Morrissey Consumated

A little more than 2 decades ago a friend introduced me to The Smiths. Of course this was right around the time the band broke up. Until Wednesday I had never seen Morrissey live.

I left work a little early and Dan and I went to Tyler's to get some dinner and a few drinks before the show.

Morrissey wasn't going on until 8:35. We missed the first few songs actually - he did go on a little early...

So, sometime during the show people started running up on to the stage to embrace Morrissey before they were dragged off the stage by bouncers. In general the count seems to be 'at least 10 people' and I saw the bouncer guys crouched and ready to run on either side of the stage.

I did notice that people who ran on the stage did get to return to the audience. I wasn't sure if those who got to embrace Morrissey were forever removed, but appears he took it in stride, even mentioning that this is as close as he gets to S E X. Makes me think of a good friend from my youth - Rachel - who grabbed Peter Murphy's (former front man of Bauhaus) crotch at a concert.

I wasn't there. I was grounded.

Some of the lyrics were changed to better suit the situation -

From the song "How Soon Is Now" the lyric
"See, i've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone"
became:
'See, i've already waited too long
And most my life is gone"

He also made a sarcastic / dry comment after the lyric:

"So you go, and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home, and you cry
And you want to die"

Something to the effect that this was, of course, different from every other night out. Where you don't leave on your own. Right.

And the most interesting one to me was where this lyric:

"You could meet somebody who really loves you"

was changed to '....somebody who really likes you'.

Maybe he's just more realistic or more jaded about love?

Sometimes I forget about Morrissey and The Smiths, but when I do hear a song I realize I still know all the lyrics and I feel like I'm listening to the soundtrack of my youth. Some of it I miss, some of it I desperately want to forget. But Morrissey makes it all seem so tragically romantic.

I can't be the only one. It's been over 20 years for most of us and people are still throwing themselves onto the stage...