Live Review

Morrissey – Empire Theatre, Liverpool

• 11th May 2009

Doll and the Kicks are currently supporting Morrissey on tour and it is completely understandable why. This indie rock band more than impressed, singer ‘Doll’ bounded onto the stage and smacked of instant quirkiness. Wearing an oversized golden hair bow Doll joined the rest of the band who had already taken to the stage.

Doll and the Kicks are three guys and a girl who complement each other beautifully. With Doll’s voice reminiscent of a Gwen Stefani/ Blondie hybrid she provides strong vocals to the pulsating tunes from ‘the Kicks’. I was surprised to find on their MySpace page that they are listed as unsigned, although it’s hard to imagine they will stay that way for long. The band have the ability to not only produce danceable indie floor stompers such as ‘He Was A Dancer’ and ‘Roll Up The Red Carpet’ but can also give us subtler gems such as ‘If You Care’, proving that they are not one trick ponies. All in all definitely a band to watch out for.

As Doll and the Kicks left the stage and before Morrissey came on we were treated to a video montage featuring some of Morrissey’s influences. It was a nice change as it filled in the gap between performances. It started with a woman talking about how Salford was ‘like a drug’ in the sense that you tried to leave but it keeps pulling you back, it was a bit like a scene from ‘A Taste Of Honey’- very Morrissey. It also featured the New York Dolls and Shirley Bassey amongst other Morrissey favourites. Suddenly, the lights went down and white lights across the back of the stage grew in intensity. As their brightness grew so did the anticipation in the audience. And so began the chants of mor-ri-ssey, mor-ri-ssey. Then, Morrissey alongside his band came onto the stage at this point the crowd was in raptures and to escalate the excitement even more he opened with ‘This Charming Man’. Perfect.

It’s rather significant that Morrissey comes on to the stage with his band as opposed to after them. In all fairness they are an impressive band and some members have been with Morrissey throughout his solo career, so the crowd has great warmth for them. Unsurprisingly a Morrissey audience is slightly different to most others as it seems to spread across many generations. So much so that it was quite common to see parents with their teenage children, showing that Morrissey’s pull now is still as strong as ever. There’s still quite a few Morrissey ‘quiffs’ and NHS glasses knocking around in the audience and the odd West Ham top.

Morrissey, much to the crowds delight, did play quite a few Smiths songs. These included the aforementioned ‘This Charming Man’, ‘Girlfriend In A Coma’, ‘Ask’, ‘How Soon Is Now’ and ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’ Obviously, the majority of songs were from the new album ‘Years Of Refusal’, although he refused to play ‘Something Is Squeezing My Skull’ as he said ‘you need to be an archeologist to find the new single’ and said that they wouldn’t be playing it. Other highlights included ‘Irish blood, English Heart’ and a very poignant ‘Let Me Kiss You’. Morrissey’s encore consisted of only one song, ‘First of the Gang’. However, after learning that the gig the following night at London’s Albert Hall was cancelled, all became clear. Morrissey did mention that he was taking antibiotics so he must have been suffering, but he didn’t let it show. He had a bit of a roam around on the floor and even whipped his shirt off at one point- much to the crowds delight. And at 49 he’s still looking good.

Never one to shy away from a bit of cheekiness he mentioned how Bob Dylan’s album has reached number one, before saying ‘it must be an inside job’. Now, in true Morrissey style the backdrop was a huge picture of a shirtless sailor with refusal written across his chest and a large cigar in his mouth. This seems pretty self explanatory to me. But, still it’s good to see an artist that uses imagery that has layers to it, enabling it to provoke discussion.

Morrissey is still one of the best songwriters around and hopefully the record companies won’t be forcing us all into a career of archeology to discover future Morrissey material, as he is far too good to be hidden away.