12-07-09

Well, I attended the Morrissey show at the Oakland paramount and I
have to say it was far better than I even imagined it would be.
There’s something about seeing a show in one of those grand old
venues, it’s just nicer, classier, more well-mannered and my concert
going partner and bitchin rocker about town Mr. Nancy scored front row
balcony tickets so the seats were great. They even let me take my
glass of champagne to my seat so I didn’t have to chug it before being
seated. I also loved that after the first act went off stage no more
than 15 minutes elapsed before the lights went down and it was
Morrissey time. He and his five-piece band sauntered out to huge
cheers from a crowd whose median age was about thirty something and
opened with “This Charming Man” a favorite from his previous band The
Smiths and one of the most homosexually themed chart hits of the 80’s.
I liked the tone he set immediately with that song and a large part
of the audience were on their feet instantly, rejoicing in the answer
to a big question, “Will he do any Smiths songs?” Indeed he did
several, six to be precise and they were interesting choices, not your
run of the mill smattering of their biggest hits, save for “How Soon
Is Now”(which was a super-charged and edgier version, his highly
proficient band breathing new life and drama into the most
over-played song in the Smiths catalogue). Instead he chose “Ask”
“Cemetery Gates” “Death at Ones Elbow” and the one I swooned a bit
over, “Is it Really So Strange.” Well done on the trot down memory
lane.
The rest of the set consisted of selections from his more recent
releases, Swords and Years of Refusal and it was one of the new songs
that completely stood out as the high point of the night, and this was
the very first time I had ever heard it. The song is called
“Ganglord” and I’ve been playing it repeatedly at home and it has
definitely become my current favorite song of the moment. This song
finds our hero pleading with the ganglord for protection from the
Police; “Ganglord the police are kicking their way into my house and
haunting me, taunting me, wanting me to break their laws/ and I’m
turning to you to save me.” He continues with more choice words about
the police and corruption and brutality and ends with “They say to
protect and to serve, but what they really mean to say is get back to
the ghetto.” I was mesmerized by the beauty and plaintive power of
his voice as he sang “Save me, save me, save me” like the fey pale
sensitive Brit that he is, and the scenario of appealing to the
Ganglord for protection is a delicious homage to every literary
instance (Genet for example)of the gay male writers romantic obsession
with the criminal, one Morrissey has explored numerous times with
songs like “Sweet and Tender Hooligan” and “First of the Gang To Die”
which was the one song encore that brought the show to its powerful
close. I kept thinking of the odd similarity that “Ganglord” shared
with the likes of N.W.A’s “Fuck tha Police” or Public Enemy’s “911 is
a joke” and it all just seemed like genius to me. There’s Morrissey
crossing another cultural boundary, like with the huge and unlikely
fan base he has developed with Latin American audiences that I still
don’t understand even after seeing documentary films on the subject
and countless Morrissey full back tattoos on shirtless Cholos all over
Coachello Music Festival. He is a fascinating artist and currently
seems at the peak of his creativity and, believe it or not, happiness!
The famed melancholic seemed never less than effervescent, charming
and delighted to be onstage performing. Could it be? The one whose
words prompted suicide concerns from parents of his teenage fans many
years ago is now coming off as satisfied, witty, jovial and humorous.
I’ve always thought he was terribly funny from the get-go, really.
Yet another of his many wise song choices was “Daddy’s Voice” from
Swords, a song so utterly queer and hilarious it rates among his best.
“Long ago when he was young and restless/ suddenly Daddy saw the
beckoning finger of fate/ Dont make fun of Daddy’s voice/ because he
cant help it/ When he was a teenage boy/ something got stuck in his
throat/ When you’re young you crave affection/ and it can come from
the strangest direction.” The chorus is repeated and then in yet
another stroke of pure genius he repeats the entire song in Spanish
for his massive Latino following who of course love him even more for
it. This is the kind of queer outreach that leaves PFLAG and Lyric
eating dust in a way. It’s insanely funny and it is embraced by
throngs of people. I was so glad he did this song. It really packs a
giant punch and the message is of course open to interpretation but
damn, it can only mean a finite amount of things really and it totally
cracks me up. Morrissey rules for this.
It should also be noted that his band have really progressed and
grown into a seriously tight and complex unit, precision stop/start
timing, multi-layered big walls of sound to pared down acoustic
simplicity and occasional kick ass guitar heroics. The keyboards were
very slick and the drummer had a huge kettle drum and a gong to
incorporate which he did to amazing effect. Morrissey actually seems
to function more as a member of the band rather than a superstar front
man. They seem to be very in tune with each other as a rocking unit
and they seem to be having fun. In all, after this show I felt like a
bigger Morrissey fan than I’ve ever been—undoubtedly. A show that
makes you so certain of something like that is a rare and great thing.
As is this photo of Moz and his band almost naked which graced the
cover of a single released earlier in the year. He’s breaking new
ground all over the place and sounding better than ever.