Sheridan Whiteside
Sweet and Tender Hooligan
Was The Smiths final gig!
BRIXTON ACADEMY
Ask
Bigmouth Strikes Again
London/Miserable Lie
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Shoplifters Of The World Unite
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Is It Really So Strange?
Cemetry Gates
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Still Ill
Panic
/The Queen Is Dead
//William, It Was Really Nothing
//Hand In Glove
This concert was put together as a benefit for the Artists Against Apartheid. Tickets were £8, £7, £6 and £5. It turned out to be the last time the Smiths were on stage together, bar a few television appearances. What makes this gig even more special is that it turned out to be the only time songs like "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others", the upcoming single "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" and the "London"/"Miserable Lie" medley were ever performed by the Smiths. "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" which hadn't been played in a long time was also performed. Finally, "William, It Was Really Nothing" and the live staple "Hand In Glove" which had been dropped on the recent British leg of the "The Queen Is Dead" tour also returned.
The gig was a much more personal and lively affair than the previous Brixton Academy concert in October when the tensions behind the scenes and the exhaustion of touring could not be hidden. There seemed to be a great complicity between the members of the band, nothing hinted that within a year the Smiths would be no more. During "Still Ill", Johnny moved next to Andy and Morrissey joined them. They could be seen smiling and laughing, as if they were in on some inside joke.
Mike teased the audience with the drum beat to "Panic" before "Bigmouth Strikes Again". The latter song was again extended with a slightly longer intro. The audience was surprised to find that at the end of "London", soon after the usual live change "my God he goes!" instead of "he really goes!", the band moved from the song's bridge into the fast-paced outro to "Miserable Lie". As they switched from the former to the latter, Morrissey wildly whipped the microphone cord in loops. Instead of singing "I'm just a country mile behind the world", he switched to the early lyric "I'd run a hundred miles away from you". The medley was extremely well received, the crowd roared in appreciation and Morrissey thanked them with the declaration "You've got incredibly good taste".
"Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" was the only song from "The Queen Is Dead" which had never been played live before. It was therefore performed here for the first and last time ever. In it Morrissey added an extra verse that went "On the shop floor, there's a calendar, as obvious as snow, as if we didn't know". This new verse and the song's acoustic adaptation made it one of the highlights of the evening. Morrissey replied to the loud applause that number received by growling loudly "Hello!". A few songs later, the soon to be released "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" was introduced with "This is our new single..."
After the latter song Morrissey picked a letter on the floor and placed it on the drum rise. He then picked a flower, crumpled it and threw it away, and placed another one inside his jacket, hugging it next to his heart before sending it back into the crowd. In fan-favourite "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out", as was tradition at that point in time, Morrissey didn't sing the repeated title chorus at the end as he does on the "The Queen Is Dead" album. The man acknowledged the audience's unfamiliarity with the following song by saying "Thank you, that song was called 'Is It Really So Strange?'". At the beginning of that he reversed two lines and sang "Oh yes you can me and you can kick me". In "Cemetry Gates" a line was wittily inverted to "We stonely read the graves". Morrissey also sang "They were born, they lived, they died" instead of the usual longer line. In "Panic" the singer swung a noose around to highlight the "hang the DJ" lyric.
Returning for the first of two encores, Morrissey said "Thank you we love you" and then launched into a roaring version of "The Queen Is Dead". This is when fans started to climb on stage. There would be about a dozen of them making it there throughout the two encores. Instead of parading with a board saying THE QUEEN IS DEAD as he had done earlier in the year while singing that song, Morrissey had on this date a different board, this one saying TWO LIGHT ALES PLEASE. He sang "hemmed in like a boar between arches" instead of "stuck like a boar between arches". After the song he threw his shirt into the crowd before exiting again. The Smiths then returned for a final two-song encore. The last of these was "Hand In Glove". It ended with Morrissey wailing in a high pitched voice for about 20 seconds. The Smiths didn't know it at the time, but with its final line "I'll probably never see you again", "Hand In Glove", the band's first ever release, couldn't have been a better choice of final song to perform together.
