Morrissey comes to the Orpheum

By Sharlene Celeskey, December 2011
Contemporary Culture Editor

Four years seemed like a long time for Phoenix fans to wait for the return to the Valley of the constantly touring Morrissey. Listening to the audience at the Sunday night concert Nov. 21, the wait was worth it. Excitement ran high in the crowd with deafening clapping, sprinkled with shouts of “I love you Morrissey,” after each song.

The fans knew every song as soon as it started with most mouthing or singing along with Morrissey. The historical Orpheum Theater seemed too small for an act like Morrissey, but the elegance of the setting was perfect to showcase his performance.

Morrissey has a devoted following, ranging from young hipsters to middle aged fans of his critically acclaimed ‘80s band, the Smiths. Younger fans were the most vocal and the loudest but the older fans were just as excited to see the man they have been listening to for almost 30 years. The crowd was already in a holiday mood as many were dressed up in their holiday glamour while others sported a favorite Morrissey T-shirt. Fans sported a huge variety of Morrissey T-shirts at the concert with rarely the same one seen twice. The audience milled around in the lobby and in the decorative, plush downstairs waiting area prior to the concert.                                     

Kristeen Young, a talented vocalist and musician who performs her own brand of alternative music, opened for Morrissey, playing a short set. The American performer has a four-octave vocal range but sings mainly in operatic and falsettos. The highness of her voice coupled with her distorted keyboard playing makes up her own individualized style. At first she is interesting to listen to and watch as she has a great stage presence and wears fun trendy clothing, bordering on costuming. As her 30-minute set came to an end, I was glad it was over because her shrill voice becomes tedious.

The crowd went into a frenzy when Morrissey dressed in a black ruffled shirt and jeans came on and opened with a Smiths’ favorite, “I Want the One I Can’t Have.”  It was easier on the ears to switch to listening to the lower baritone of Morrissey. Then he immediately went into the faster tempo of “You Have Killed Me.” His five-piece band produced a bigger, fuller sound than most bands that size.
The most dramatic song of the evening was another Smiths song, “Meat is Murder.” The drama began to build as the music became louder with clashing sounds resembling a slaughterhouse; a graphic film with animals being lead to slaughter projecting in the background and blood red lights flashing rapidly on stage. Morrissey interjected a new line about eating your turkey into the song. He enjoyed putting special emphasis on it to remind the audience they are eating murdered animals for their holiday dinners. The song’s lyrics explicitly expressed Morrissey’s vegetarianism and his compassion for animals. Much of the crowd cheered and clapped enthusiastically either because they agreed with his views or just liked hearing the Smiths song or both.

Morrissey’s 17 song set spanned his career from the first Smiths album (1984) to three unreleased songs: the fast paced “People are the Same Everywhere,” the melodic “Action is My Middle Name,” and the beautifully seductive “Scandinavia.”  He reached back into the ‘70s and sang a cover of Lou Reed’s “glam” era hit, “Satellite of Love.” Unfortunately, Morrissey’s version sounded flat compared to Reed’s version and was disappointing. Morrissey was more subdued this time around and did not dialogue with the audience or throw out his usual witty comments in between songs. The set went by quickly and was less than 90 minutes long.