Have you ever attended/listened to a Morrissey soundcheck?

[Sharron Needles]

I heard this soundcheck: Oct 17 - Costa Mesa (CA), Pacific Amphitheater. I was mesmerized. He didn't sing but I kept waiting and straining to hear his voice from the parking lot, the excitement of which was worth the price of admission alone. The person I was with KEPT TALKING the whole time too so it was distracting, but it was so nice to hear the music that up to that point had been playing in my headphones day in and day out for a long time.

I was there too. Do you remember the auction in the parking lot for one of Morrissey's shirts, an autograph, etc.? I enjoyed this gig better than his gig here the previous year for Kill Uncle. I met this group of girls in the queue for soda that had front row tickets, and one of them was really into me so she went and got her friend's ticket stub and brought it out to me. I went down with them (this was before they started marking ticket stubs) so they gave me one of the yellow wristbands that proved I was in the first three rows, and I walked right up to the barrier. I bombarded him with flowers throughout the entire set, poor guy. Oddly enough, I don't remember the soundcheck at this show, but I remember hearing one at the Hollywood bowl.

 

[someofusisturningnasty]

We heard the soundcheck at Doncaster, January of this year. I'm sure they played Speedway, but alas without Morrissey. It was very exciting.

I thought I imagined that!!!

 

[Dave]

For those of us who never have, here's a peek....



I find these clips fascinating, to see him sing with no audience to connect to. He sounds great, of course. And how cute is Boz here?



^Love this song live!

Imagine that someone sat in that seat for the show. They'd have been out of their minds if they knew.

 

[Flax]

I listened to the one in Sparks, NV.

 

[CrystalGeezer]

I was there too. Do you remember the auction in the parking lot for one of Morrissey's shirts, an autograph, etc.? I enjoyed this gig better than his gig here the previous year for Kill Uncle. I met this group of girls in the queue for soda that had front row tickets, and one of them was really into me so she went and got her friend's ticket stub and brought it out to me. I went down with them (this was before they started marking ticket stubs) so they gave me one of the yellow wristbands that proved I was in the first three rows, and I walked right up to the barrier. I bombarded him with flowers throughout the entire set, poor guy. Oddly enough, I don't remember the soundcheck at this show, but I remember hearing one at the Hollywood bowl.

It's possible I'm confusing it with the sound check I heard in San Diego during Kill Uncle. It was a very long time ago, but I recall hearing a soundcheck in a parking lot and the person I was with talking through it and me being frustrated that they weren't listening to the music. I don't recall that auction, but I remember sitting next to some older people and the older person I was with was very impressed that Morrissey attracted a mature audience. I also remember being embarrassed that he was lecturing them on something and they were bored to tears by it but kept smiling and nodding. It was still dusk at this point. We had a good view but were very far from the stage. Sadly I don't remember a lot about the show because I sort of become transported when he sings and the details blur. That part makes me mad. That's cool you got some help to get closer. Did you keep in contact with that person?

 

[sistasheila]

thnks to dothewatutsi who posted the link to a smiths souncheck in another thread

Eden Court, Inverness (Soundcheck) - 1 October 1985
There is a light that never goes out
Drums
Rock'n'roll pt II / R&B
Shakespeare's Sister
Big Mouth Strikes Again
Big Mouth Strikes Again
How Soon Is Now?
Girl Afraid
Groovy Kind On Love
Everyday
Asleep
Asleep
*** Enter Morrissey ***
Asleep
Asleep
There is a light that never goes out
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Unloveable
Unloveable
Hand In Glove
Asleep
Asleep
Asleep
Unloveable

So finally we drove north up to Inverness, and having sorted ourselves with somewhere to stay for the night, we immediately went out for some lunch, and took the opportunity to check out Loch Ness, which is only about a 30 minute drive ... and you never know what you might see! Well the scenery was spectacular, but no monsters Sad

When we got back, I picked up my gear from the hotel and we made our way down to the venue, crossing over the Infirmary Bridge, which is a narrow metal suspension bridge, which wobbles when you walk over it. The Eden Court Theatre was just a bit further down on the other side of the river. It was a modern building, medium sized, and there was no signs of activity outside. All the doors were closed but we tried one and it was open, so we took a quick look inside. Didn't look that promising, but me and Jo decided to investigate further, while the others went back round the building looking for a stage door. Me and Jo wandered through some empty corridors, and gradually we could hear the sounds of drums. The Soundcheck must be starting. We followed the sound and eventually came to a door into the main hall, which we peeked through. The hall was quite open with nowhere to look unobtrusive. We decided to see if we could get upstairs. There was no-body else around, and getting to the balcony couldn't have been easier. Upstairs we got a much better view of the Theatre, which was nice and intimate. The balcony overhung the main hall, so we couldn't see the sound crew (and they couldn't see us). The seating upstairs was very odd. Rather than rows of seats, batches of 6 or so were arranged into little booths, which were partitioned from each other, and these would be stacked in rows. We settled down into the nearest booth, and I got my recorder out and started recording.

