28 April 2007
Sparks (NV), John Ascuaga's Celebrity Showroom

The Queen Is Dead
The Youngest Was The Most Loved
You Have Killed Me
Disappointed
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
All You Need Is Me
Lucky Lisp
In The Future When All's Well
Ganglord
The National Front Disco
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Everyday Is Like Sunday
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty
I Will See You In Far Off Places
Life Is A Pigsty
How Soon Is Now?
Let Me Kiss You
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
/You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side
/Irish Blood, English Heart
This date wasn't as frenzied as the previous one in Stockton, but it was still an excellent concert. It took place in a casino with table seating, an unusual set up for a Morrissey show. Given the events of the night before and the type of venue, another massive stage invasion was expected, but it did not happen. Security was tighter and, out of quite a few attempts, only a few lucky fans made it on stage. The sound was excellent and the band was extremely tight. Morrissey seemed relaxed, he appeared to be in his element, and gave an excellent show.

The setlist was brought down to 20 songs. "The Youngest Was The Most Loved" and "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" were added to the set, neither had been played on the tour's opening show the night before. "Suedehead", "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" and "First Of The Gang To Die" were temporarily dropped.

As he came on stage Morrissey greeted the audience with the words "We're at the Celebrity Showroom and (turns around to point at his musicians)... we are the celebrities!" After set opener "The Queen Is Dead" he simply asked the crowd "More?". After "The Youngest Was The Most Loved" he asked the cheering audience "Thrilled? Me too!". Besides some of the more common lyric changes in "You Have Killed Me" Morrissey also sang "Roberto Rossellini is me, Pasolini I'll never be", "Anne Sexton you will always be" and "I entered nothing... yet!!. After the song he said "Welcome to Sparks... you're all out-of-towns I think (crowd cheers)... I knew it!"

At some point into "Disappointed" Morrissey replied to someone's comment or gesture by saying "very funny!". After the song he asked his favourite fan, "Julia? Do you wanna ask me a question?... Where am I? (she says he's in Sparks and asks him how he is) I'm passable..." Following new composition "All You Need Is Me" he asked the audience if they knew the title of the song and after waiting for a few shouted guesses, gave his answer. He then introduced his band members: "And I have to tell you that... no amount of medical assistance... has helped... Boz Boorer... or Solomon Walker... or Matt Walker... or Jesse Tobias... or Michael Farrell... I am nameless... and without (?)... and without meaning, and yet, I still live..."

Morrissey changed a line in "Lucky Lisp" to "because they couldn't get over the psychic's omen" and another one to "he couldn't get over your grandma's odor". He also replaced, perhaps distratedly, the "balcony fool" line with a repeat of "and I will gurgle from the circle". After the song he asked "Why are you working?... People say the silliest things, they really do..." After "In The Future When All's Well" he replied to someone shouting something about a remark he had made the night before in Stockton: "Now I heard you talk about Barbara Stanwyck but... that was Stockton! This is Lorne Green country, you should know that, you're American! (gets blank stares) Have you never heard of television? You're lucky..."

After "Ganglord" Morrissey said "Now, you'll all be surprised to hear this but there are many many people who do not like me... and as far as I can tell, as far as I can tell they all work in American radio and in the American so-called music press (crowd cheers/boos)... you can boo, but I'm merely stating the facts, am I wrong? I wish I was..." After "The National Front Disco" he asked "Do you think that you will exercise the (mimes using slot machines) you know what I mean? Do you think you will exercise the slot machines? Julia do you gamble? No? I never gamble, unless... unless it's with life, of course... (then to someone in particular) Yes, you're evil..."

Following "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" Morrissey told someone "That's as far back as I go..." It is unclear if he was talking about the latter 22-year old song or of his position on stage. He slightly extended a line in "Everyday Is Like Sunday" to "and on your face, God bless your face". After the song he asked the audience "We should continue? Or what?" He followed the line "Nobody knows what human life is" in "I Will See You In Far Off Places" with the question "do you?". He also sang "If God bestows protection upon me, and if the U-S-A doesn't bomb me".

Later into the show Morrissey handed the microphone to another female fan who asked him if he had read her book. He asked her "What book?", she told him the title and Morrissey tried to evade the question. She then asked him again if he had read her book and this time Morrissey replied "Oh eleven times", said something else, then "I'm sorry, I'm from Poland and don't read..." Besides the usual lyric changes in "Let Me Kiss You", he also sang "I've zig-zagged all over Los Angeles" and "I've heard that you'll try almost anyone twice".

 


Seven long segments of this concert filmed by recorder Mel Torment are widely circulated on the internet on digital video files. The seven segments together feature the first hour of the show, from the "Imperfect List" intro to somewhere into the beginning of "I Will See You In Far Off Places". A DVD of the complete concert has also made it to wide circulation. The footage was shot from the first few rows, but because of the frenzy of the crowd at the front, it unfortunately is very shaky and the well-known songs are marred with neighbours singing louder than Morrissey. The segment following Morrissey's shirt throw near the end of the "Let Me Kiss You" up to halfway into "You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side" was not filmed but patched with some audio-only recording. Also, the between-song banter was not recorded or was edited out, which breaks the listening flow.

An audio-only audience recording of this concert is also out there, but it is not being shared at this point in time (recorder: B.C.). The audio found on the internet was ripped from the Mel Torment video files mentioned above.

 

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