Peter, Bjorn, and John finished their set in Long Beach around 8:00 pm. I proceeded to speed up the 710 freeway to Pasadena and make it into my seat at around 9:10 pm. I missed all of Kristeen Young but was happy that I would catch all of Morrissey. I unfortunately had the worst seat in the house, as I was up in the balcony in the last row. The upside was that I was able to take a lot of video footage. Most of my friends were unable to go to the show and I was given instructions to take a copious amount of notes. I had printed the prior evening’s set list and was ready when the opening chords of “Panic” started. A superb Smiths song that was delivered with great passion. Morrissey’s voice still sounds amazing and I have been seeing him since the infamous Hollywood Bowl show back in 1992. “First of the Gang to Die” was next and sounded splendid. He lifted his shirt when sang the line “Bullet in his Gullet” which had the crowd cheering loudly. “The Youngest Was The Most Loved” sounds very dynamic in a live setting and featured some good drumming by Matt Walker. “Pasadena is me” was the alternate opening line to “You have Killed Me”. It also featured acoustic guitar by Vincent Jones who was pulling double duty on keyboards. “Disappointed” is one of my favorite Morrissey songs and featured a cutting guitar solo from Jessie Tobias (remember when he was in Red Hot Chili Peppers?). The crowd did a excellent job of adding in the “boos and cheers” section of the song. Morrissey also changed the lyrics again with “my whole life confused” instead of “in ruins”. Morrissey is never afraid of playing B-sides when he tours and played my favorite B-side “Ganglord”. He also changed the lyrics to “get your fat a@@ back to the ghetto”. The next two songs were “I’ll Never Be Anybody’s Hero Now” and a spectacular version of “William, It was Really Nothing” which featured some sweet guitar work by Boz Boorer. “Irish Blood, English Heart” is quite the barnburner and had good synchronization between the lights and the opening guitar riff. “I Will See You In Far-Off Places” featured the lyric change of “If George W. Bush doesn’t kill you”. A double whammy of “Girlfriend in a Coma” and “Everyday is Like Sunday” had the crowd hanging on every word Morrissey was singing. Morrissey also commented on how “Everyday is Like Sunday” was an old song that was from the era when “KROQ used to play me”. I wasn’t the only one in audience laughing to that line. “In the Future When All’s Well”, and “I’ve Changed My Plea to Guilty” slowed down the tempo a bit. “Let Me Kiss You” is another great live song that marked the 1st shirt that Morrissey took off and threw into the crowd. “The National Front Disco” is one of the many great songs from “Your Arsenal” followed by “Dear God, Please Help Me” which featured Jesse Tobias banging two cymbals together throughout the song. The shimmering tremolo chords of “How Soon Is Now?” whipped the crowd into a frenzy. “I Just Want To See The Boy Happy” was introduced my Morrissey as “Get off the stage” and had Boz Boozer killing it on the sax. “Life is A Pigsty” is probably one of my favorite songs off “Ringleader of the Tormentors” and sounded even better than the recorded version. The acoustic breakdown during the song was pulled off flawlessly. Matt Walker and Vincent Jones were pounding on a huge Bass drum during the ending of the song. Morrissey also lost his shirt again during the song. For an encore, “Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” had the crowd enraptured. “Don’t Make Fun of Daddy’s Voice” seems like a very tongue in cheek closer that only Morrissey could get away with. Morrissey lost his shirt once more as he threw it into the crowd that had the audience members looking like a bunch of piranhas feasting on food. Other Morrissey tidbits included his mentioning the passing of tower records and apologizing for the high ticket prices due to the Kristeen Young’s hair and makeup budget. He also asked the crowd “Why do you scream for Me?” and then mockingly answered with “I’m 65 years old”. Morrissey also jokingly lamented that another year has passed with no Grammy nominations and no awards except… “You” which was met with a large cheer. Congratulations if you managed to read all of this review, and apologies to those who couldn’t make it.
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