Morrissey - London Royal Albert Hall, October 27th 2009 [LIVE]

November 2, 2009, 12:14 AM

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“The doctor said I shouldn’t smile. I told him I don’t.” Yes, you guessed it: it’s a Morrissey’s gig. Grumpy old men and women of London are tonight reunited at the Royal Albert Hall, to moan together under the excellent direction of their favourite British star.

The Smiths’ icon makes his comeback after collapsing on stage in Swindon and cancelling next day’s gig in Bournemouth; I suppose cancelling Royal Albert Hall for the second time (this was rescheduled from May, when again he fell ill) would have been too much...

Is this show going to happen? So far it’s all confirmed. Is he going to show up? “Fasten your seat belt, it’s going to be a bumpy ride”... Yeah, here he is. Is he going to make it to the end? Let’s wait and see. He does make it to the end of ‘This Charming Man,’ which is more than his Swindon fans can say.

The chosen background is one of Morrissey's typical old, black and white classic movie pictures, this time the actor in question is Italian Walter Chiari in his very early days. The audience is exactly what you would expect from a Morrissey gig at the Royal Albert Hall: a quiet, ordinate English middle class crowd, mostly over 35 years old professionals, who can afford to pay over forty pounds for a gig and bother spending fifteen on an album of tracks that were left aside in the first place. If they were not good enough then, why would they be now? And do we really have to listen to them live?

All questions really have no answer but one: it is Morrissey we’re looking at. You love him or hate him, and if you love him, you’re at the Royal Albert Hall tonight, hoping he can hold on as long as possible on that stage. You put up with the forgettable b-sides like ‘Ganglord’ to enjoy unforgettable classics like ‘How soon is now.’ You worry in silence when he goes down at the end of it and lies there for a while, and sigh in relief when he gets up again with a sarcastic “Thank you Swindon.” You listen to his rants about the non existence of vegetarian celebrity TV chefs and cheer, while dreaming a double cheeseburger. You don’t laugh when he takes his t-shirt off after ‘I’m ok by myself,’ and hope to be at least a bit like him in your fifties instead. And you don’t complain and ask for your money back when, after just under seventy-five minutes, it’s all over, including the encore ‘First Gang To Die.’

So, was it all worth it? Listen to the notes of ‘Nowhere fast’ filling the Royal Albert Hall: of course it was! It’s Morrissey. He’s gloomy and grey like London’s sky, he doesn’t look too happy to be here and maybe he couldn’t be too bothered to finish that gig in Swindon, who knows, but that’s who he is and how his fans have always known and loved him.

He made it to the end. The Royal Albert Hall, management and promoters are probably sighing in relief right now. The audience slowly makes its way out into the streets of London. They feel lucky tonight, reaching the nearest pub to raise a glass to the poor Swindoners and grabbing a kebab on the way back home. Long live the Moz.

Setlist

1. This Charming Man
2. Black Cloud
3. When Last I Spoke To Carol
4. How Soon Is Now?
5. Ganglord
6. Cemetry Gates
7. I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
8. Teenage Dad On His Estate
9. Nowhere Fast
10. Irish Blood, English Heart
11. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself
12. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
13. Death At One's Elbow
14. The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
15. Is It Really So Strange?
16. The Loop
17. Because Of My Poor Education
18. I'm OK By Myself
19. First Of The Gang To Die

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