Fairfield Hall, Croydon
Billy BuddThe set list was slightly scrambled in Croydon, but nothing new was played. The venue, which usually hosted brass bands and musicals, was packed to full capacity. Morrissey didn't seem to be in the best of moods, he was probably still feeling the effects of his cold. However the fans were still very receptive. Many of them managed to make it up on stage, particularly during the encore.
Have-A-Go Merchant
Spring-Heeled Jim
London
You're The One For Me, Fatty
Boxers
Jack The Ripper
We'll Let You Know
Whatever Happens, I Love You
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself
The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
The National Front Disco
Moonriver
Now My Heart Is Full
Speedway
/Shoplifters Of The World Unite
Besides the usual lyric changes in "Spring-Heeled Jim" Morrissey sang "Take life at five times your average speed... I never do". After "London" he tried to say something but ended just saying thank you. There was a false start in the following song. It was meant to be "You're The One For Me, Fatty" but someone in the band started what sounded like "Whatever Happens I Love You". Morrissey then asked "Croydon be kind to me, because..." before the band successfully launched into the song. In the latter's very first lines, Morrissey sang "You're the one for me, Libby" to a fan who had just given him a letter.
As an introduction to "Boxers" Morrissey pretended to flex a bicep. After "Jack The Ripper" he replied to a heckler in the audience with "Get your kit off?... what now?... mmm...". Besides the usual changes in "We'll Let You Know", and the new one "We are the last truly British people that you couldn't stand to know, and so on...", Morrissey (probably distractedly) sang "at heart we left of course we know". Soon after, "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself" was introduced with the words "This song touches upon my extremely happy and delightful years in the music business, and it's called...".
Instead of collapsing to the floor the way he often did during the noisy ending of "The National Front Disco", Morrissey came to the front of the stage, stood still at the very edge, with his face turned upwards and his arms by his sides. He remained like this for a few minutes, in the reverb, to many fans' discomfort. This finally ended with the song as it segued into the mellow "Moonriver". In "Now My Heart Is Full", Morrissey usually made the vocal delivery easier by dropping the word 'puny' in "just some rain-coated lovers' puny brothers", but on this date he didn't.
During the encore, Morrissey tried to help a fan climb on stage and was soon surrounded by many others who wanted to follow. There was soon too much action on stage and because of that, "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" wasn't finished. Morrissey left before the end, letting the band finish the song as an instrumental. However Boz was pushed by a fan, making him miss his notes, so he put down his guitar and followed Morrissey. Then Spencer got into the same mood, kicked down his drums and also fled.
The word on the tambourine thrown into the audience on this date was 'Eric'. "Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning" was heard soundchecked, but it was never played on this tour (or ever).
An audience video recording of this concert is circulated on bootleg DVDs (recorder Chris A). The complete set was filmed but for about 5 songs here and there the footage is only of the ceiling, probably because the recorder was keeping a low profile from security. Still the rest of footage is rather good and steady.
The audio was ripped from this video recording and is circulated among collectors of bootlegs on cd-r. This is available in digital format on the internet as well. Because it's a video audio, the sound is rather tinny.
Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.