Morrissey at the Hollywood Palladium (10/11/07)

The Mozathon continued to roll on with another round at the Hollywood Palladium.

Kristeen Young appeared in her plastic dress and commented that it was "Hate O'Clock". She had a plastic visor on top of her head that she lost while rocking out. The Morrissey video crew was out filming some of her set and Kristeen gave a more spirited performance with the cameras rolling.

At 21:04, the long winded spoken intro was blaring over the soundsystem. Does anyone enjoy this intro? The lads of Morrissey appeared in the same outfits that they wore at the Hollywood Bowl show. Boz Boorer (Guitars) had his flashy reflective Fender Telecaster ready to go as he strummed the opening chords of "Jack The Ripper". Jessie Tobias (Guitars) had a capo on the 2nd fret and was employing a metal slide for most of the song. The song was spectacular with its gentle synth strings breakdown near the end of the song. Morrissey welcomed the crowd to the "43rd night of 79 nights at the Hollywood Palladium". After a lush version of ""Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before", "Sister, I'm A Poet" quickly followed and Morrissey was in top form. I detected an electricity in the air.

"Tomorrow" featured the lyric change of "Hopeless body". "The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores" was a nice addition to Morrissey's core setlist. Matt Walker (Drums) closed the song by striking the large gong cymbal behind him. The white Gretsch Falcon guitar handed to Boz tipped off that "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" would be played next. You know you have been to too many Morrissey shows when you can guess the next song due to the instruments handed to the band. "I Like You" has the hypnotic Moog Voyager intro that I particularly enjoy.

"The Loop" always is fast paced rocker and all the band members charged the front stage for a rocked out ending. Morrissey quipped that he didn't even have a telephone in reference to the lyrics from "The Loop". "Death Of A Disco Dancer" had some good feedback by Jessie who went to the front stage. "Billy Budd" still rocks every time and Solomon Walker (Bass) hopped up on the drum riser and did some slight head banging. "Stretch Out And Wait" had me thinking that Morrissey has played quite a few Smiths songs already. When I heard the opening piano chords of"Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me" my jaw dropped. I hadn't heard this song since he played the Palladium back in 1999. Morrissey seemed to have monitor problems and missed the cue for the ending verse of the song but it was still amazing to hear.

Morrissey cut short "That's How People Grow Up" due to monitor and microphone problems and I started to have flashbacks of the San Diego show earlier this year. I could have sworn Morrissey mentioned "Are We Not Men?" after "Irish Blood, English Heart". Is Morrissey a Devo fan? Morrissey also addressed a fan who was holding up a sign for the song "Southpaw" for about five years that no one in the band knows how to play it.

"Last Of The Famous International Playboys" was a crowd pleaser with a high percentage of the audience singing along. I keep hearing how people are sick of "How Soon Is Now?", I don't think they remember the years when Morrissey wouldn't even play Smiths songs. Boz went particularly crazy scraping the microphone to get some extra feedback from his Gibson Firebird.

The Palladium erupted for ""First Of The Gang To Die". It was a mass assault on the stage as people from all over charged the barricade. Morrissey couldn't hide his broad smile as he emphatically cried out, "I have to save my people!". The struggle continued as Morrissey let out his usual grunts and said "I'm Trying!". Those in attendance will surely never forget this moment as this was easily the best night of his Palladium run.

Morrissey setlist for the Hollywood Palladium (10/11/07)
"Jack The Ripper"
"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before"
"Sister, I'm A Poet"
"Tomorrow"
"The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores"
"The Boy With The Thorn In His Side"
"I Like You"
"The Loop"
"Death Of A Disco Dancer"
"Billy Budd"
"Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?"
"Stretch Out And Wait"
"One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell"
"Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me"
"I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris"
"That's How People Grow Up"
"Irish Blood, English Heart"
"All You Need Is Me"
"Last Of The Famous International Playboys"
"Life Is A Pigsty"
"How Soon Is Now?"
"First Of The Gang To Die"