New Photo Set Added and Why I'll Never Pay Good Money To See Morrissey Again
At the time of writing this post, there are over 5,000 images on Go Live Images. I still have a few thousand unseen images to add and today I'm adding a set of photos from the last Morrissey show that I saw and the last one that I'll ever see.
I'll preface this by saying that I'm a HUGE fan of The Smiths. Though their time in the limelight was short and their output wasn't that extensive, their influence on music is still felt. And they were amazing; their sound was completely original and unique.
Fast forward to Morrissey's solo career. I know that it's somewhat controversial but from the moment that he started doing his own thing, I've loved Morrissey's music. The guy can write a song and that voice...
With that said, Morrissey is a well-documented asshole; he just is. Even the most hardcore Morrissey fans would have a hard time disagreeing. I don't care that much that he's arrogant or brash; I'm not looking to make friends with him. There are three main reasons that I think this:
He cancels a lot of shows. He'll cancel for any reason. "The Show Must Go On" doesn't apply to him. And that bugs me; artists should only cancel as a last resort. Morrissey will cancel a show (or even a tour) if he's got a hangnail.
In the last few years, his political leanings have taken a turn to the extreme right and that's just not okay with me.
His views on vegetarianism are well-documented. That's totally cool with me. Eat or don't eat what you want. But don't push those beliefs on me (and your audience). It's also well-known that Morrissey makes venues remove any meat from the premises or he won't go on.
Quick story...I was at Coachella in 2009 and very excited to see Morrissey perform on the main stage (just before Paul McCartney too!). If you've never been to Coachella, it's hard to put into words just how amazing the vibe is; it's like one big love fest of music, community, and art. Morrissey comes out just after sunset. The first words out of his mouth were, "I smell flesh burning...I hope it's human." Wow. Thanks, Buzz Killington.
Anyway, the last time that I saw Morrissey and will ever see him was June 17, 2015 in Washington DC. The set of photos can be found here. The set started out with a whimper; 6 songs from his solo career that really didn't hit the mark. Then he started "Speedway." I'm not sure if this is his best song but it's in my personal Top 5 Morrissey tracks. I was thrilled to finally hear this performed live as I had never heard it live despite seeing a dozen(ish) Morrissey shows. My excitement quickly waned as Morrissey decided that he wasn't going to be the one to sing. His keyboard player started to sing my favourite Morrissey song. In Spanish. It was a mess. The rhythm of the song was completely thrown off and, regardless of how talented his keyboard player was, I didn't pay money to hear him sing Morrissey songs. As disappointing as it was, that's not the reason why I'll never pay to see Morrissey again.
I'll start by saying that I don't expect to go to a Morrissey show and get a Smiths concert. I'm fine with hearing his solo work. With that said, he always throws in a handful of Smiths songs and the mood in the audience is always elation. This particular night in DC however, he only played one Smiths song and it didn't come until the 18th song in the set. Here's where it gets terrible.
The Smiths song that he chose was "Meat Is Murder." Okay, not my favourite Smiths song but it was still welcome. The problem is that while he was playing this song, the audience was "treated" to a video montage of animals being brutally slaughtered playing across the entire stage. Imagine going to a concert and having to watch video showing animals getting cattle prodded, electrocuted, and sliced up DURING THE SHOW. After a few moments, I actually felt queasy watching so I sat down, on the dirty floor of Echostage. While I was on the floor, I noticed other people doing the same. The mood of the entire place really just took a turn.
I'm a big believer in artists using their platform to convey their beliefs or a message. It's one of the reasons that I love U2 and Bruce Springsteen. But Morrissey crossed a line that
went too far using these videos. I couldn't wait to get out of Echostage that night. I've had the chance to see Morrissey several times since them but passed on all of them. I've seen enough; I'd rather hang onto the good memories than potentially be exposed to this propaganda again.
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