28 October 1983
Mandela Hall, King's College, London
Handsome Devil
Still Ill
This Charming Man
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Miserable Lie
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
What Difference Does It Make?
Reel Around The Fountain
Hand In Glove
This was overall a great concert. The Smiths were headliners but negative comments such as "Get off the fuckin' stage!" were still shouted by people in the audience. A box of daffodils had been placed at the side of the stage just before the band went on and these were tossed into the crowd as the concert progressed. By the end of the show there were flowers all over the place. Two bands opened for the Smiths, one of which may have been called The High Five. Tickets were £2.50

After set opener "Handsome Devil" Morrissey simply greeted the audience with a roaring "Hello!". Throughout the show he wasn't very talkative, limiting his banter to a rare "Thank you" here and a song title there. In this spirit he introduced "This Charming Man" with the brief "New record, 'This Charming Man'". There was a false start for "Pretty Girls Make Graves" and Morrissey had to shush the audience before the band tried it again. After the song he said "John! Very charming..." and introduced "Miserable Lie". There must have been fans in the crowd who did appreciate the Smiths because "Reel Around The Fountain" was very well received and the concert ended with a stage invasion of approximately 30 people. Marr's guitar was still working despite the number of fans stomping around on his lead. After the final song Morrissey thanked the audience with a quick "Goodbye! Thank you..." before he and the rest of the band left.

Most of this information was provided by Patrick Nicholson.

 


A rather tinny audience recording of the complete set is circulated on bootleg CDs and in digital format on the internet, via different transfers from tapes of varying generation. The best transfer out there is from a first generation tape. A slightly inferior transfer is circulated with artwork under the title "King's College". On the internet the best transfer is usually found in lossless formats while the MP3s and WMAs which are more widely circulated are from inferior sources.

 

Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.