Steven Patrick Morrissey - hard Sparks fan

MAD MOZ BEYOND THUNDERBOWL

All the elements of a going-down-in-history Morrissey concert were there: sold-out behemoth venue, two full hours, tight band, a whopping ten stage-divers, and the pre-show hubbub that always looks like an arts СnТ crafts fair of homemade Moz-inspired get-ups. ItТs one thing to slap on some pomade and cuff your jeans. ItТs another to dress specifically like Marlon Brando from The Wild One.

Wearing a white suit as if he were a killer shark sniffing meat-infested blood, Morrissey opened his third local date with a bang, ripping into УThe Queen is DeadФ while a backdrop of black-and-white James Dean (the king of all cool iconography) pictures watched over him. All the SmithsТ pickinТs were ripe, including the yodel-licious УThe Boy With The Thorn In His Side,Ф where he sounds like heТs climbing a mountain with the von Trapp family, and Johnny MarrТs psychedelic opus УHow Soon Is Now?,Ф which current skinsman Matthew Walker turned into a thunderous powwow. In fact, all the songs were given an extra razzle-dazzle Сem effect: sleazy horns here, more wah wah guitar there. MorrisseyТs also wise about the solo material heТs faithful to, from perennial early classics УEveryday is Like SundayФ and УThe Last of the Famous International PlayboysФ to newer cuts off his last two recent albums, including УIrish Blood, English Heart,Ф УThe First of the Gang to DieФ and УIn the Future When AllТs Well,Ф which easily stand out as some of his best.

MozТs between-song banter can fill an entire album, and he was extra chatty during this show, giving shout-outs to The Cat & Fiddle, the Hollywood British pub where we locals like to stalЕ.uh, accidentally and occasionally spot him and Julia Riley Ц one of those superfan nuts who schleps around with him from tour to tour, and whom Morrissey acknowledges at every stop. (If we didnТt have this darn jobЕ) He shook more hands than Mother Teresa in a leper colony, and when one audience memberТs attempt at stage-diving (which he once described in Mojo magazine as a Уgentle balletФ) failed, he quipped, УNice try.Ф

Despite the generally stellar show, there were a few unintentional LOL and WTF moments, though. First of all, Morrissey has a habit of frequently changing his lyrics, which can get in the way of the sing-along fun. Second, all his signature moves seem to have disappeared: no swinging the microphone cord, no finger wagging, no genuflecting. He occasionally looked listless, and during an extended version of УLife Is a Pigsty,Ф he lay down on stage with his legs resting on the podium. Dramatic effect or nap time? And third, heТs forgotten the art of seduction. The customary removal and tossing of his shirts used to take longer. Where once Morrissey disrobed one button at a time, he now simply rips Сem open with wild and cheesy abandon. MorrisseyТs Boylesque Review or Chippendales? And it doesnТt help that he no longer looks like heТs living off tea and no sympathy. The boy has gotten bigger than others, but our faith in him is still devout.

LA Weekly, http://blogs.laweekly.com/play/?p=103

The Smiths - the name may also be a homage to Patti Smith, one of Morrissey''s idols
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