5 October 2007
Los Angeles (CA), Hollywood Palladium

Sister I'm A Poet
The Loop
The National Front Disco
The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
That's How People Grow Up
Ganglord
Human Being
Stretch Out And Wait
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Everyday Is Like Sunday
Shoplifters Of The World Unite
Tomorrow
One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
Dear God Please Help Me
How Soon Is Now?
/Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Following two cancelled concerts Morrissey resumed his 10-date (now 8-date) residency at the Hollywood Palladium. This show went down well, but it was not the most memorable of the tour. Morrissey performed flawlessly but he looked tired (he did say something to that effect at some point), he wasn't chatty and his interactions with the crowd were kept to a minimum. He didn't hand the microphone to fans in the front rows the way he usually did at the time, and only shook a few hands now and then. The crowd was appreciative but, with the exception of the first few rows, mellower than usual. A few fans tried to make it on stage, but none were successful.

The setlist was significantly updated. The New York Dolls cover "Human Being" was played for the first time on the Greatest Hits tour. The following songs also returned to the set: "The National Front Disco", "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys", "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side", "Ganglord", "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris", "Everyday Is Like Sunday", "Shoplifters Of The World Unite", "I Just Want To See The Boy Happy" and "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want". To make space for these, the following titles were temporarily dropped: "All You Need Is Me", "London", "Billy Budd", "First Of The Gang To Die", "Let Me Kiss You", "Death Of A Disco Dancer", "Disappointed", "You Have Killed Me", "In The Future When All's Well", "I Like You" and "Irish Blood, English Heart".

Right before lauching into the opening song, keyboardist Michael Farrell played a few bars of Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D minor, then Morrissey welcomed the crowd to "Friday night in outpatients". After "The Loop" he said "As the sign says some of us are turning nasty" (those words were printed on the base drum's skin on this leg of the tour). He wasn't very talkative on this date, but he still treated his fans to a bit of his sense of humour. He joked about the antiquated toilet signs in the back. He said that one was marked MEN and the other labelled POWDER ROOM and asked where would a man go if he used powder. After a pause during which fans shouted answers, he just said "nobody knows..." Following "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" he proceeded with the introduction of the band: "Just in case you don't know, the five lap dancers behind me are... Mi-chael-Farr-ell... Jess - Jess... (looks at his microphone) hallo? Hallo! - Jesse Tobias... hello, Matt Walker... somebody screamed... Solomon Walker... and he survived two nuclear wars, Boz Boorer... and of course, as you know, I am Alejandro Sanz..."

At the very end of "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself" Morrissey shouted "music!" After a solid version of "That's How People Grow Up", he commented on how playing ten nights at the Palladium was exhausting, and quickly followed up with a "...just kidding!". Although he didn't chat with his 'irregular regulars' (the fans following him on tour) as he usually does, he still said something to one of them called Melissa. After "Ganglord" he mentioned that he had to leave to get back to the ghetto. Following the New York Dolls cover "Human Being" he asked "Was that too rhythm and bluesy for you?". In "Stretch Out and Wait" he changed the line "How can you consciously contemplate when there's no debate" to "How can you stand there and contemplate" As he had been doing for some time he followed the line "And is there any point ever having children?" with the improvised "Oh no no no!".

Before going into "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" Morrissey announced, "Of course - can you hear me? - well, after this - can you hear me? - so after this, after this we will... (Morrissey looks annoyed and shouts) after this we shall go to the Cat & Fiddle so if you'd like to buy me a Grey Goose (crowd cheers loudly)..." At some point into "Please,Please,Please Let Me Get What I Want" he let the fans sing the line "Lord knows it would be the first time", and just punctuated it all with a "yes!". The crowd's loud reception of the song garnered a "ah Shucks!" response from Morrissey. The man then introduced "Dear God Please Help Me" by telling the crowd "Take this song back with you to Eagle Rock Boulevard". In the latter number he changed a line to "and she motions to me, with a hand on my knee". Before going into the encore he quoted from the intro of his own "First Of The Gang To Die" and shouted "Los Angeles, you are too hot!" in a Mexican accent. At the end of that encore he shook hands in the front rows and looked like he wanted to invite fans up on the stage, as he quoted "All the world's a stage... all the world, is a stage... and we are players..."

 


No significant audio or video recordings of this show are to be found on bootlegs at this point in time. Two audience recordings of the complete or near-complete concert have been reported, but neither has made it to common circulation yet.

Some footage of this date (source unknown) has been included on a bootleg 2-DVD set featuring material from all Morrissey shows at the Palladium in October 2007.

 

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