St. Louis (MO), The Pageant
This Charming ManThis was a reasonably good show, but unfortunately many attendees found that it didn't compare to recent dates on this tour, or to Morrissey's previous visit in St. Louis. Morrissey was in a very playful mood and gave a very passionate performance, but he was not as communicative with the audience and didn't touch as many hands as he usually does, so this left some fans slightly disappointed. It must be said that the crowd itself was rather quiet and Morrissey might not have felt like interacting with it as much as usual.
Billy Budd
Black Cloud
How Soon Is Now?
Irish Blood, English Heart
When Last I Spoke To Carol
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
Something Is Squeezing My Skull
Seasick, Yet Still Docked
The Loop
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
Death Of A Disco Dancer
Best Friend On The Payroll
I Keep Mine Hidden
Sorry Doesn't Help
Ask
Let Me Kiss You
I'm OK By Myself
/First Of The Gang To Die
The setlist was resequenced and in the process "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell" was replaced with "Best Friend On The Payroll".
Before going into set opener "This Charming Man" Morrissey greeted the audience by shouting something undecipherable. After the song a fan handed him a 7" or cd with a felt pen in the hopes that he would sign it. But Morrissey just gave the fan a look and made grunting noises as tossed the pen back at the fan, as if a little annoyed. He then shouted "Bollocks" as the band launched into "Billy Budd". Besides previously heard changes in that song, he extended a line to "everyone's laughing, no they're not!" and sang "Thank Christ! they turned me down". After "How Soon Is Now?" he told the audience "The morgue yawns for you..." It has been established since then that Morrissey was quoting Oscar Wilde who, in a 1897 letter to Frank Harris, had written: "I have pleasures and passions, but the joy of life is gone. I am going under, the morgue yawns for me."
Following "When I Last Spoke To Carol" Morrissey simply said "full of meaning..." Then over the opening bars of "How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?" he asked "Are you uncomfortable? Good!" He extended a line in the latter number to "As sick as I am, I would never be you, yes you!" After the song he took a Raymonde record that was handed to him by a fan and asked "Is this a gift? A gift? I do have it you know? Thank you... (flips the record over to read the fan's note) Bla-bla-bla-bla-bla, bla-bla-bla-bla-bla (smiles to the fan)..." Then over the opening of "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" he asked "What happened?" After that song he proceeded with the introduction of the band: "Would you - if you're not too busy would you please say hello to Boz Boorer... and to Solomon Walker... and to Matt Walker... and to Jesse Tobias... and to Kristopher Pooley... and as for me, I do not seek applause, I just seek err, indulgence..."
"Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" had been played live for the first time without the Smiths the night before. So for this second live performance of the song Morrissey took its additional live-only verse further by singing "On the shop floor there's a calendar, and it's pointing out to you, something you never knew..." In live performances of "Something Is Squeezing My Skull" at the time he usually sang "somebody peel it back and bite me", but on this date he took this to "for God's sake! peel it back and bite me" After "Seasick, Yet Still Docked" he said "I don't drink Budweiser beer... Do you? (crowd boos and says no!) Yesss!..."
After "The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores" Morrissey announced "Of course, we're very privileged to be in the hometown of the great Kristeen Young (crowd cheers)... However she isn't here, she is (someone screams, Morrissey jokes) - oh she is here..." After "Best Friend On The Payroll" he said "Thank you for your ears and your remarkable taste... so rare, so rare..." At the very end of "I Keep Mine Hidden" he shouted "Look! There's one over there!" instead of singing the usual words "use your loaf". At this point into the show some girls at the front handed Morrissey a hand drawn picture of him. He took it and pointed back and forth at it and himself, mouthing "For me? Not really, but thank you... La-la-la, very nice..."
Following "Ask" Morrissey teased the tame audience by saying "Well we had a great time in Kansas City (crowd boos)... Oh, you may be jealous! We had a great time in Kansas City! (crowd boos) Oh, you may be jealous! We had a great time..." He returned to the subject before the encore and used his parting words to do a bit of damage control: "Well we love Kansas City, but we love St. Louis too (giggles)... Too! Too! Too!... We love everywhere!" Between two verses of encore "First of the Gang to Die" he roared "Meet me in St.Louis!" then something else undecipherable.
A very good audience recording of the complete set is quite commonly circulated on bootlegs (recorder Robducati aka R.Greenfield). This ranks amongst the best audience recordings of this leg of the Tour Of Refusal, particularly because it captured very well Morrissey's energy. It is sometimes seen with artwork under the title "Refusal At The Pageant".
"How Soon Is Now?" is featured on "Nights Of Refusal" volume 2, a compilation DVD featuring HD Youtube material from the second half of the American leg of the Tour Of Refusal. Its audio track was replaced with the one from the audio-only audience recording mentioned above.
Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.