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Last night was a completely different experience than the last time Chicagoist headed over to the Aragon for a Morrissey concert. The last time, the balcony wasn’t even open and only about one-fourth of the ballroom was full, but those of us there were singing, dancing and reveling in our love of songs about sad times, played expertly by a backing band of tightly clothed men. Fast forward to last night and a sold out Aragon with people packed in like sardines. People with no room to dance and a backing band dressed like Best Buy employees who couldn’t play our favorite tunes at the correct tempo. Morrissey was the consummate performer, as usual, and his vocals were exactly what we've come to know and expect.
The set covered Morrissey’s extensive career from The Smiths through his latest solo effort, The Ringleader of the Tormentors. The usual sing-a-longs were in force “Girlfriend in a Coma”, “Every Day Is Like Sunday”, and “How Soon is Now”. The crowd would get ahead of the band because of the considerably slower pace that the tunes were being played at. During “How Soon Is Now” the guitar riff, which is one of the more recognizable aspects of the song, was omitted until the very last verse where it got overshadowed by explosion sound effects. The strange tempos caught even Morrissey out of synch with the band and backing vocals on “Irish Blood, English Heart”.
Favorites of the night were the guitar as sitar sound in “I Will See You in Far Off Places” and the lilting Pretty In Pink-ness of “The National Front Disco”, which also happened to be the only song played at tempo and tightly by the backing band. The evening ended with a one song encore featuring “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want”.
We love seeing Morrissey whenever we can and would have been more accepting of the tempo problems and the backing band’s technical inability, if the concert hadn’t been sold as the ONLY show in North America by Morrissey this fall. We left feeling that all we had witnessed was the dress rehearsal for an upcoming tour with a backing band that wasn’t ready to go on the road.
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i might be wrong, but umm, don't you mean 'How Soon is Now?' Just checking.
Oops. That's what I get for being all slow and hungover today.
are there any normal pictures of Morrisey or is he always doing something stupid like holding a Tommy Gun or playing a violin like a chooch?
that backing band has been playing all through europe since february. this has been their first time back in the states and they're damn tired.
They must be tired - it was quite lackluster. Some days are just off days, I guess.
It's also the same "backing band" that did the "You Are The Quarry Tour"(except for a different drummer)I thought the band sounded great and I didn't notice any tempo problems. I also heard the riff during "How Soon Is Now." Were we at the same concert? Maybe there was too many people at the concert and it affected your hearing.
The backing band are brilliant. You have cloth ears.
The so called "backing band" were brilliant. Were you even there?
when he gave a less than spectacular review of 'ringleader,' jim derogatis worried that he might be assaulted by a band of moz-heads, pelting him with gladioli. so, julene, you have been warned. ;)
and while the band may have been lacking at some points, i was amazed at the guitar that was made to sound like a mandolin on 'please please please let me get what i want.' and you know, there's only one johnny marr, so why would anyone even attempt to play the famous part of 'how soon' like he did?
i hate people who diss the chicagoist writers, so i just will respectfully disagree with you, julene. i can nit-pick your review, but i won't. if you just open your heart to morrissey and accept him as your personal saviour, you'll find yourself in a better place. You see, as much as life changes and throws us curves - hell, sometimes life throws us fastballs right at our head - morrissey's music has always been there for us, to comfort and console and commiserate with, or just to be there, to be heard, the voice of someone who has been there as well, and, as can be evidenced from last night, he has survived, smelling like, well, a dandy gladiola. i didn't consider last night's show to be a warmup or a wind-down - more likely, it was a love letter to his disciples.
Um, yea. Backing band? I have no comment. They're amazing. And the fact that you got "how soon is now" wrong? Seriously?? I'm sorry to be pissy but why write a music review when it's obvious that you don't know what you're talking about?
And why is it that Chicagoist writers blame every error, misstatement, or awkwardly written article on being drunk or recovering from being drunk. Just admit to being wrong already...
Where were you standing? Were you on drugs? I was in the balcony and I noticed absolutely no tempo problems with the backing band. I thought they sounded really good! What a stupid review.
What show are you referring to in which the Aragon was supposedly only a quarter full with the balconies closed? I was there on the last tour (You Ate the Curry), and it was full (this after a sold-out show at the HOB a few months earlier). I was there at the Maladjusted tour show, and it was full; in fact, ticket demand was so strong that a second show was added the next night at the Riviera. Chicago has always been a stong city for Moz; in 2000 he sold out the Chicago Theater without even having a new album (plus another gig later that week at the Metro). He didn't tour between Your Arsenal in 92 and Maladjusted in 97, so are you talking about something 1992 or earlier? I saw a show at the Aragon between Kill Uncle and Your Arsenal that was also full. He was so popular at the time of Kill Uncle, he played The World in Tinley. The Smiths played the Aragon twice; both shows were well-attended. Perhaps you're really hung over.
I totally agree with your assessment. Sure, maybe it was the acoustics in the brawlroom, but the tempo was definitely behind on numerous songs. The highlight did have to the Sitar and massive gong jam. Apparently, Moz can do nothing wrong, but then again you didn't blame him, but the lackluster band. Oh, the young ones who must be contrary, so sad. :-( But isn't that want Moz wants in a fan. We know he does. No matter, I'll definitely see him again, hoping the band can keep up with the Moz perfection.