BRIXTON ACADEMY
Ask
Bigmouth Strikes Again
London/Miserable Lie
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Shoplifters Of The World Unite
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Is It Really So Strange?
Cemetry Gates
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Still Ill
Panic
/The Queen Is Dead
//William, It Was Really Nothing
//Hand In Glove
This concert was put together as a benefit for the Artists Against Apartheid. Tickets were £8, £7, £6 and £5. It turned out to be the last time the Smiths were on stage together, bar a few television appearances. What makes this gig even more special is that it turned out to be the only time songs like "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others", the upcoming single "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" and the "London"/"Miserable Lie" medley were ever performed by the Smiths. "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" which hadn't been played in a long time was also performed. Finally, "William, It Was Really Nothing" and the live staple "Hand In Glove" which had been dropped on the recent British leg of the "The Queen Is Dead" tour also returned.
The gig was a much more personal and lively affair than the previous Brixton Academy concert in October when the tensions behind the scenes and the exhaustion of touring could not be hidden. There seemed to be a great complicity between the members of the band, nothing hinted that within a year the Smiths would be no more. During "Still Ill", Johnny moved next to Andy and Morrissey joined them. They could be seen smiling and laughing, as if they were in on some inside joke.
Mike teased the audience with the drum beat to "Panic" before "Bigmouth Strikes Again". The latter song was again extended with a slightly longer intro. The audience was surprised to find that at the end of "London", soon after the usual live change "my God he goes!" instead of "he really goes!", the band moved from the song's bridge into the fast-paced outro to "Miserable Lie". As they switched from the former to the latter, Morrissey wildly whipped the microphone cord in loops. Instead of singing "I'm just a country mile behind the world", he switched to the early lyric "I'd run a hundred miles away from you". The medley was extremely well received, the crowd roared in appreciation and Morrissey thanked them with the declaration "You've got incredibly good taste".
"Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" was the only song from "The Queen Is Dead" which had never been played live before. It was therefore performed here for the first and last time ever. In it Morrissey added an extra verse that went "On the shop floor, there's a calendar, as obvious as snow, as if we didn't know". This new verse and the song's acoustic adaptation made it one of the highlights of the evening. Morrissey replied to the loud applause that number received by growling loudly "Hello!". A few songs later, the soon to be released "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" was introduced with "This is our new single..."
After the latter song Morrissey picked a letter on the floor and placed it on the drum rise. He then picked a flower, crumpled it and threw it away, and placed another one inside his jacket, hugging it next to his heart before sending it back into the crowd. In fan-favourite "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out", as was tradition at that point in time, Morrissey didn't sing the repeated title chorus at the end as he does on the "The Queen Is Dead" album. The man acknowledged the audience's unfamiliarity with the following song by saying "Thank you, that song was called 'Is It Really So Strange?'". At the beginning of that he reversed two lines and sang "Oh yes you can me and you can kick me". In "Cemetry Gates" a line was wittily inverted to "We stonely read the graves". Morrissey also sang "They were born, they lived, they died" instead of the usual longer line. In "Panic" the singer swung a noose around to highlight the "hang the DJ" lyric.
Returning for the first of two encores, Morrissey said "Thank you we love you" and then launched into a roaring version of "The Queen Is Dead". This is when fans started to climb on stage. There would be about a dozen of them making it there throughout the two encores. Instead of parading with a board saying THE QUEEN IS DEAD as he had done earlier in the year while singing that song, Morrissey had on this date a different board, this one saying TWO LIGHT ALES PLEASE. He sang "hemmed in like a boar between arches" instead of "stuck like a boar between arches". After the song he threw his shirt into the crowd before exiting again. The Smiths then returned for a final two-song encore. The last of these was "Hand In Glove". It ended with Morrissey wailing in a high pitched voice for about 20 seconds. The Smiths didn't know it at the time, but with its final line "I'll probably never see you again", "Hand In Glove", the band's first ever release, couldn't have been a better choice of final song to perform together.
