25 January 2008
London (UK), Roundhouse

Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
Something Is Squeezing My Skull
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy (aborted)
This was one of those concerts that go down in history but not for good reasons. Morrissey had been struggling with his voice since the beginning of his residency at the Camden Roundhouse four days earlier, and on this date it got bad enough for him to interrupt the concert after just three songs and a half. Understandably the audience expressed their disappointment with anger and a good deal of booing, particularly after it was announced that Morrissey would not come back on and the show was cancelled.

As he walked on stage at the very beginning of the show Morrissey greeted the audience with the line "You don't know what these things go through..." Already during set opener "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" he looked like he was struggling with his voice so when a pint of beer landed on stage and splashed him (as well as some fans in the front rows), it certainly didn't help his spirits. He made a disgusted face, moved his microphone stand back a few feet, then after the song he said "Meanwhile, back in the psychiatric unit... you..." Following "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys" the audience, who might have felt he needed some encouragement, broke into a chant of his name.

By the third number, "Something Is Squeezing My Skull" it was obvious Morrissey couldn't concentrate on what he was doing and was having a difficult time sticking to the melodies. After the song he announced "Steroids, cortizone shots... antibiotics... meaningless..." Halfway into "I Just Want To See The Boy Happy" his voice started to seriously break down. He changed a line to "let's face it, in two minutes I will be dead!", then let the audience supply the vocals for a few more lines. He then finally just gave up and turned his back to the crowd for what was left of the song. After the band finished the song he just walked off, and his musicians followed.

After five or ten minutes, Russell Brand, David Walliams and Jonathan Ross, three of many celebrities who were present that night, got on stage and announced that Morrissey wouldn't be coming back. Under loud boos and whistling from the audience they asked the fans to hang on to their tickets for refunds.

This concert was to be recorded for later broadcast or release.

Had Morrissey not interrupted the show, the following songs would have been played "That's How People Grow Up", "Billy Budd", "Irish Blood, English Heart", "Death Of A Disco Dancer", "Life Is A Pigsty", "How Soon Is Now?", "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris", "Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed", "Stretch Out And Wait", "All You Need Is Me", "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?", "The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores", "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before", "Jack The Ripper", "The Loop" and "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys".

 


A goodish audience recording of the four songs performed and the intervention by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross is being circulated among collectors of bootlegs (recorder: Steve from Soundsville International).

 

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