Hand In Glove
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Girl Afraid
This Charming Man
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Still Ill
Barbarism Begins At Home
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Miserable Lie
You've Got Everything Now
Handsome Devil
What Difference Does It Make?
/These Things Take Time
/This Charming Man
//Hand In Glove
///Barbarism Begins At Home

As the Smiths came on stage, Morrissey, dressed in typical 1984 attire of large blouse held by one button, NHS specs and flowers in the back pocket, greeted the audience and launched into "Hand In Glove". After the song, because the floor was blocked for the cameras, he encouraged the fans to "...please come closer, please come closer... come closer... come... come..." After the next song "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", the crowd went into a chant of "Morrissey! Morrissey!".

After "Pretty Girls Make Graves" Morrissey introduced the following song "Thank you, you're delightful... 'Still Ill'!" During that Morrissey ended up writhing on the floor twice, crushing the flowers that were still in his back pocket. The following song was then introduced with "Barbarism begins at home you know..." After its performance Morrissey enquired "Does anybody have anything really intelligent to say?... No?" In "This Night Has Opened My Eyes", Morrissey sang the slightly alternate line "And I'm never happy and I'm never sad". "You've Got Everything Now" was introduced with "This might sound really hard to believe... but you've got everything... now!"

After that song the crowd went into the "Morrissey! Morrissey!" chant again. In "What Difference Does It Make?", Morrissey changed one line to "But now you make me feel so ashamed because I only got two heads". Towards the end of that he removed his shirt, swang it around for a short while and threw it into the crowd, finishing the song, as well as the main set, bare chested.

When the Smiths reentered stage for the first encore, Morrissey exclaimed "Thank you, you're very nice" and the band started "These Things Take Time". After the song Morrissey asked "Any suggestions?", extended the microphone to the first row and had a hard time pulling it back. So far in Europe Morrissey had be sober on lyrical modifications, probably because of the language barrier or because the public wasn't as familiar with the words to appreciate the effect. However in the next song, a second helping of "This Charming Man", Morrissey changed lines to "Will nature makes a mouse of me yet" and "it's gruesome that someone so ugly should care".

At the end of that the Smiths left stage once more, and again fans tried to get on stage while security tried their best to hold them back. After a second encore of "Hand In Glove" and leaving again, the Smiths were called back by a "Morrissey! Morrissey!" chant. As they returned, Morrissey lead them instead in a chant of "Smiths! Smiths! Smiths!". He was successful, even when he asked them to chant "Louder!". During this final encore during which the Smiths did "Barbarism Begins At Home" a second time, Morrissey removed his shirt again and threw it in the audience after giving it a few swings.

This concert was filmed and broadcast on the German television show Rockpalast. The first broadcasts featured the complete setlist minus the second performance of "Hand In Glove". Some re-runs were shortened to 10 or 14 songs, in a different order while other re-runs featured the complete concert. The complete show minus the encores of "This Charming Man" and "Hand In Glove" was also later broadcast on radio by NDR2.

The television footage has made it onto bootleg videos and DVDs. The most widely circulated recording features the complete concert and is also interesting for the backstage footage of the Smiths taking a well deserved break between main set and encore, while the fans in the venue are calling them back. Some of the DVDs in circulation were transfered from VHS tapes recorded in the 1980s while others were produced from an early 21st century rebroadcast on VH2. The original footage from VHS usually features the full set in the proper order while the VH2 rebroadcast was slightly resequenced and some between song footage was trimmed out. The first 7 songs of the set were re-broadcast in digital in 2006 so DVDs from this shortened set are also circulated. Finally the master footage, in digital quality without any tv identification, was leaked onto the internet in 2007 under the title "Crushed Flowers".

The audio from one of the earlier television broadcasts was made available onto the "Girl Afraid" bootleg CD. Because it was produced from a television or radio recording, the sound quality is very good. A bootleg LP simply titled "The Smiths" features what appears to be a recording of the radio broadcast. It lacks "Miserable Lie" as well as the encores of "This Charming Man" and "Hand In Glove" are missing.

"Wilde About The Smiths", a factory pressed cd in digipack, and it vinyl reissue "Hang The DJ (Thrice!)" both feature "Barbarism Begins At Home" from this date alongside many other live tracks, rarities and radio/tv sessions. The exact content of "A Crack On The Head" is unknown, but expected to be the same as that of "Girl Afraid" or "The Smiths".

"Shoplifters From Manchester", a manufactured bootleg cd, features "Hand In Glove", "Girl Afraid", "Barbarism Begins At Home" and "This Charming Man" alongside Troy Tate outtakes, radio sessions as well as live material from 4 February 1983, 6 December 1983, 12 March 1984, 21 April 1984 and 26 August 1986.

"Boyfriend In A Coma", a LP reissue of "Shoplifters From Manchester" with fewer tracks, features "Hand In Glove", "Girl Afraid", "Barbarism Begins At Home" and "This Charming Man" along with Troy Tate outtakes, radio sessions as well as live material from 4 February 1983, 6 December 1983, 12 March 1984, 21 April 1984 and 26 August 1986.

The "Girl Afraid" bootleg is easily found in digital format on the internet.

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