Wembley Arena, London
Interesting DrugThis concert was very positively reviewed despite the fact that the venue was quite big and not the type of place you'd see Morrissey play at the time. Security was very strict and there was a wide gap between stage and the barrier holding the fans, so no one made it on stage (actually one person did, but coming from the side; this was followed by two or three failed attempts using the same access). Morrissey and his bandmates were in an excellent and playful mood. The crowd broke into many chants of Morrissey's name.
The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
Piccadilly Palare
Trash
Sing Your Life
King Leer
Asian Rut
Pregnant For The Last Time
Mute Witness
Everyday Is Like Sunday
November Spawned A Monster
Will Never Marry
There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends
That's Entertainment
Our Frank
Suedehead
Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together
/Yes I Am Blind
/Disappointed
"Alsatian Cousin", which had just seen its live debut at the final gig of the previous leg was not played here. It would only be included in the setlist near the end of this leg. Instead, newest single "Pregnant For The Last Time" was reinstated. It had more or less been neglected on the recent American dates.
Morrissey's microphone didn't work during the first few lines of set opener "Interesting Drug". The audience could only hear Alain's back up vocals. During an instrumental bridge in "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys" Morrissey spun the microphone at the end of its cord, but he dropped it and it hit the stage with a loud thud. After the song he started to say "Well err..." but never finished his line. He introduced "King Leer" with "This song was... was written by... Who? By... William Shakespeare". In the bridge of that song Morrissey lied on the floor while Gary took the spotlight, up on the drum rise doing his cello solo. Then in "Asian Rut" Morrissey picked up the end of the cello and he and Gary walked around the stage with it as if they were carrying a coffin.
At some point into "Mute Witness" Morrissey sat on the sound monitor and let himself slide down on his back, legs in the air. He then got into a shoulder stand while his musicians were finishing the song. Before and after "Everyday Is Like Sunday" and "November Spawned A Monster" the crowd broke into loud chants of their idol's name. During the first verse of "Will Never Marry", at the end of the line "I will live my life as I will undoubtedly die...", Morrissey made a "sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh" noise instead of singing "...alone". He might have been shushing the audience who were singing along with him.
Before "That's Entertainment", Morrissey teased the crowd by starting "I'd just like to say (sings a melody)... This song was written by... This song was written by... Uh? This song was written by... by... who? Da. da. da. da. da. da. By... (people shout names such as Johnny Marr's) No!". In "Our Frank" Morrissey started to sing "But look I'm only..." but ended the line with a loud "...pppffffttt". First encore "Yes I Am Blind" was done following its usual live arrangement, but after "...there must be something horribly wrong..." he paused and let the audience fill in "... with me" before he sang it himself.
A rather good recording of this concert is available on a manufactured bootleg titled "London 1991". The full concert is included and the bootleg is reasonably easy to find. The sound quality is almost as good as soundboard, but the crowd noise hints at this being an audience recording.
Another manufactured bootleg cd is circulated from the same recording, this one titled "Wembley Arena 7.20.91". For some reason, it only features the first 12 songs of the set. The cd looks like a reissue of a bootleg LP titled "Wembley Arena" because of its similar title. However the latter has the following different (but also incomplete) track listing: "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys" / "Piccadilly Palare" / "Trash" / "Sing Your Life" / "Mute Witness" / "Everyday Is Like Sunday" / "Will Never Marry" / "King Leer" / "There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends" / "That's Entertainment" / "Our Frank" / "Suedehead" / "Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together" / "Yes I Am Blind" / "Disappointed".
"London 1991" and "Wembley Arena 7.20.91" are commonly found on file sharing networks, but the latter is circulated there under the title "Geasers Promo".
An audience recording of the entire concert is circulated on bootleg VHS tapes and more scarcely on DVD (recorder: Chris A). This was filmed from the left balcony and is generally clear of obstruction. The footage can be slightly shaky at times when the cameraman needs to follow Morrissey around because it was filmed from a certain distance with a zoom.
Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.