While the British singer, the mack daddy of mope, sang the wanly elegant There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, male and female fans -- with the crowd singing along to the chorus of "To die by your side, the pleasure, the privilege is mine"-- played gentle tackle with security just to get a hug, a kiss or a touch from their idol.

The topper came when someone handed the singer a Mexican flag, eliciting a roar of applause from the crowd. In recent years, the British singer -- who developed a loving, loyal following in the '80s with the Smiths -- has found a new fan base among young Latinos. So it was all there, the old and new Morrissey in one aging but still dapper package.

Performing songs from various parts of his career, including his "grotesque past" as he termed it, Morrissey and his five-piece backing band offered few surprises but played energetically. Opening with the old Smiths chestnut How Soon Is Now, he moved into songs from his new disc, You Are the Quarry, such as I Like You and The World Is Full of Crashing Bores.

While his band was solid, it still seems something is missing without guitarist Johnny Marr -- Morrissey's partner in the Smiths -- by his side. But after a die-hard fan in the crowd said something nasty about Marr and Morrissey responded, "I do understand the sentiment," any Smiths fan nurturing the dream of seeing them ever together again had to be disappointed.

Irish folk singer Damien Dempsey opened with a heartfelt, 25-minute set that ended with a song that seemed to sum up his philosophy: Love Yourself OK.

GRADE: B+