Camden Dingwalls, London
You've Got Everything NowSmithsmania was catching on and this was another wild concert. Concert attendance was growing and the crowds were getting more receptive and enthusiastic. The fans shouted comments and praise, requested songs, etc. Morrissey seemed to be feeding off this, he appeared more and more confortable in front of an audience. Support bands were The Telephone Boxes and The Daintees.
What Difference Does It Make?
Handsome Devil
Wonderful Woman
Reel Around The Fountain
These Things Take Time
I Don't Owe You Anything
Hand In Glove
Miserable Lie
/Accept Yourself
/Hand In Glove
//Handsome Devil
When The Smiths entered stage Morrissey greeted the audience with the words "(We're) the delicate Smiths... hello!" He wasn't overall very talkative throughout the evening, but he introduced many songs by shouting their titles with an energy that echoed that of the crowd. At this stage of the Smiths' career "Reel Around The Fountain was the most requested song so it's no surprise that it got the loudest and longest cheer. The song had yet to be released but the Smiths had performed it not long before on John Peel's radio programme and that session had often been repeated by Peel who gave the Smiths a good deal of support, so many fans in the audience were already familiar with the lyrics and sang along.
The drum roll intro to "These Things Take Time" seemed to pick up from the great reception for "Reel Around The Fountain". The Smiths' only single at this point in time was the recently released "Hand In Glove", and on this date the song was introduced by Morrissey with the question "This wasn't a hit... why?". When Morrissey realised that he had made a mistake in the lyrics of "Miserable Lie" he skipped the incorrect line and picked up on the next. That song was at the time the regular main set closer and as had become custom, he ended it with a shout of "goodbye" before he and the band left stage for a break. When the Smiths returned they played "Accept Yourself", and after a quick shout of "here we go again!" they did "Hand In Glove" again. After a second break they were called back again and this time the audience was rewarded with a second helping of "Handsome Devil".
Mike Joyce has since said in an interview that he had been moved to tears by "I Don't Owe You Anything" that night.
A reasonably good audience recording of the complete set is available on bootleg compact discs and in digital format on the internet. A slightly inferior transfer of this recording's first 10 songs is also circulated on CD-Rs and in digital format, often under the titles "Handy For The Smiths" or "Dingwalls London 09-08-1983". Unfortunately the incomplete version is also the more common one of the two, whether on physical or digital support.
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