Universal Amphitheater, Studio City, Los Angeles, CA
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I WantThe Los Angeles shows were the wildest ones of the North American tour of 1986. The audience for this particular date was incredibly receptive and there was a good deal of stage climbing. Of course the band fed off this energy and gave a great show. Morrissey, when questioned about the LA concerts, in retrospect: "The first night in LA, they brought in the police. The second night they had to bring in the army. People were so responsive - I had to be dragged off the stage several times. It was really insane."
Still Ill
I Want The One I Can't Have
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
How Soon Is Now?
Frankly, Mr. Shankly
Panic
Stretch Out And Wait
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Is It Really So Strange?
Cemetry Gates
Never Had No One Ever
What She Said (with Rubber Ring intro and outro)
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
Meat Is Murder
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Reel Around The Fountain
The Queen Is Dead
/Money Changes Everything
/I Know It's Over
//Hand In Glove
//Bigmouth Strikes Again
For the third consecutive night the Smiths made changes to the setlist. The recently reintroduced "Rusholme Ruffians" was dropped and in its place "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" and "Reel Around The Fountain" were added. The former was played for the first time since the very first dates of this tour while the latter was played for the first time since the summer of 1985. It would never be played again after this.
Morrissey wasn't very talkative until new composition "Panic" which he introduced with the simple words "This song is new... 'Panic'..." After that song he told the audience "We're enjoying you immensely (crowd cheers)... This song is called 'Stretch Out And Wait'." Requests were being shouted left and right, but he still asked "Any requests?" before going into "Is It Really So Strange?". He changed a line in the latter number to "Oh yes you can ban me, and you can butt me". After the song he answered someone in the audience: "Which... obviously it is... what?... 'Still Ill'?"
"Never Had No One Ever" was introduced with the sarcastic "This is another song off our latest LP which you no doubt hear constantly on the radio..." Requests were shouted from the audience following "Meat Is Murder" and Morrissey answered one of them with "Which? Which one?... 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'?... Okay..." He seemed to accept the request but in fact the song just happened to be the next planned one. After the latter number he told the crowd "Don't feel too restricted... I do..."
When he rejoined the band on stage after the instrumental "Money Changes Everything" Morrissey said "We would like to say thank you to all the people who came to both nights... yes, which was obviously every one of you, thank you!" The band seemed genuinely happy with how well they were received and this is probably why the final song "Bigmouth Strikes Again" was significantly extended with bits of improvisation by Morrissey and the rest of the Smiths.
The infamous "Thank Your Lucky Stars" bootleg is credited under this date, but it is actually from the following show in Irvine.
A reasonably good audience recording of this concert is available on audio bootlegs via at least two different transfers, both of which available in at least two levels of 'remastering'. These were produced from tapes a few generations down from the master and sound reasonably good, although the final two songs generally sound inferior to the rest (they sound like they may have been recorded from a different position). One of these transfers lacks the second half of "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and perhaps some minor bits of banter here and there, while the other may have had a few between song segments removed. In 2004 a fan put together a double cd set titled "The Longuest Day" which combines everything available from the different transfers in circulation. However some of the sound quality was lost in the process.
The manufactured bootleg cd "Shoplifters From Manchester" features "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want", "Never Had No One Ever", "The Queen Is Dead" and "Money Changes Everything" from this concert 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 4 May 1984.
The latter title was later reissued on a bootleg LP titled "Boyfriend In A Coma", but with fewer tracks. The LP only features "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" from this date 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 4 May 1984. Another 21st century bootleg LP, this one titled "Blessings Of The Highest Order", features "Never Had No One Ever", "The Queen Is Dead" and "Money Changes Everything" from this show.
The "Selling Ice Cream" bootleg is credited as being from Los Angeles 1986, but it is actually from Oxford 18 March 1985.
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