Apollo Theater, New York, NY
First Of The Gang To DieThe fourth installment of Morrissey's 5-date residency at the New York Apollo was probably the least interesting of the lot. Morrissey was less talkative than usual, but he had a cold and might have been saving his voice. He might also have been quieter because of the audience's lukewarm enthusiasm. The crowd wasn't very lively, but it must be said that there were more attempts to get on stage than for the past few dates, and some were successful near the end of the show.
Hairdresser On Fire
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
I Have Forgiven Jesus
Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice
Shoplifters of the World Unite
Subway Train/Everyday Is Like Sunday
Now My Heart is Full
A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours
All The Lazy Dykes
Such A Little Thing Makes Such A Big Difference
I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday
No One Can Hold A Candle To You
Jack The Ripper
I'm Not Sorry
Irish Blood, English Heart
/There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
There was no change in the setlist. "Rubber Ring" from the Smiths days had been planned then dropped the night before and it had been heard soundchecked earlier in the day so it was rumoured that it would finally see its live debut on this date, but it didn't. Fans would have to wait one more day before hearing it performed live for the first time.
As he came on stage Morrissey greeted the audience with "Welcome to day 4 of our 7-month residency at the Apollo in Harlem..." Following set opener "First Of The Gang To Die" he added "Welcome back... are you sure you can take any more? You'll regret it..." After "Hairdresser On Fire" he announced "We've received thousands of letters begging us not to, but next week we release a new album and (crowd cheers)... and as Julia knows and several other people know and... Alain... are you alright? So what's the next song? (Alain: the next song is 'How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?') They can't!"
After the latter number Morrissey replied to shouts of his name with: "Well what? I mean, do you expect me to fly into the grounds? I have a really bad chest..." Then following "I Have Forgiven Jesus" he asked "Is it possible sometimes to be just silly?" The Smiths classic "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" was introduced with "And of course Julia the past is a wild and runny place..." After the song Morrissey sounded annoyed as he said "You see what it comes down to nobody really has anything to say... Of me, Julia, Anna... Anna! Winnie tell her to stand up." The crowd favourite "Everyday Is Like Sunday" was followed with the observation "Apart, of course, for when it's a Friday when then everyday seems like Friday... sorry that really was stupid... could I take it back now? I don't talk like (?)..."
Following "Now My Heart Is Full" Morrissey replied to someone "I know but, should I?" After "A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours" he decided it was time for the introduction of the band, but he had a twist in mind to the usual way it was done: "Now you probably remember him as the funny one on Laverne And Shirley, could I introduce you to Alain? Alain will now have to introduce the entire band." Alain seemed to be caught off guard and nervously introduced the band like this: "Well that's very nice of you to do that... I want to say great MD, great guitarist, a lot of respect for the man, please, Mr Boz Boorer... and definitely the best (?) bass played, Gary Day... and the same applies to the guy on drums, the best drummer I ever had pleasure to play with, Mr Dean Butterworth, give it to him... the nicest guy in the world, one of the nicest guys apart from (Morrissey), Mikey on keyboards, give it to him... and the best bloke is, please, Morrissey..."
"Such A Little Things Makes Such A Big Difference" was introduced with the simple "And this next song I wrote while lying in the bath..." The cover of Raymonde "No One Can Hold A Candle To You" was preceded by "Of course Jim, like everybody else, has forgotten the eighties and... oh yes..." The new album track "I'm Not Sorry" was quickly introduced with the words "This is the story of my life and it's called 'I'm Not Sorry'."
The new single "Irish Blood, English Heart" was introduced with the invitation "If you (?) to Walgreens tomorrow or Target you should buy this song... If!" Alain mistakenly played the first note of the song before it was time and Morrissey teased him "Oops! It's Alain, we know, we noticed..." Alain, who had been teased and picked on by Morrissey all evening, followed this with a woeful and hearbreaking "I'm sacked..." There were no final words from Morrissey before encore "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out". Instead the man had a quick and hard to decipher conversation with someone in front of him: "What? Max Pipes? You're confusing me with (?)... (?) I'm not that (?) surely... Am I? Maybe I am, I dunno... Am I really?"
A reasonably good audience recording of the complete set is traded on compact discs and in digital format on the internet (recorder: hook or Julian).
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