Houston (TX), Verizon Wireless Theater
The Queen Is DeadThis concert went down very well, but things could have easily gone bad. Morrissey was amazing, very energetic, and the band was tight. However portions of the crowd ruined the concert experience for other attendees. Drunk fans were picking fights with their neighbours only because they were pushed back and forth by the motion of the crowd. Some fans who wanted to move closer to the stage simply decided to make their way by carelessly climbing over people's shoulders. As if that wasn't enough, some troublemakers threw around cups filled with beer. Some beer landed on the sound board and for a moment the sound people were worried that equipment might have been damaged. During "That's How People Grow Up" beer splashed over Michael's keyboards. Fortunately the two or three fans who made it on stage were not violent.
The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
You Have Killed Me
In The Future When All's Well
Disappointed
The Youngest Was The Most Loved
Let Me Kiss You
I Will See You In Far Off Places
The National Front Disco
At Last I Am Born
That's How People Grow Up
Girlfriend In A Coma
First Of The Gang To Die
Everyday Is Like Sunday
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Irish Blood, English Heart
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
Life Is A Pigsty
How Soon Is Now?
/Panic
/You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side
On a more positive note this concert was memorable for the live debut of the upcoming single "That's How People Grow Up". However it was at the expense of another new song, "All You Need Is Me", which was temporarily dropped. Part-timers "The Youngest Was The Most Loved", "Girlfriend In A Coma" and "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" returned to the set while early solo numbers "Lucky Lisp" and "I've Changed My Plea To Guilty" went back into the closet.
Before going into set opener "The Queen Is Dead" Morrissey greeted the audience by shouting "Charles Nelson Riley!" After the song he asked the crowd "Is it safe?" When it replied in the positive he added "too bad..." After "I Just Want To See The Boy Happy" he asked "Now you're not just saying that to be nice, are you? (crowd cheers, shouts no) Well that's a shame!" Besides many other lyric changes in "You Have Killed Me" Morrissey usually changed a line to "Anne Sexton you will always be". However on this date he took that line to "Anne Sexton have you ever heard of? No..." After the song he rewarded the cheering audience with "We live to please..."
Following "In The Future When All's Well" Morrissey declared "So today's Memorial Day and for me residents only to remember all those conscientious objectors... God bless them!" At some point he mocked the fans in the audience who were using their cellphones and Blackberrys by making silly faces while pretending he was text messaging. After "Disappointed" he asked his favourite fan "Julia, how does the world revolve today?" then handed her the microphone so she could compliment him. After "The Youngest Was The Most Loved" he introduced his musicians: "The cheerleaders standing behind me are... Are! By name! Boz Boorer... Solomon Walker... Matt Walker... Jesse Tobias... and least, but by no means last, Michael Farrell..." He then poked fun at a shouting fan by saying in a giddy little girl's voice "What? You must be joking!"
Morrissey changed the first line in "At Last I Am Born" to "At last I am born, somebody write this down, I am finally born". Another line was changed to "look at me now from fat little child..." After the song he told the audience "Thank you for your applause... on this very drizzly, dank, yet perfect evening..." New composition "That's How People Grow Up" was introduced with the words "We, we as all of us, not just me, we, we have what's known as... we have what's known in the business as a new song and it's called 'That's How People Grow Up'..." Then the Smiths classic "Girlfriend In A Coma" was introduced with "However, for those of you who cannot cope with new songs..."
The latter number was very well received and Morrissey thanked the crowd with "Thank you... every blessed one of you, every blessed one of you... even you at the back looking at your watch..." After "First Of The Gang To Die" he mentioned his opening act by joking "So it's a great privilege to be on the Kristeen Young tour..." In "Irish Blood, English Heart" he introduced the lyric change "I have been dreaming of a time when Americans are sick to death of republicans and democrats". It would become standard over the remainder of these American dates. At the end of "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" he improvised and sang "Lord knows it would be the first time, and Lord knows it's never gonna happen pffttt..."
In "Life Is A Pigsty" Morrissey extended a line by turning it into the question "Once again I turn to you, who else?". When he returned to the stage for the first encore song he teased the audience by saying "So you see Julia, I often find, in my extremely limited experience that just when the night's almost over, people get friskier..." In the high-energy finale of "You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side" he changed a few lines to "I cannot do it anymore, any longer..." and "you don't need to look so doggone pleased!"
An excellent audience recording of the complete concert is circulated on compact discs and in digital format on the internet (recorder: Prof Peabody). Not only does the recording sound good, but it captured very well the energy of both Morrissey and the audience, making it one of the best bootlegs for this tour. An alternate recording credited to B.C. is also out there, but it is not being shared much at this point in time.
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