is Murder" / "November Spawned A Monster" / "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out".

 


The television broadcast mentioned above has made it onto bootleg DVDs. At this point in time this is one of just a few visual souvenirs for the whole 2002 tour, and the only one of quality, as the other video bootlegs were shot from the audience. It is unfortunate that only 8 songs were broadcast.

Audio-wise, collectors have a choice between the audio from the above television broadcast, or an audience recording. The latter has the advantage of featuring the full set, but unfortunately the sound is subpar and the recorder's neighbours often drown Morrissey out with their singing, shouting and talking.

The audience recording is circulated with artwork under the title "Tokyo 2002" while the television broadcast audio is circulated under the title "Educated Criminals".

 

Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.