The man is absolutely gutted that he missed Morrissey, one of his childhood idols. I'm ambivalent about Morrissey. I was never into him during that era. it's The Smiths whom I like. Their music defined my childhood (Not The Beatles for me). The Smiths, to me, aren't about Morrissey. It's a combination of Morrissey plus Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke. Seeing or hearing one without the rest isn't going to be the same even if the vocals remain identical. But there's no even a whiff of a chance to see The Smiths in Singapore. Morrissey would have to do.
The few of us are clearly not the most appreciative audience. While those opening videos of 60s and 70s rock icons were rather awesome, it wasn't cool to make the audience wait for 45 minutes in the sweltering heat before the first of those videos was played. Many shouted "ENOUGH!" We were grouchy lah. Morrissey came onto stage at 9pm. Finally. We were not at all sympathetic to his extreme perspiration in the still air. You can sweat along with the rest of us. I was in dri-fit, and dripping buckets.
The opening song was 'How Soon Is Now'. He's still got the jewel voice. For a while, I was transported back to childhood. But when the guitars went on, in that moment, I know I miss The Smiths, not Morrissey. As the evening went on, I was certain of it. 'Shoplifters of the World Unite'! Many of the friends aren't exactly fans of Morrissey, but they've a soft spot for The Smiths. So tonight, it was more about soaking in the nostalgia. Good gawwd, here we go again. That word. Nostalgia. When Morrissey changed into his third shirt of the night, I beat a hasty retreat to the wide space at the back of the sound booth. The collective body heat at the front of the stage was ridiculous. This wasn't some 9°C night when I wouldn't mind human heat. There were plenty of inconsiderate people right up front. I refused to have my head knocked a third time or have hair (that wasn't mine) whipped into my face. Went off to buy a brow-raising S$5 bottle of water to hydrate, and to the merchandise booth to shell out S$50 for a tee for the man. Didn't buy the Asian tour black tee because it looked really crappy. The other white one was decent.
Morrissey didn't make any public announcements nor write a letter to our government to push his social causes. Hmmm. How unexciting. When the encore rolled around with 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me', I was more than ready to go home. I found no magic tonight. No shimmering stardust. The dude was encroaching into my bedtime for the week, and I hadn't had dinner.
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