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21 July 2007 Myrtle Beach (SC), House Of Blues
PanicThis was one of the best shows of this leg of the Greatest Hits tour. Morrissey was in perfect form, very playful and talkative. The crowd was very receptive and enthusiastic. Morrissey fed off the audience's energy and vice versa. About 7 fans made it on stage, and most of them did it with Morrissey's help. Security was very tight and tried to stop every attempt, but Morrissey helped the fans and in the tug-of-war that ensued, he prevailed. For some unknown reason most if not all the musicians had (painted on) black eyes. In the setlist, new composition "That's How People Grow Up" was temporarily dropped and "Whatever Happens, I Love You", "The National Front Disco", "I've Changed My Plea To Guilty" and "Life Is A Pigsty" returned. Shortly before opening act Kristeen Young came on, there had been a loudspeaker announcement advising the crowd that this was a non-smoking show, per artist request. So as he took the stage Morrissey jokingly asked "Does anyone have a light?". He then opened with a few lines from the traditional tune "Bye Bye Blackbird", sung acapella, before going into set opener "Panic". It has been speculated that the reason Morrissey sang those lines were that Michael Vick, a member of the (American) football team the Blackbirds, had the day before been found guilty of organising dog fights. As early as the opening number it was clear that Morrissey was in a playful mood. He said it was nice to be in Dixie and referred to Myrtle Beach as "Turtle Beach". He also said something like "I'm glad you're here... you could be elsewhere... like at Lobster Shack, eating and laughing..." At some point he mentioned the Atlanta show from the night before where he had cut the set short by two songs. He said they had "quite a surprise in Atlanta last night" and that "the sheriffs were there to keep people from smiling, singing and having fun... God bless the American sheriffs..." When some fan shouted words of love his way, he replied with "Is there a Heaven?". When he introduced his band as was tradition, he jokingly announced "Well, a few years ago, they were robust ice hockey players... then everything in their life went wrong - me - so they're here..." He then introduced each musicians one after the other, starting with Michael Farrell and ending with Boz. Morrissey also had a few controversial comments for his audience. He said "There was never an Iraqi war, only an Iraqi invasion... and it still is an Iraqi invasion... so, whenever you are watching Fox news, friendly advice, keep a bucket nearby, be ready to vomit... or just do something else..." The Smiths classic "Girlfriend In A Coma" was jokingly introduced with the line "It's a well-known fact that the most common song played at funerals is 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine (whistles the two syllables of her last name instead of saying it, first note high and then second note low)... and number two on the list, is this..." While in the first verse of the latter number a fan tried to get on stage, but security manhandled her so much that Morrissey forgot about the lyrics and stepped in to save her. So after he hugged her and she left the stage Morrissey told the band "...that was a beautiful moment but it wasn't really part of the song, was it?... Let's start over..." As he always did at the time, Morrissey also occasionally handed the microphone to fans in the front rows. One fan told a story of how she had once missed a Morrissey show in California because she had been stuck in traffic. After repeating twice that she was crying in her car stuck in traffic, Morrissey collapsed down on stage in front of her, as if in anguish from her story. When another fan kept mumbling his story, Morrissey laid down on stage and pretended to nap.
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