Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, PA
First Of The Gang To DieThis second consecutive date in Philadelphia was an excellent concert. Morrissey was in top form and very playful. He teased the audience by groping and caressing himself more than usual. In the same vein, his fly was halfway unbuttoned. He was also quite talkative and went into quite a few long discussions with the audience. Security appeared to have been increased from the previous night, but it was not violent. Some security men even helped a few fans to make it on stage while controlling their fervour.
Bigmouth Strikes Again
November Spawned A Monster
I Like You
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice
Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
Now My Heart Is Full
Let Me Kiss You
Such A Little Thing Makes Such A Big Difference
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
The Never Played Symphonies
The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
Irish Blood, English Heart
You Know I Couldn't Last
How Soon Is Now?
/There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Because this was the second consecutive night at the same venue, the setlist was significantly resequenced and quite a few changes were made. "Rubber Ring" and, surprisingly, "Everyday Is Like Sunday" were replaced by "Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice" and "The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get". The former had not been played so far on this leg of the tour, and the latter was being played for the first time in 2004. But more interestingly the generally less appreciated b-side "Munich Air Disaster 1958" was replaced by another b-side, this one a fan favourite, "The Never Played Symphonies". The latter had never been played live before.
As he came on stage Morrissey greeted his audience by singing "You're the one for me, Philly!" to the air of "You're The One For Me, Fatty". He then added in a Scottish accent "We are the Royal Scots (?) Band". After "First Of The Gang To Die", which replaced "How Soon Is Now?" as set opener, Morrissey went into part two of his greeting: "Thank you and welcome to the second night of the Bar Mitzvah!". Besides the usual numerous lyric changes in "November Spawned A Monster" he sang "because it's the closest you will get to love, I should know, I should know..."
After the latter number Morrissey tried to discuss the subject of Lollapalooza which he was supposed to headline but was cancelled because of poor ticket sales. However he kept being distracted by fans and had a difficult time saying what he meant to say: "On the subject of (giggles) last night... Interesting... On the subject of a vacuum, whatever, oi!... Did you arrive today? You look a bit jetlagged... No what I was gonna say if I can... On the subject of... Julia they won't let me say anything. Should I leave? (crowd loudly disapproves) On the subject of Mollapalooza... Jesus! What a relief... (crowd cheers) Thank God that fell apart... Bigmouth strikes again!"
Morrissey bridged the gap between "I Like You" and "The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores" with "That was a track - that was a song rather from our recent album which is called 'Guess Who's Coming To Throw Up Dinner'... Sorry Julia... sorry everybody in fact! Sorry me! And this is another song from that 'Guess Who's Coming To Throw Up Dinner' and it's... (snores loudly)..." Of course the latter bit was meant to introduce "The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores". After that song Morrissey introduced his band: "I really should have been a postman, it would have been so much easier, you know, to be a mailman, a postman, a mailman... Could I please introduce you to Kilt Uncle?... Thanks for laughing... Could I please introduce you to Kilt Uncle? They are... my partner for the past 300 years, Boz Boorer... the inimitable Gary Day... on the drubkit... yes I have gas as well... Deano!... the absolutely sensational Jesse Tobias... and a man of two and a half parts, Mikey V Farrell... Me? Believe me you wouldn't want to know..."
After "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" Morrissey replied to someone's shouts with "very funny..." and then said "strange, Julia, strange..." Besides the usual lyrics changes in "Now My Heart Is Full" he sang "just some rain-coated lovers silly brothers". After the song he explained: "By the way I didn't forget the words at the beginning, it was Winnie who was making me laugh... now she's hiding... Winnie? Winnie? Winnie?..." This was followed by a long rant: "I said really nice things about Michael Moore... however life is always revolting and the truth is always disappointing. If you look at Michael Moore - Julia do you know this? - He's extremely anti-vegetarian... Michael Moore, you know, one of the hippest people in America, he absolutely hates vegetarianians - vegetarianism... What? Well no because... just because he's... just because he's a bit... well... (hints at Michael Moore being overweight)..."
After "Let Me Kiss You" Morrissey had another very long chat with the audience: "And just one more little silly question if you don't mind... Do you know this American woman Ellen Degenerate? Nothing? What, me? I know... So Ellen Degenerate, she's not funny is that what you're saying? No?... But she's... (someone shouts 'lazy dyke!') I wonder what her secret is? (someone shouts something; Morrissey giggles and says) It's incredible... I haven't finished yet... That was a question about Ellen Degenerate... What? She's extended a slight invitation... No! Yes... Does anybody watch her show? Do you watch it Julia? Julia? You don't have a tv? What? Really... What's your favourite film? You're kidding me? Really? Wow! 'Hobson's Choice' really? That's incredible, what, John Mills... Incredible. Have you seen any? Really? Am I being annoying? (crowd: no!; Morrissey roars) Yeeessss!... Sorry Boz..."
"How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?" was introduced with the quick question "So how could Upper Darby possibly know how I feel?" After the song Morrissey apologised about a comment his opening artist Damien Dempsey made during his show: "And by the way I'm sorry that Damien mentioned Philadelphia - what was it? - cheese steaks... I'll make him vegetarian if it kills! me!... I mean well..." Following "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get" he joked "I'm sorry that the tickets were a bit more expensive this time but... you must have noticed that the price of NyQuil has gone up..."
Before going into encore "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" Morrissey very solemnly said: "Now, Philly friends, life is a very strange thing and we may never pass this way again so... I'd just like to say thanks for all the good nights you've given me at least, of the best part of 20 years and (crowd cheers)... and God bless you..." He was visibly very emotional when he said those final words, and got quite a few fans worried.
A good audience recording of the complete concert is available on compact discs from concert traders and in digital format on the internet.
Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.