Five Smiths songs. Betcha you're kicking yourself for not making the
drive to Hamilton now.
After dropping so many of the "oldies" as Mozzer so quaintly refered to
them, let's face it, any sort of objective criticism went out the window.
And there were more than a few things which could have flown back in
Morrissey's face this night:
3) At 40 or so, Moz isn't
exactly the winsome young turk that made sexually ambiguous hearts flutter
back in The Smiths days. Still, by about the third song in, all of the
potential black marks against this show were rendered moot, showing just
what kind of performance Stephen Patrick could put on.
Moz started out slowly, with a three-pack of mid-tempo numbers that
included "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" and "I Am Hated For Loving." They were
warmly received and prompted the obligatory surge of Moz diehards to the
front of the stage, which was surprisingly easy considering that Hamilton
Place is a soft-seat venue (and yes, everybody was standing throughout the
show, something I'm not sure would have happened if Moz had played in the
more dour surroundings of Massey Hall in Toronto).
Things really got going, however, when the festivities were sped up with
"Billy Budd" and "November Spawned A Monster." By this time Moz had
launched his first sweaty t-shirt into the crowd and had his first
stage-invader.
Throughout it all, Moz was peppering the crowd with witty banter, coy
lines and even some jokes. He was laughing and jovial, and it truly was a
departure from his customary tortured writhing. That injection of humour
just may have been what helped get him over this night as well. We know
Morrissey's days of playing to 12,000 at Maple Leaf Gardens are over, and
you have to admit he's haggaring somewhat. But he's smart enough to know
that if he's getting his people to not only travel an hour from Toronto to
see him, but drop $40 for the privilege of doing so, he better do more than
leave them stewing in a nostalgic fog recalling how that special boy or
girl broke their heart.
I must say though, that nostalgic fog felt pretty good when the band
broke into Smiths' classic "Half A Person." Like a bolt of electricity,
this instantly sent a shock through the crowd. At this point, there were no
more questions about Moz's performance or appearance. Everybody was in the
palm of his hand. From there, the crowd lapped up "Hairdresser On Fire"
(turned into a faux rip on London, Ontario) and "Boxers" before a tempo
change once again with "Now My Heart Is Full."
With the crowd firmly hooked, the stagelights turned a blaring red and
Moz entered into "Meat Is Murder." If the first half of the show was about
a friendlier, Moz-as-entertainer vibe, "Meat Is Murder" brought back all
the morbid loathing that drew all those lonely-yet-haughty-types to The
Smiths so long ago in the first place. Wrenching and poignant, it would
have made a fine conclusion to the evening, except there was still more to
come.
A crowd-stoking "Is It Really So Strange?" and "Alma Matter" closed off
the regularly scheduled program for the evening. But when Moz and the boys
re-emerged at the encore to perform "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody
Loved Me" and "Shoplifters Of The World Unite," the crowd broke into their
biggest singalong of the whole evening in addition to prompting a renewed
rush of stage invaders.
It was something of an abrupt end considering Moz had only just set the
assembled masses into a frenzy, but you're not going to hear much
complaining. About the only thing that could have made the night better
would have been a double shot of "Pretty Girls Make Graves" and "Panic."
And besides, how many times are you ever going to hear the Moz play five
Smiths songs again?
