Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Rockhal
This Charming ManAfter seven cancelled dates in England and France, Morrissey finally resumed the Tour Of Refusal in Luxembourg. His voice did not sound like it was completely back to normal, but this was still a great concert. He was in top form and energetic. He may have been slightly less talkative than usual, but then he was probably sparing his voice. The crowd was very receptive. One fan made it on stage halfway into the show, but no one during the encore, despite many attempts.
Irish Blood, English Heart
Black Cloud
How Soon Is Now?
All You Need Is Me
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
Ask
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Girlfriend In A Coma
When Last I Spoke To Carol
Seasick, Yet Still Docked
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
I Keep Mine Hidden
Something Is Squeezing My Skull
One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
Sorry Doesn't Help
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
The Loop
I'm OK By Myself
/First Of The Gang To Die
There were no surprises in the setlist which was made up of songs that had all been regulars on the two earlier legs of this tour. The only missing regulars were "Let Me Kiss You" and "Best Friend On The Payroll".
As an introduction to the show Morrissey greeted the audience by saying "Luxembourg?... Twelve votes...", which was very likely a reference to the Eurovision Song Contest. He extended the line "I will die with both of my hands untied" in "Irish Blood, English Heart" by adding "beat that!". He struggled with a line in "All You Need Is Me": "you roll your eyes up to the skies, trans/mock horrified but look who's still here". Further into the song he sang "what will I be when I grow up to be a man, hopefully nothing". Over the opening bars of "How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?" he asked someone "Did you travel? Si?" He changed a line in the latter number to "the future is passing you by, my friend, it's true, the future is passing you by".
Before going into the Smiths classic "Ask" Morrissey proceeded with the introduction of the band: "Fresh, and lively, young flesh, Boz Boorer... on the bass, Solomon Walker... good with drums, Matt Walker... la-la-la, Jesse Tobias... la-la-la-la, Kristopher Pooley... and I am a very small detail..." After the song the told someone "Very nice... very..." Recent single "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" was very well received so Morrissey thanked the crowd a few times then added "I could say more, but..." He then handed the microphone to someone in the front row who welcomed him back to France. Luxembourg being a country of its own, when he got the microphone back Morrissey sarcastically asked, in a French accent, "I am in France?"
The crowd reacted when in "Seasick, Yet Still Docked" Morrissey sang "but you see I've got no charm". The man just smiled and carried on singing. For some reason he followed that song with the question "Did you know, Beethoven was deaf? Yes?" Following "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?" he thanked the crowd and was thanked back so he said "No, thank you". He then started to say "And then of course, la-la-la-la...", but this didn't lead anywhere. "I Keep Mine Hidden" was barely finished that he looked at someone in front of him, said "that book is for me, yes?" and moved forward to take it from the hands of the fan. He then stood back to the microphone and said "I shall take your book, I've read the book, but thank you..." The fan thanked him back and he added "What do you mean?"
In most recent single "Something Is Squeezing My Skull" Morrissey followed opening line "I'm doing very well" with a shout of "I am!". Further into the song he sang "for God's sake peel it back and bite me". He bridged "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell" to "Sorry Doesn't Help" by saying "Yes indeed that was a song... and this is a song..." After "The Loop" someone whistled very loudly and Morrissey asked "Did you whistle?... (with an accent) Incredible..." His parting words before going into the encore "First Of The Gang To Die" were "Thank you for giving us a nice time... Thank you for standing... thank you for standing (points at himself) this..." Before running backstage at the end of the song he quoted Klaus Nomi and shouted "Forget my fate!"
An audience recording of the complete concert is circulated on audio bootlegs, in physical and digital format (recorder: Plastic). This is sometimes found with fanmade artwork under the title "Esch-Sur-Alzette".
However fans and collectors may prefer the video recording that is also commonly found on DVD and on the internet (recorder: Zepzan). It was filmed from the first few rows and is quite stable. It is one of the good video bootlegs of the Tour Of Refusal. Its only flaw, a minor one, is that some of the in-between moments were not filmed or were edited out.
Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.