'Hours fly like minutes...' - Morrissey at Alexandra Palace review: 5.11.09

After the rough start to his 'Years of Refusal' tour back in May, Morrissey's reschedules were once again faced with trouble. His 'collapse' at Swindon Oasis in October led many to think that this would be it as far as the rest of the tour was concerned. But due to demand the Mozzer was able to add another date to his UK schedule as the last of his 5 London appearances this year, (3 Brixton Academy dates, 1 Royal Albert Hall date & 1 Alexandra Palace date)and is now promoting his B-Sides collection, 'Swords'.

On this occasion I was lucky enough to stand, where as at RAH, I felt somewhat disconnected and distanced from the atmosphere of the crowd below, and the band...the circle seats at the RAH felt cold and separate... was it perhaps the uninspired ambience around me? Or did they feel the same the same detachedness ?

At what seemed to be a near sell out crowd was first met with 'Doll and the Kicks'. An interesting band with good pop, Bjorke-sque vocals. The lead singer 'doll' was casting a rather interesting and aptly named silhouette as the focused spotlight created a mannequin - toy like performance on the backdrop. Having never heard their music before this gig; as I missed them at the RAH, I thought the Brighton four-piece had a heavy bass lading groove, with indie flavoured guitar licks and a solid beat that laid the platform for Doll's 'Gwen Stefani' like phrasing and confident stage moves.

Catch them on myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/dollandthekicks



'Doll's mannequin shadow'

It was time for the main act, and Morrissey's entrance was greeted with a strong applause and cheer as the 50 year old Mancunian belted into a heavier guitar based version (as he is known to do) of The Smiths classic; 'This Charming Man'. The crowd were in good spirits and Morrissey was in good conversation and joking which was a good sign. Having said this, his performance although strong was at times dubious, as he mumbled certain words, or shunned them out at times as if out of breath. This did not however over power the concert. As new tracks such as 'I'm Throwing my arms around Paris', or the Smiths 'Is It Really So Strange?' proved to be great crowd sing a longs and were played with justice and emotion. Certain B-Sides were also met with strong rapture, as 'Ganglord' worked fantastically with Morrissey's lyrics and the light show. 'How Soon Is Now?' was also a great example and demonstrated the strength behind the band's technical crew, as Jesse Tobias replicated Johnny Marr's tremolo anthemic intro to the flashing epileptic lighting effects. The band with 'Boz' as musical director were certainly on form and were the backbone for Morrissey's emotionally delivered singing. However the occasional questionable moments did beg whether he has returned to full fitness or whether this was a one off? Every artist has moments where minor mistakes are uncontrollable and this could have very well been the case, and let's hope so, as Morrissey still has a Liverpool date to complete as well as U.S stretch of his now titled 'SWORDS' tour.

Plenty of info and debate here : http://www.morrissey-solo.com/

Set List:

This Charming Man / Black Cloud / When Last I Spoke To Carol / Is It Really So Strange? / First Of The Gang To Die / Ganglord / Cemetry Gates / I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris / Teenage Dad On The Estate / Ask / Moon Over Kentucky / How Soon Is Now? / Because Of My Poor Education / One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell / Death At One's Elbow / The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores / The Loop / Irish Blood, English Heart / I'm OK By Myself // Something Is Squeezing My Skull




'The British Icon in the spotlight'