17 May 2009 by Chris     1 Comment     Posted under: Entertainment

Morrissey at Cambridge Corn Exchange gig review

Morrissey is one of those acts (like Springsteen) who seems to have so many fans at each gig who follow him around the country that you feel a bit of an intruder if you’re happy to just see him once on the tour, like normal folk. Anyway, those who have seen him earlier on the current jaunt tell me that this was an exceptionally good gig, with Moz in fine voice – which was odd given that he’d had such serious “throat problems” earlier in the week. The Corn Exchange was packed, obviously, with most people in early for the pretty decent support act. Goodness knows how long those down the front had been there in order to get within touching distance of The Man.

We got 1 hour 25 minutes, which by Morrissey standards is something of an epic, and although that doesn’t seem much, for some reason you don’t feel short-changed and he never ran the risk of outstaying his welcome. It’s a terrible venue for acoustics, and most bands fail to overcome this, tonight being no exception. However, few people had come to appreciate the musicianship, they were there for the experience. But I thought the crowd were quite subdued – I’ve heard the Corn Exchange audience raise the roof before now, so it can happen.

There was some between-song banter – quite a lot by Morrisey standards I’m told – and one rather bizarre incident. He traditionally indulges in some chat with a woman in the audience called Julia, who runs a fan site and follows him everywhere, but this tour he’s actually been handing her the mike, for some reason. Now, she doesn’t have much to say (what would any of us say?), and it’s obviously starting to irritate some of the other regular fans – those around me certainly groaned. Indeed, some say Moz only does this because he knows how much it annoys people, and that presumably amuses him. Tonight, someone down the front near Julia obviously showed his displeasure with all this nonsense rather forcibly, and Moz went off on one, telling the guy if he didn’t like it he could leave, and eventually calling the guitarist over to shout some abuse at him too. The guy left, but it was all rather odd and unnecessary.

As for the set, we got a decent mix of Smiths stuff, Morrissey oldies and songs from the latest album, and I don’t think anyone will have been unhappy with it. I certainly wasn’t, although we had to wait until the single-song encore for my favourite song from the last few albums, First of the Gang to Die. I thought This Charming Man was almost too strong an opener – talk about a hard act to follow – but nobody was complaining! How Soon is Now, Ask and Girlfriend in a Coma provoked varying degrees of bliss in the audience, but one or two of the newer songs, particularly Black Cloud and the first single I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris, stand up well alongside them.

A thumbs up from me.

For more thoughts, read the fans’ discussions at Morrissey-Solo.com. And feel free to write your own thoughts below!

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