Ringleader of the Tormented

Concert Review: Morrissey

by John Vettese

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Published: Mar 24, 2009

concert review

John Vettese (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Maybe I'm late to arrive at this conclusion, but that bit about "a shyness that is criminally vulgar" is a bunch of crap.

In a demonstrative performance at the Academy of Music on Sunday, Stephen Patrick Morrissey moved furiously around the stage free of anything resembling reticence. He worked an Elvis strut, waltzed gallantly with his microphone cable, tore off a breakaway shirt at the crescendo of "Let Me Kiss You" and sang in a pitch-perfect, emphatic tenor that remains in top form, 27 years into his career.

A slight majority of his set list pulled from the new Years of Refusal and 2004's You Are the Quarry, but he dug so deeply into his catalog elsewhere — solo Moz as well as Smiths — that the adoration was pronounced, from the parquet up to the balcony.

Which is the other reason I can't buy the introverted act. He might joke "this isn't a rock concert, this is theater," but when you're seeing Morrissey live, just as much entertainment can be found offstage — in the enthralled, adoring audience swooning and handing him flowers or vinyl copies of Sinatra records.

Some rush the stage for a hug and get wrestled violently to the ground by security.

Some stand in front with hands outstretched hoping he'll honor them with his touch.

Some sit back and thrill to the fact that he's digging out "The Loop" (the b-side to "Sing Your Life") and "I Keep Mine Hidden" (the b-side to "Girlfriend in a Coma," as well as the last song The Smiths recorded).

His fans might seem a bit obsessive, but Morrissey totally cultivates that obsessiveness. During a breathtaking rendition of "The Death of a Disco Dancer," his band — described by the ever-Twittering ?uestlove as looking "like the male version of Palmer's 'Addicted To Love'" video — moved to the front for a dissonant jam and Moz stepped to the side for the moment, gingerly tapping his foot.

It was all he needed to do to elicit loving screams from the wings.

(john.vettese@citypaper.net)

For more Moz shots, go to citypaper.net/criticalmass. There is a light that never goes out at John Vettese's song-centric music blog, onshuffle.wordpress.com.

Morrissey | March 22 | Academy of Music

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