Morrissey at the Aragon
I had the good fortune of catching Morrissey at the Aragon on November 21st, his only U.S. performance this fall. I loved that marketing. So essentially, he could play Chicago 8 times in January, right? It's winter then.
I wish I had some quality pics but my sidekick isn't exactly a Grade A picture machine. It's not really a Grade A anything but it still kicks major ass. That's a post for another time though. If I had pictures you would have seen good old Moz looking great despite a nice little paunch up front, performing with gusto (wearing a pink shirt until he changed just like the one I was rocking under my sweater vest) with 5 pretty young boys in the band behind and a sea of maturing Moz fans in front of him. He ended up taking his shirt off at one point and quickly replacing it with a new one. This was a good plan. The replacing I mean. If he went shirtless the whole show, it might not have been a pretty picture. Still, the man has sort of a timeless look, especially on stage in a darkened venue.
The average age was definitely higher than 22 which was a nice change from many concerts that you go to. I've got nothing against the youth of America, I just prefer not to be spilled on, burned, or otherwise roughed up. Consider my last Morrissey concert where I was crammed into a 2x oversold Riv with at least a few people who though Morrissey was the sort of performer you moshed to. No amount of scouring the night sky would reveal the planet these people must have flown in from. Moz had decided early in this tour (Alma Matters) that he wasn't exactly pleased to be doing this jaunt through the United States and it showed. He was a grumpy dude. He came out, sang for 35 minutes and didn't even do an encore despite tremendous wailing from the crowd. The entire time I was pinned against 3 people I didn't know and one that I did, one of the strangers could have really used a Bliss Body Bar. I vowed never to see him in concert again. Yet, there I was on November 21st and it was hard to believe I had ever considered not coming.
To say that I'm a big Morrissey fan is just a silly understatement. Like many people near my age who gravitated to Morrissey in The Smiths era and beyond, the music was like something I'd never heard before. When Morrissey sang, you knew what he was talking about even if you didn't exactly and somehow, you just knew that he understood. Whatever you were going through, he understood. In reality, he probably doesn't for most of us, but I never would have said that then. For me in particular, I found this music as a teenager. I was the kind of kid that was sort of nerdy, shy, and pretty frustrated with my surroundings. I was into school and fancied myself some sort of smartish guy. I didn't really buy in to a lot of the stuff going around me and even though I had great friends I still sort of felt alone much of the time. Being an only child with divorced parents probably didn't help there.
I'm not going to get into personal psychoanalysis. I will say a few things though. Listening to Morrissey is depressing to many people. These are usually people that don't really get him. They think it's sort of "complaint rock" to borrow a phrase from Clueless. I have never really seen it that way. Maybe I should, and maybe I'm actually in the wrong here. It doesn't much matter really. When I listened to it I just felt at peace. Knowing that there was even one other person out there having thoughts that you couldn't even elucidate yourself but that you've had many times is a great feeling. For that reason, Morrissey is happy music for me and really it always was. I suspect I'm not alone from all of the smiles last Tuesday as I looked around.
The set was great. The man has decided to incorporate Smiths songs into his set, which I applaud. I love Johnny Marr and everything, but the closest I'm ever getting to an actual Smiths show I realize is what I just saw. If all I heard was the opening song - Panic, it would have been worth the price of admission. When you throw in William, It Was Really Nothing and my favorite Morrissey solo song Everyday is Like Sunday, well you couldn't rip the grin from my face. Morrissey was completely fantastic. It was truly a throwback performance in my opinion. The song that really got me was Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, I even teared up a bit. Halfway through I realized that I don't really use this music to lift my spirits these days and I haven't for some time. I mostly just remind myself of times gone by when I toss it on. I'm happy with where I am. If Panic was worth the price of admission, that realization was worth much, much more.
One more little comment here...at one point in the show, Morrissey had a little commentary about how the U.S. press never talks about him. This is because his average fan (outside of all the Latino young men in L.A.) is a formerly angst-ridden youngster who now finds his/herself in their early to mid-30's. This isn't exactly the demographic that elevates you to triple platinum and blows the magazines off the shelf. I'm with you Moz, but you just aren't an icon here in the States. This just isn't going to change. It's not insult in a country that loves NASCAR and Britney Spears. It really isn't.
