Provinssi Rock Festival, Seinajoki, Finland
Hand In GloveThe Provinssi Rock Festival lasted two days. The Smiths were booked for 5pm on the Sunday. As if Mother Nature wanted to provide her own Manchester backdrop, at the time the Smiths hit the stage, it started to rain.
Nowhere Fast
William, It Was Really Nothing
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
This Charming Man
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Still Ill
I Don't Owe You Anything
Barbarism Begins At Home
Miserable Lie
/You've Got Everything Now
/Handsome Devil
//Jeane
//What Difference Does It Make?
//These Things Take Time
Morrissey greeted the audience by shouting "Hello! We are the Smiths" before the band launched into set opener "Hand In Glove". The two following songs in the set were making their live debuts. First off came "Nowhere Fast" which would not be released for another eight months. Like "Barbarism Begins At Home" which was now six months old, the song would appear on the "Meat Is Murder" album the following year. At this point in time it already featured the same lyrics as the version that would later be recorded, but musically it was sensibly different. The other new song, "William, It Was Really Nothing", followed it in the setlist. The Smiths had just released "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", but they were already introducing its follow-up. The song was also ready lyrically, but would change musically before getting recorded and released the following autumn.
Morrissey wasn't very talkative in Finland. He only thanked the audience here and there, introduced "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" and "Barbarism Begins At Home", and followed the latter with the words "Don't worry about the rain". After the usual encore pairing of "You've Got Everything Now" and "Handsome Devil" the band left stage and were soon cheered back. The second encore started with the recently reintroduced "Jeane", followed in quick succession by "What Difference Does It Make?", the fans given barely enough time to cheer. After one more song, "These Things Take Time", Morrissey simply said "Goodbye, we love you!" and that was it.
Thanks to Matti Viitanen some information.
Various transfers of a good-sounding audience recording of the complete concert are circulated on physical and digital bootlegs (recorder: AK). One of the least interesting transfers is sometimes seen with artwork under the titles "Finland 84" or "Will Nature Make A Man Of Me Yet?". Collectors will prefer the untitled master recording which can only be found for the time being on the internet in digital lossless format.
Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.