Morrissey - Sydney - December 11 2023

The Smiths were my favourite band. They probably still are (although it’s hard having a favourite band who haven’t recorded anything in 36 years). So I’d never pass up the opportunity of seeing Morrissey live. I find his solo material inconsistent, although there have been enough great songs to easily fill a concert many times over. Love him or hate him (and there are plenty in both categories), Morrissey is an iconic figure. At the beginning of the show he struck me as being a little unwell, and I feared we’d get a shortened performance. But perhaps he was just feeling the heat (Sydney had been very hot the previous few days), and as the songs progressed, he seemed to pick up, drawing his energy from the crowd. In the end we actually got one more song than his previous shows, 20 in total. I recorded nine, although not the nine I’d originally planned on: Suedehead (00:13) How Soon Is Now? (04:45) Irish Blood, English Heart (09:35) Girlfriend in a Coma (12:17) Our Frank (14:21) Jack the Ripper (17:50) Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want (22:10) Everyday Is Like Sunday (26:37) Sweet and Tender Hooligan (30:32) This was my third time seeing Morrissey but the first time I’ve tried videoing one of his performances. It was far from an easy experience. A camera malfunction and a significantly rearranged setlist kept me on my toes, causing me to miss a couple of the songs I’d really hoped to record, and most noticeable with this upload, the beginning of “How Soon is Now?”. Still, all things being considered, I think I’ve caught much of the excitement of what some of his diehard fans online are saying was the best concert of this tour.