Philadelphia (PA), Mann Center
The Queen Is DeadThis concert, originally scheduled to take place a month earlier on 29 June, had been cancelled because Morrissey was suffering from a throat infection. It was therefore rescheduled here at the end of the planned second leg of the tour, and turned out to be one of the best shows of this leg. Morrissey was excellent, very chatty and interactive with the crowd. He added witty one-liners into his songs, joked with the audience, growled, grunted, and whipped the microphone left and right. He asked questions to audience members and handed them the microphone so their answers could be heard by everyone. The audience was very enthusiastic and receptive at the front and, as elsewhere, more quiet at the back and in the balconies. The band was exceptionally good and like the night before they had fake painted on black eyes. The sound was not the best for the first three or four songs, but it was straightened out afterwards. Security was very tight but about ten or twelve fans still managed to make it on stage, mostly during the encore.
First Of The Gang To Die
You Have Killed Me
All You Need Is Me
In The Future When All's Well
Whatever Happens, I Love You
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Let Me Kiss You
Everyday Is Like Sunday
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
Irish Blood, English Heart
The National Front Disco
Disappointed
I Will See You In Far Off Places
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
Girlfriend In A Coma
At Last I Am Born
Life Is A Pigsty
How Soon Is Now?
/The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
"The Queen Is Dead" replaced "Panic" as set opener while new composition "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" took the place of "I've Changed My Plea To Guilty".
As he had done on the previous date Morrissey sang acapella about 10 seconds of the traditional song "Bye Bye Blackbird" before going into the show's opening number. After "First Of The Gang To Die" he expressed regret for the postponement of the concert by saying "Thank you for coming along in the first place, going back home in the second place, coming back in the third place, and being there..." On the subject he also said "You feared the worst, as you should... but occasionally..." After "You Have Killed Me" he complained about a gap between the pit and the orchestra where no one was allowed to stand. He pointed at it and sarcastically said "If people stand there, Philadelphia will explode, and the sheriffs will kill themselves..." Of course the fans didn't need any more encouragement. Over the length of the following few songs they jumped the waist-high barrier and the gap was quicked filled in, despite all security's efforts to stop this from happening.
Following "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" Morrissey asked his favourite fan Julia a question and handed her the microphone so she could answer. He would do the same with other fans throughout the evening. One particular fan had been heckling him loudly and incoherently since he had walked on, much to his neighbours annoyance. Morrissey finally gave in, asked him "Will that make you happy?" and handed the microphone his way. The fan mumbled something which no one understood and Morrissey just shook his head, shouted "onwards!" and the band launched into the next planned song. The troublemaker was eventually removed by security.
Throughout the evening Morrissey changed shirts three times and, as was tradition, each time the shirt was thrown into the audience to be fought over. At one point when he ripped his shirt off his body and the crowd screamed loudly, he smiled coyly and admonished "Oh, it's only a shirt..." Madonna was at the time in the process of adopting an African child and Morrissey addressed the subject when he said "Madonna, your child is going to be thrown away like an old coat!" Following "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" he told the audience "You show great spirit in the face of chronic adversity..."
As was tradition at the time Morrissey changed a line in "Irish Blood, English Heart" to "I've been dreaming of a time when Americans are sick to death of Republicans". On this date he extended the subject after the song by asking the crowd "So in the next election you will vote for...?" After "The National Front Disco" he said "We are edging second by second to the end of our American tour... which almost went without a hitch... and that's that, well thank you to the extreme irregular regulars..." He then asked a fan "Now could you say something nice?" and handed her the microphone. She simply thanked him as an answer.
After "Disappointed" Morrissey said "That song was from a shocking memory called 'Bona Drag'... shocking memory..." Following the line "I am human and I need to be loved just like everybody else does" in "How Soon Is Now?", a beefy guy rushed the stage, planted a kiss on his hero's neck and was promptly tackled by security. Morrissey quickly murmured "I am loved...", visibly unperturbed. The encore saw many more fans trying to make it up on stage. The successful ones were thanked or congratulated by Morrissey between two lines of the song.
There are no significant video or audio recordings of this concert in circulation yet. The most interesting thing out there at this point in time is a 40 minute digital file featuring bad sounding video recordings of "The Queen Is Dead" (intro), "First Of The Gang To Die", "You Have Killed Me", "All You Need Is Me", "In The Future When All's Well", "Let Me Kiss You", "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris", "Irish Blood, English Heart", "Disappointed" and "Life Is A Pigsty". The material is credited to recorder FDR but seems to come from more than one source. Some of it is audio only as the camera was aimed at the floor.
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