9 June 1985
Kingswood Theatre, Toronto, Canada
William, It Was Really Nothing
Nowhere Fast
I Want The One I Can't Have
What She Said
Handsome Devil
How Soon Is Now?
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
Stretch Out And Wait
Shakespeare's Sister
Rusholme Ruffians
The Headmaster Ritual
Hand In Glove
Still Ill
Meat Is Murder
/Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
/This Charming Man
//Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
//Miserable Lie
The Smiths' first visit to Canada went very well, they already had a very good following in Toronto. The audience was a bit subdued at first, but the fans quickly lost their shyness (after Morrissey's encouragement) and before the end of the show, they were conquered. The 18-track setlist was the same as it had been in Chicago and Detroit, but a few songs were switched with others in the order they were played.

Before "What She Said", Morrissey invited the fans with "Thank you, don't be so shy, come closer... please, come closer". Shortly after, before "How Soon Is Now?", he more or less returned to the subject: "Please don't be frightened... don't be frightened by security... they're just big marshmellows really...". The lesser known "Stretch Out And Wait" was introduced with "This song is called 'Stretch Out And Wait'." Then "Shakespeare's Sister", which was a recent single in the UK and Europe, was presented with the words "This song was released as a b-side here... ha ha ha ha... 'Shakespeare's Sister'." Before "Rusholme Ruffians", Morrissey repeated again "You're very shy...". "Still Ill" was introduced with "This is a song about our favourite subject... 'Still Ill'." Then "Meat Is Murder" which was next and the last song of the main set was preceded by this dedication: "This song is dedicated to all you chubby little sausages... you know who you are..."

During the encore, Morrissey, as he usually did, took liberties with certains songs. In "This Charming Man" he sang "It's gruesome that someone so ugly should care" and in "Miserable Lie" he changed a line to "I'd really like to see your underwear". Johnny also took certain liberties with those older songs. For example, "This Charming Man" was performed without the breaks in rhythm, as it had been written and played very early on. "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" was played the same way it had been done in Ireland in November 1984. The second verse was repeated and the song ended abruptly without the instrumental outro. However, this rendition was much better than on earlier live performances.

 


A reasonably good quality audience recording of the full concert has made it onto fanmade bootleg CD-Rs and from there, onto file sharing networks.

 

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