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26 May 2007 Austin (TX), The Backyard
The Queen Is DeadThis was one of the good shows of this portion of the Greatest Hits tour. Morrissey was in top form, chatty and the band was tight. The audience was very receptive and appreciative. Two fans made it on stage near the end, one of them was lucky enough to get Morrissey's help. The setlist was somewhat resequenced and in the process "Girlfriend In A Coma" and "The Youngest Was The Most Loved" were dropped while "Lucky Lisp" returned. After shaking many hands in the front rows Morrissey's first word to the audience was "Attention!", delivered military-style. Later he apologised because one of the backdrop screens had fallen down (so there was no pre-show videos and no backdrop) and the usual intermission music cd wouldn't play. He said he would make it up by playing 2 new songs, but this didn't happen. Besides Pasolini and Anne Sexton which were regularly mentioned in live performances of "You Have Killed Me" at the time, Morrissey also namechecked Tony Franciosa. After "Disappointed" he looked around for his favourite fan and said "Julia's missing, Julia's missing, there's Julia... I feel safe now, I can see Julia..." In the Smiths classic "Panic" Morrissey sang "Hang the DJ, any DJ". Then at the very end he added "Hang the DJ, all of them, every last one of them..." Before going into "The National Front Disco" he asked "Can you see me? No?" As he always did in live performances of "I Will See You In Far Off Places" at the time Morrissey sang "if George W Bush doesn't kill you". He returned to the subject of the American president after the song with a controversial joke that half the audience thought was funny, but the other half didn't appreciate so much: "He actually thinks he's the president... he never has been, he never has been... Also, another problem with George W Bush is that he's strongly against same-sex marriage (crowd cheers/boos)... however, he seems to forget that his father was in a same-sex marriage (crowd goes wild with laughter and surprise)..." The band had to restart "All You Need Is Me" because Jesse dropped his guitar. Morrissey said Jesse should be forgiven because "he is young". After the song he said "Some of you have been around for, shall we say, a long time (crowd cheers)... and I can tell this by the way you look... just kidding, just kidding... or am I? Really, I don't know..." Then "Lucky Lisp" was introduced with the line "This is a song from a long playing... this is from... not 'Suedehead'... this is from our long-playing disc called 'Bona Drag' (crowd cheers)... and it's called, would you believe, 'Lucky Lisp'..." The early classic "Everyday Is Like Sunday" was preceded by the dedication: "I'd like to dedicate this next song to Priscilla, who isn't here but is really here, which is complicated I know but... Where?... People say the silliest things Julia, they really do..." At some point Morrissey proceeded with the customary introduction of the band. As always Boz was the first one to be introduced, and Morrissey presented him as "old faithful". The cheers from the audience were so deafening that Morrissey had to repeat the part about him being "old faithful". As usual Morrissey had to tease the locals by mentioning neighbouring places. At some point he said something about "a sharp wind just blew in from Lubbock" and about having "come through San Antonio". The latter comment was probably due to the fact that some fans in the audience had a sign mentioning San Antonio on it. After "Irish Blood, English Heart" someone loudly requested "No One Can Hold A Candle To You" and Morrissey retorted "What's that? (fan repeats request) Are you sure?" He then turned to Julia again and asked "Any observations Julia? She thanked him and told him his Bush comment was 'so very brave'. Morrissey replied "Maybe I'm just mad Julia and we don't know it yet... When I say mad I mean insane, I don't mean angry... Maybe I'm both..." In "I've Changed My Plea To Guilty" he changed a line to "it's safer always to stay inside". He extended the very last line of the song to "it's a lot like life... so I'm told..." New composition "That's How People Grow Up" was heard soundchecked. The song would see its live debut at the next show, in Houston.
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