'40-Years of Morrissey' Fall Tour, 18 shows, 14 cities, with 4-nights in the big apple at The United Palace, all sold-out.
"Come on, ride the train, train, and ride it." We are going uptown tonight, get on the train.
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| "One of Manhattan's Largest, Most Spectacular Theaters" |
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| Photos by Rich Rickaby |
It has survived everything from one fad to the next, The United Palace has rolled with the changes from vaudeville fading in popularity to the invention of television, where people left their houses less. Next wave was movie popularity when people went out every weekend to VHS and DVD's where it kept them inside again. This place has seen it all and it is still standing. Thank goodness. Check out their website for full concert schedule and tour info here.
Morrissey's back! Yay! His full name is Steven Patrick Morrissey. He is Irish, born in England hence the song 'Irish Blood, English Heart', which we did get to hear that night. He became well known as the lyricist for the 80's new wave/ rock band The Smiths. Guitarist Johnny Marr was the other half of their great songwriting team. They wrote emotional, melancholy, dark stuff yet relatable and danceable, which is the most important thing. If they can dance to it they'll love it.
Our tickets were in the very last row, the very last two seats, stage left on the very last night of the tour and we were thrilled to be there. We made it. He's been a solo act for over 30-years and tonight he is going to perform a selection from both his solo career and from his time he spent with The Smiths. He opened with 'We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful'. And it's true, we do. We all like to think we are 100% supportive of our friends and we are up until... Then that little green monster known as envy rears its head.
The backing band Morrissey put together was made up of some really gifted, talented musicians that he hand selected. All of them had great charisma and stage presence as well. Most, are newer to the band as it looks like there was a major personnel change during the pandemic down time. One constant member, lead guitarist Jesse Tobias, has been with Morrissey since 2005, 18-years now. Other than that every one else is relatively new; Brendan Buckley on drums, Juan Galeano on bass, Camila Grey on keys and Carmen Vandenberg on rhythm guitar. They each did a phenomenal job, tip of the hat to them all, kudos even.
A few more tunes from his solo career, 'Suedehead' and 'Alma Matters' before he got to the first The Smiths song 'Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before'. The audience was loving everything he was doing. One of the more memorable ditties from the evening is from his solo work, 'I Wish You Lonely.' Then a few more The Smith songs 'How Soon Is Now?', 'Girlfriend In A Coma'. The evening was sailing along greatly.
One song he/they did perform was 'The Loop'. Coincidentally, the first time I ever heard of The Smiths was at a club called The Loop. It was in Lido Beach on Long Island. The name of the club was the Malibu, but on Tuesday nights they changed the name to The Loop for the alternative radio station, WLIR, and all of its listeners. (Us weird ones.) Donna Donna used to host the weekly spotlight dance, Larry The Duck guest DJ'd sometimes as did Malibu Sue and Savo ran the lights. Good times.
Next up was 'Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want' watch it here.
He had great energy throughout and was engaging. The encore was another The Smiths classic 'Sweet And Tender Hooligan.' The entire performance was just shy of 2-hours, no opening band. I would definitely recommend checking out his website here to find out when the next tour starts.
