31 January 1984
University Of Sheffield, Sheffield
Hand In Glove
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Girl Afraid
This Charming Man
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Still Ill
I Don't Owe You Anything
Miserable Lie
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Barbarism Begins At Home
Back To The Old House
What Difference Does It Make?
/Reel Around The Fountain
/You've Got Everything Now
This concert saw the debut live performances of two songs that would only be released four months later, "Girl Afraid" and "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now". "Barbarism Begins At Home" and "Back To The Old House" which had just been introduced before Christmas were maintained on the setlist. None of the above were on the Smiths' debut album that was to be released two weeks after this date. However "I Don't Owe You Anything", which was re-introduced into the set for this gig only, was included on "The Smiths". It hadn't been played since early October. It was also at the time being recorded by Sandie Shaw for future release as a single. However by the time the latter single would see the light of day, the song would only appear on the b-side of Sandie Shaw's recording of another Smiths' song, "Hand In Glove".

The band started with their debut single, "Hand In Glove". The song was to be the standard set opener on most of the upcoming tour. Its intro was extended by a few bars while it was performed in that position. The new additions "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" and "Girl Afraid" were slotted right after, and would be played one after the other for most of the coming dates. At this stage both were slightly different to the versions that would later be released, especially "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" which was differently arranged and had slightly alternate lyrics. The "...Caligula" verse was not sung then, instead Morrissey repeated the "two lovers entwined..." verse. Morrissey also sang "Why do i bother to smile" instead of "why do I smile". After the song Morrissey said "Thank you... that song was called 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'... so?".

The returning "I Don't Owe You Anything" was introduced with "This is a really old song for you". Before "Barbarism Begins At Home", Morrissey announced "Okay this is something you should all know about... it's called SSSHH! it's called 'Barbarism Begins At Home'." The song had already matured a lot since its introduction just before Christmas. It was closer to the version that would eventually be released, but yet still held many differences. The other fairly recent song "Back To The Old House" was presented with the words "Okay this is for all you doomed delicates." Coming back for the encore, Morrissey asked "So what should we do then?" before launching into "Reel Around The Fountain".

 


CD-R bootlegs of this concert are available, occasionally under the title "Doomed Delicates". The sound is fair, but the recording was a bit sped up and Morrissey, when singing "I Don't Owe You Anything", sounds almost like Sandie Shaw! The show can also be found on the internet, sometimes remastered (for pitch and gaps).

 

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