I wish I had some quality pics but my sidekick isn't exactly a Grade A picture machine. It's not really a Grade A anything but it still kicks major ass. That's a post for another time though. If I had pictures you would have seen good old Moz looking great despite a nice little paunch up front, performing with gusto (wearing a pink shirt until he changed just like the one I was rocking under my sweater vest) with 5 pretty young boys in the band behind and a sea of maturing Moz fans in front of him. He ended up taking his shirt off at one point and quickly replacing it with a new one. This was a good plan. The replacing I mean. If he went shirtless the whole show, it might not have been a pretty picture. Still, the man has sort of a timeless look, especially on stage in a darkened venue.
The average age was definitely higher than 22 which was a nice change from many concerts that you go to. I've got nothing against the youth of America, I just prefer not to be spilled on, burned, or otherwise roughed up. Consider my last Morrissey concert where I was crammed into a 2x oversold Riv with at least a few people who though Morrissey was the sort of performer you moshed to. No amount of scouring the night sky would reveal the planet these people must have flown in from. Moz had decided early in this tour (Alma Matters) that he wasn't exactly pleased to be doing this jaunt through the United States and it showed. He was a grumpy dude. He came out, sang for 35 minutes and didn't even do an encore despite tremendous wailing from the crowd. The entire time I was pinned against 3 people I didn't know and one that I did, one of the strangers could have really used a Bliss Body Bar. I vowed never to see him in concert again. Yet, there I was on November 21st and it was hard to believe I had ever considered not coming.
To say that I'm a big Morrissey fan is just a silly understatement. Like many people near my age who gravitated to Morrissey in The Smiths era and beyond, the music was like something I'd never heard before. When Morrissey sang, you knew what he was talking about even if you didn't exactly and somehow, you just knew that he understood. Whatever you were going through, he understood. In reality, he probably doesn't for most of us, but I never would have said that then. For me in particular, I found this music as a teenager. I was the kind of kid that was sort of nerdy, shy, and pretty frustrated with my surroundings. I was into school and fancied myself some sort of smartish guy. I didn't really buy in to a lot of the stuff going around me and even though I had great friends I still sort of felt alone much of the time. Being an only child with divorced parents probably didn't help there.
I'm not going to get into personal psychoanalysis. I will say a few things though. Listening to Morrissey is depressing to many people. These are usually people that don't really get him. They think it's sort of "complaint rock" to borrow a phrase from Clueless. I have never really seen it that way. Maybe I should, and maybe I'm actually in the wrong here. It doesn't much matter really. When I listened to it I just felt at peace. Knowing that there was even one other person out there having thoughts that you couldn't even elucidate yourself but that you've had many times is a great feeling. For that reason, Morrissey is happy music for me and really it always was. I suspect I'm not alone from all of the smiles last Tuesday as I looked around.
The set was great. The man has decided to incorporate Smiths songs into his set, which I applaud. I love Johnny Marr and everything, but the closest I'm ever getting to an actual Smiths show I realize is what I just saw. If all I heard was the opening song - Panic, it would have been worth the price of admission. When you throw in William, It Was Really Nothing and my favorite Morrissey solo song Everyday is Like Sunday, well you couldn't rip the grin from my face. Morrissey was completely fantastic. It was truly a throwback performance in my opinion. The song that really got me was Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, I even teared up a bit. Halfway through I realized that I don't really use this music to lift my spirits these days and I haven't for some time. I mostly just remind myself of times gone by when I toss it on. I'm happy with where I am. If Panic was worth the price of admission, that realization was worth much, much more.
One more little comment here...at one point in the show, Morrissey had a little commentary about how the U.S. press never talks about him. This is because his average fan (outside of all the Latino young men in L.A.) is a formerly angst-ridden youngster who now finds his/herself in their early to mid-30's. This isn't exactly the demographic that elevates you to triple platinum and blows the magazines off the shelf. I'm with you Moz, but you just aren't an icon here in the States. This just isn't going to change. It's not insult in a country that loves NASCAR and Britney Spears. It really isn't.
posted by chrismilone @ 1:52 PM
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