St. Louis - a few remarks
by Carter Smolik and Don
Rowe
| Well, what can I really say? The
return of Moz to St. Louis was a highly anticipated event made all the more special by the
appearance of the ubiquitous concert aficionado Beatle Bob in all of his polyester and
1964-haired glory. The set list was exactly the same as it was in Tulsa, much to my delight because it was quite different from the Chicago show, the only other one I’ve seen on the tour. Morrissey himself seemed almost chatty, if a bit bewildered, asking "how many people are here from Kansas City?" (loud roar) "Why?" (loud roar) "You actually got on a plane... that’s incredible" and later asking "Do you like this venue?" (louder roar) "Why?" The funniest moment of the evening was his preface to "Paint A Vulgar Picture" where he said "some of you may know that I was formerly the lead singer of a group called Siouxsie and the Banshees" – much mirth and merriment ensued, if you can believe that. The most priceless moment of the evening came at the "Shoplifters" encore, however, where Moz decided to rip off his shirt and fling it into the crowd, thereby answering the question of whether or not he really is human... and he seems to be... Minor disappointments were the total lack of any stage action, and a very, very limited amount of flowers – in Chicago there were tons of flowers and I really missed them this time. I also didn’t have a very good view of the shadow Morrissey monster image during "Ambitious Outsiders", but really, you know, how many Morrissey shadow monsters can one take in a lifetime? Sometimes enough is too much, I suppose. The crowd overall was fine, but seemed somehow to expect more Smiths tunes, as if they were unfamiliar with the fact that Morrissey has more solo work than songs with that band. But hey, we’re Midwestern and should catch up someday. I know it’s gonna happen someday... Carter Smolik and Don Rowe |