Brixton Ace, London
You've Got Everything NowThe Smiths sounded more confident than before. Morrissey was more talkative and interacted more and more with the audience. For the second time in their early history, headliners were the Sisters Of Mercy. Flesh For Lulu were also on the bill, they played before the Smiths. In an old UK tradition, both them and the Smiths were given a bad sound in order to make headliners sound better in comparison.
Handsome Devil
Reel Around The Fountain
What Difference Does It Make?
Wonderful Woman
These Things Take Time
Hand In Glove
I Don't Owe You Anything
Miserable Lie
As he and the band entered stage, Morrissey greeted the few fans who had arrived early enough to see them: "Hello you charming individuals, how nice of you to come, we are the Smiths, how do you do?" After set opener "You've Got Everything Now" he introduced the next planned number with a shout of "Thank you! Handsome Devil!", setting the tone for the fast paced song that followed. After that number he just said "Thank you, you cheery charmers... for tender hearts, 'Reel Around The Fountain'..."
Morrissey reversed the roles in "These Things Take Time" and one line became "and I'll give you something that you won't forget too soon". The live arrangement of the latter number still started with a drum roll, something that would be lost by the time the song would get recorded and released earlier in the following year on the "What Difference Does It Make?" single. Morrissey introduced "Hand In Glove" by saying "This is our record, which is still buyable... 'Hand In Glove'..." The next planned title was introduced as "A song for the delicate... it's true... 'I Don't Owe You Anything'... I think..." The final song of the set, "Miserable Lie", was introduced with the words "Before we go, 'Miserable Lie'."
Tickets were £2.50.
The live version of "Hand In Glove" from this show, including the spoken introduction, was released on the 1992 cd-single reissue of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out". This was the only new material to come out of WEA's 1992 reissue campaign, as this recording had never been released before. In early summer 1983 the Smiths had recorded three songs instead of the usual four for their first session on Kid Jensen's programme on the BBC. To fill the remaining available time, they decided to play their debut single "Hand In Glove" which had just been released. When the programme was later rerun, the single version was replaced with this live version.
The main set (so the first 8 tracks listed above) is available on bootleg cd-r's and in digital format on the internet (recorder: Soundsville International - Steve). An inferior transfer of the recording (from a higher generation tape) is sometimes seen with artwork under the title "Tender Hearts". On the internet, the set sometimes features a bonus song, "Miserable Lie" taken from the same concert, but from a different audience recording, or perhaps from a different mastering of the original source.
The latter half of "Handsome Devil", "Reel Around The Fountain", "Wonderful Woman" and "These Things Take Time" are available on video and DVD bootlegs. The footage is quite interesting (when the source is close to the original) as the band was filmed from very close, sometimes from the stage, very likely by some friend of the band. Unfortunately the sound quality is not that good. In 2009 someone put on the internet a file of the same footage, but with the audience recording mentioned above replacing the video's original bad audio.
Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.