14 November 2009
Brussels (Belgium), Forest Club

This Charming Man
Black Cloud
When Last I Spoke To Carol
Cemetry Gates
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Ganglord
Ask
Irish Blood, English Heart
One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
Death At One's Elbow
First Of The Gang To Die
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
Is It Really So Strange?
Teenage Dad On His Estate
How Soon Is Now?
The Loop
Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice
I'm OK By Myself
/Something Is Squeezing My Skull
This was a great show. Morrissey struggled with his voice here and there, but he battled through bravely and gave the best of himself. He wasn't too talkative, probably because he was sparing his voice. The crowd was receptive and enthusiastic. The setlist was resequenced and the live staple "First Of The Gang To Die" was reinstated.

As he took the stage Morrissey greeted the crowd by saying "Welcome to 'Songs For Swinging Lovers'..." After "When Last I Spoke To Carol" he asked "What the hell brings you here?" Over the closing bars of "Cemetry Gates" he said "It was long ago and far away... thank God..." He seemed to struggled with "Ganglord", as he missed words and made unhappy faces. Over the outro of the song he added something that sounded like "I see..." He changed a line in "Irish Blood, English Heart" to "with both of my legs untied", a change he hadn't done in some time. "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell" was introduced with the words "So every song - a shocking adventure and this one no different, yet completely..."

Morrissey missed the beginning of "First Of The Gang To Die" because he was too busy shaking hands, so the crowd started singing without him. After the song he asked "Is it really that good? (crowd cheers) Have you been... drinking? You will be soon..." At the very ending of "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself" he exclaimed "ouch!" After that song he shared a story with his fans: "Last night at the Hotel Amigo in Brussels - do you know the hotel? - I ended up on Marianne Faithfull's bed. She was in the bed, smoking Marlboro, Marlboro, Marlboro (coughs) I was on the bed, not smoking, and - what? Well, I'm about to tell you! Patience. What happened next was... nothing. We exchanged pleasantries, I tipped my hat, threw on my cape, jumped on my bicycle and boom!" He then introduced "The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores" with a simple word: "Unrelated..."

Morrissey's traditional chit-chat with fans in the audience followed the latter number: "The world is full of crashing bores. Can you name one? (hands microphone to fan who says 'it sure isn't Marc Bolan' then suggests Morrissey should add Bolan and Gloria Jones to his pre-concert videos, that there must be some footage; Morrissey replies) Footage of what? (fan: 'footage of Bolan and Gloria Jones together in that mini') Well there isn't... Anybody got something? (fan suggests Sarkozy) I never get political... Say, what? Who? (fans suggests the Belgian king) Who? Oh, the Belgian king is a crashing bore, is that true? But do you know a king who is not a crashing bore? I mean, have you ever heard of the British royal family, Jesus! Talk about thicker than pigshit. You're lucky!" When he returned to the stage for the encore, Morrissey's parting words were "You have made my heart swell... Thank you Brussels!"

Thanks to Jürgen Wendelen of the Smiths Indeed for contributing to this concert description.

 


A good audience recording of the complete set is circulated in audio digital format on the internet (recorder: the Smiths Indeed).

 

Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.