The Dears Win Morrissey's Approval, Invited To Play KROQ Gig In L.A.

When ChartAttack's old pals The Dears got invited to open for Morrissey at his recent Toronto show, it was a dream come true. Only a complete musical ignoramus would deny that The Dears' melodramatic pop is deeply influenced by Morrissey and The Smiths, so The Dears' Murray Lightburn was elated and flattered when he learned that the Mozzer himself had personally chosen the band to back him up at the Hummingbird Centre.

Of course, opening slots don't usually amount to much, so Dears fans reveled in the pleasure of seeing their favourite band play with the godfather of fey pop and assumed that the characteristically aloof Morrissey greeted Lightburn and co. with a polite handshake and little else.

Well, it turns out that Moz really dug The Dears. A lot.

When we heard rumours that people from the Sanctuary/Morrissey camp showed up at a T.O. HMV looking for The Dears' back catalogue we were encouraged, but assumed that Mozzer's reported love for all things Lightburn was grossly exaggerated. It's now been revealed that Morrissey has put his money where his mouth is and is about to introduce The Dears to a whole new population of fans.

This Sunday (Halloween, y'all) The Dears will join Morrissey at a special show in Los Angeles hosted by legendary radio station KROQ. The show, held at the Glen Helen Hynundai Pavilion, will see The Dears playing an opening (and hopefully, given the circumstances, politically-charged) set before the Mozzer takes the stage. There are no other opening bands on the bill.

Seeing as Los Angeles is Morrissey's biggest market outside of the U.K., this is a pretty big score for our Dears. And the timing couldn't be better — immediately after the L.A. show, the band will hop on a plane to begin their U.K. and European tour on November 1.