Battersea Power Station, London, UK
Do Your Best And Don't WorryThis concert was part of a 17-day festival. The action on stage was shown on two large screens. Morrissey was very energetic, playful, sexual and chatty. However, people who attended this show as well as some of the prior American ones remarked that he wasn't acting as sexy and aggressive in London. The crowd was very receptive and welcoming. There was a barrier holding back the audience away from the stage, with a huge gap in front of it, and security was tight, so only a handful of fans made it up to Morrissey, mainly during the encore. One of the few who were successful decided to hug Alain instead of Morrissey, making him drop his guitar!
The Boy Racer
Billy Budd
Reader Meet Author
Paint A Vulgar Picture
Alma Matters
Ambitious Outsiders
Speedway
Trouble Loves Me
Spring-Heeled Jim
Now My Heart Is Full
Roy's Keen
Satan Rejected My Soul
/Shoplifters Of The World Unite
The set list was similar to the latest ones. Some fans were expecting surprises for the London show, but it didn't happen. "Ambitious Outsiders" and "Trouble Loves Me" were re-added to the set, replacing "The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get" and "The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils". The latter song was actually soundchecked but not played.
Morrissey greeted the crowd with "Hello, you sexy Londoners!" before going into set opener "Do Your Best And Don't Worry". In the song he made a few changes to "This is you on a bad day, you on a sick day" and "against the worst of what you are what the hell, you'll neverwin". After "The Boy Racer" Morrissey apologised for the large gap between the barrier and the stage: "It's a big pit, but err..." Then after "Reader Meet Author" he said "thank you gorgeous...". He introduced "Paint A Vulgar Picture" with "As some of you know, I used to be the drummer in the Smiths". In "Alma Matters" he changed a line to "It's my life to end my own way". After the song Morrissey expressed what many others also thought "Yes, I also thought it might be the old power station but... I'm from the North and you know, we're not really intelligent..."
After "Speedway", Morrissey said "I don't mind being heckled... I mean, I don't mind being heckled!" "Spring-Heeled Jim" was introduced with the words "This song was heavily inspired by SW11... SW11... which of course means nothing". After it, Morrissey asked someone heckling him "Yes, what would you like to know?". In "Now My Heart Is Full" a line was changed to "Every Stretford (something) poet". During the ending to that song, as he was shaking hands with fans in the front rows, Morrissey's ring was stolen. The man didn't seem to mind as much as when it happened a few years earlier. This time he simply sat at the edge of the stage, looked surprised and giggled.
"Roy's Keen" was introduced with "This song is about no one you know". "Satan Rejected My Soul" was introduced with "We never thought it would happen but we are about to release our first Christmas single". After that song, before leaving the stage, Morrissey wished the fans "Merry Christmas". Coming back for the encore, he introduced "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" with "This one is called 'Sorrow Will Come in the End'."
This concert was recorded by XFM for possible later broadcast, but this never happened.
An audience recording of the whole concert is circulated on bootleg VHS and DVD videos. The clear footage - filmed from the rear stands - features good close-ups of the screens next to the stage.
A good-ish audio recording of the full set is also circulated on bootlegs and on the internet, sometimes under the title "All Over Battersea Some Hope And Some Despair". This was not lifted from the video recording.
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