San Francisco (CA), The Fillmore
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One BeforeApart from a few minor technical difficulties, installment #3 of Morrissey's 4-day residency at the San Francisco Fillmore was a great success. Morrissey was energetic and playful, but perhaps slightly less chatty than he had been on the previous few dates. The microphone was mixed too low and there were still a few sound problems, but they were nothing like the ones from the previous show. The audience was politely receptive and slightly more energetic than the ones from earlier that week in San Francisco and Las Vegas. One fan attempted to make it on stage, but was kicked out.
The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
All You Need Is Me
I Like You
That's How People Grow Up
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
The Loop
Good Looking Man About Town
Stretch Out And Wait
Irish Blood, English Heart
Let Me Kiss You
Sister I'm A Poet
Death Of A Disco Dancer
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Billy Budd
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
Life Is A Pigsty
How Soon Is Now?
/First Of The Gang To Die
/Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
The biggest surprise on this date lay in the setlist content. After doing two shows on two consecutive nights with barely a change in the set, most fans expected that Morrissey would keep sticking more or less with the same setlist again. However they were in for a surprise. The man pulled out of his back catalogue many songs he hadn't done so far on this tour. The most noteworthy addition was the previous year's b-side "Good Looking Man About Town" which had never been played live before. "The Loop" and "Sister I'm A Poet" had not been performed since 1992 and 2002 respectively. "I Like You" had been done once only in 2006, so it had more or less been absent from Morrissey's set since 2004. "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys" and "Let Me Kiss You" had been played regularly earlier on this tour, but this was their first airing on this leg. Finally "Irish Blood, English Heart" was the only addition to have been played before on this leg. To make space for these the following songs had to be temporarily dropped: "Tomorrow", "Ganglord", "Shoplifters Of The World Unite", "You Have Killed Me", "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell", "Everyday Is Like Sunday" and "In The Future When All's Well".
This being San Francisco, quite a few fans in the audience were smoking marijuana, and it could be smelled here and there in the venue. After "All You Need Is Me" Morrissey mentioned the smell and asked "What could it be?". Then, to someone who asked him if he indulged, he replied "Not really... I'm too old to set bad examples..." After "I Like You" a fan handed him an Oscar Wilde action figure. Morrissey asked "Where did you find it?" He then said something else, pointed at the action figure and said "that's how people grow up...", which turned out to be the title of the song he was about to go into. Following "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" he introduced his musicians. He started with Michael Farrell and ended with Boz who happened to be the only one of the five to get introduced with something more than just his name, as Morrissey praised him for how long they had been working together.
The debuting "Good Looking Man About Town" was introduced with the line "This song is for those of you who still care enough to go out, look around, and connect!" It was obviously not as well received as other numbers in the set, so Morrissey told his favourite fan "Julia, I promise to never do that song again... I'll never do it again... nobody liked it..." But he wouldn't keep his promise and would do the song a further 3 times before the end of the tour. In "Stretch Out And Wait" he followed the line "And is there any point ever having children?" with the improvised "Obviously no..." After that song he commented "You know that song from 'Louder Than Bombs' (crowd cheers)... I do..." The returning "Let Me Kiss You" was in turn introduced with the line "Here's another extremely humble song from the back catalogue of President (?)"
As he was about to introduce "Sister I'm A Poet" Morrissey commented on how it was so hot in the dressing rooms that "...we came on stage to get some air... it didn't work... and this song is called 'San Francisco I'm A Poet'..." After "Death Of A Disco Dancer" he went backstage and when he returned he said something about how even singers need to pee. To someone shouting requests, he said "not done yet!". At some point he asked two 'irregular regulars' in the front rows if he could ask them a question. He didn't wait for their answer and asked anyway "You have been to most of the shows last year and this year... How do you get the money?" They both answered, then Morrissey turned to another regular and asked her how she got the money. She jokingly said "I robbed a bank", and he quickly retorted "That's the way to do it!"
There are no significant audio or video bootlegs of this show in common circulation at this point in time. One audience recording of the complete or near-complete concert has been reported, but it has not made it to common circulation yet.
Video files of "I Like You", "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?", "The Loop", "Good Looking Man About Town", "Irish Blood, English Heart", "Let Me Kiss You", "Sister I'm A Poet" and "How Soon Is Now?" are traded on the internet, but they show very little footage because the camera was aimed at the floor most of the time. They are still vaguely interesting for their audio although the sound quality is not great (recorder: Suswa).
Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.