Morrissey, Leeds 2020

Morrissey performed last night (6th March) at Leeds First Direct arena, and honestly, I have never attended a gig with a bigger sense of hospitality and togetherness than this one, and I don’t think I will again until I see Morrissey once more.

Being a mere 18, the love I was greeted with before the gig made me phenomenally happy, especially thanks to everyone at The Nation of Shopkeepers for their kindness towards me and my friend Josh, and the fact that many of my fellow Moz lovers somewhat neglected my age is humbling, regardless of what the press have to say about Morrissey, he is definitely a force that brings people of all ages together.

Morrissey arrived on stage at the promised yet albeit bizarre time of 8:40, to rapturous applause, and, for me at least, tears. An Elvis cover kicked us off, You’ll Be Gone, and immediately I was transported back to when I saw him for the first time in 2018. Morrissey’s voice was on point from the beginning to the end of the show, utterly crystal clear and full of life.

The whole arena waited for song number two, which was I Wish You Lonely from Low In High School, but song three was a Smiths classic which once again triggered my waterworks – The Boy With The Thorne In His Side. This sparked a mass singalong, people on their feet dancing from the seated stands (myself included), and Morrissey carried this song as if it was 1986 and he was 27 once again.

Morrissey is, of course, releasing a new album this year, I Am Not A Dog On A Chain, and here therefore debuted two songs from it (and also gave dedicated fan Doug a pre-sale release), and the first of these was Jim Jim Falls which no doubt will make a massive splash – unfortunately in a negative way – with the mainstream media, simply due to the lyrical content concerning suicide.

Following two of the songs from last years California Son we got another Smiths classic; That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore. Morrissey sang this with confidence, and honestly it really was so fulfilling for me as a Smiths fan. My vision throughout the song generally was clouded by tears of happiness and honestly being overwhelmed by the fact Morrissey was genuinely in front of me. Following That Joke, we had another new single as yet unheard from I Am Not A Dog On A Chain.

Morrissey, despite his reported shortcomings, is doing the one thing he was destined to do, perform. Nowhere for me was this more evident than song number 14, I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris, which is one of my favourite Morrissey songs. With a backdrop taken from the recent Paris protests, the song got me on my feet and draping myself over the barrier in front of me. The final single debut was Love Is On Its Way Out, and to be honest it was really good, I hadn’t enjoyed the song as much as I did Knockabout World (which I am gutted he didn’t do live).

Morrissey closed with Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up On The Stage before leaving, one assumes for a break, the lights remained down and a drunken chorus of “Morrissey! Morrissey! Morrissey!” went up, until he arrived back to perform Half A Person and Irish Blood English Heart I love both of these songs, and Irish Blood, English Heart had me on my feet again, shouting every lyric I could into the crowd, perhaps ruining some sods night because I’m not exactly an angel when it comes to singing.

With his shirt ripped off and fans fighting for a scrap of it, the show ended. Morrissey was electric and the band were utterly on point. I loved every second of it, from the film before he came on stage, to the closing seconds of Morrissey shouting that he loved us, I know that this 2020 gig will be one that I will be talking about for a very, very long time.

I would really like to thank everyone I met that night, especially Lynn, Ben, everyone at The Nation Of Shopkeepers, Lisa and especially my best mate Josh, who was so patient with me when I was on an adventure trying to run into as many Morrissey fans I have befriended over the years. Of course the one person definitely worth thanking is Morrissey, and if this ever somehow manages to get to him I want him to know that this review wasn’t pre written, and that I genuinely adore him and the concert I was that night.