They were still trying to get the drum sound right, so obviously hadn't been going for that long. The early part of the soundcheck is pretty boring ... lots of single drum hits. But after a while Andy joined in, and eventually Johnny. They ran through a few songs as instrumentals ... and usually at this point Morrissey would join them for a few songs. But suddenly everything stopped. After 5 minutes or so we thought they'd probably finished, and Jo decided she wanted to go down and see if she could see them at the stage door as they left. I decided to stay for a bit longer. I had a quick peek over the balcony to see what was going on, and I could see that the band were still there. The recorder was still running, and the side of the tape finished about this point. I turned the tape over but didn't start recording again just yet as there was nothing much to tape. Looking down again I could see they were trying to move what looked like a piano. I settled back down in the booth so that I wouldn't be spotted. After a while Johnny started playing the piano, and I switched the recorder on again. It wasn't long before I recognized that he was playing Asleep, which was quite exciting as they hadn't played it live before. Soon Morrissey was singing. Later after running through a few other songs, they started playing unlovable ... another song they hadn't played live before! Later they played asleep a couple more time, and by this stage the tape was coming to the end of the second side ... and I didn't have a spare with me. I figured that what was happening now was much more interesting than the start of the souncheck, so I turned the tape over again and started recording on side one again ... wondering how much I'd end up recording over. In the event, they only played 2 more songs, and then stopped, so I didn't really record over anything very important. I waited a little longer to make sure they had really stopped, and then quietly made my way out of the theatre and out to find the others to tell them what I'd managed to record.

The recording came out wonderfully ... probably one of the best I've ever done

 

[Mel_Torment]

Cool stories, especially Dothewatusi and Sharron Needles!

I've listened to soundchecks more times than I can recall, but not inside the building. Two that stand out are Lyon, France 2002 and Phoenix, AZ 2002 because he debuted songs that had never been played live during his solo career -- Hand in Glove (Lyon) and Crashing Bores and I Like Yuh (Phoenix). I recorded the soundchecks heard through the doors onto MD, but I don't have them converted to mp3 or somesuch. We joked wouldn't it be funny if we uploaded the new songs such as Crashing Bores that afternoon and then everyone could be singing along right as Moz debuts it? It was burning hot in Phoenix, about 110 degrees F, no kidding.

In Lyon, it was chilly in November. I remember standing around outside by the unattractive metal door to Transbordeur. I was kicking the dirt around and shooting the breeze with David Tseng and some irregular regs. I missed it when Moz came out to chat with duh fans. I had sat around since 6 because I was jetlagged and wired as I had flown in from Asia. The only other person there was Julia, who did not hospitably invite me in from the cold to sit in her Mercedes. If it were me in her place, I would've offered shelter to her or anyone else (not too dodgy-looking) standing alone in the cold. But she is not me, and I am not her. So it goes. Around noon or early afternoon I left to get some hot chocolate at a nearby park. That's when Moz arrived. That's okay. I've met him in other places quite randomly with the luxury of being the only fan present. Anyroad, the chill and monotony of the grey environment was mitigated by the delirious joy of Mozzer singing Hand in Glove again. We were all so excited and even applauded the fsucking soundcheck. My heart was pounding. People used to give and still give th'Lads a hard time for not living up to the myth of the Smiths, and I used to be critical of the musicianship, too. And yet even I thought they were bang on with Hand in Glove.

 

[Not Right in the Head]

I've listened to soundchecks more times than I can recall, but not inside the building. Two that stand out are Lyon, France 2002 and Phoenix, AZ 2002 because he debuted songs that had never been played live during his solo career -- Hand in Glove (Lyon) and Crashing Bores and I Like Yuh (Phoenix). I recorded the soundchecks heard through the doors onto MD, but I don't have them converted to mp3 or somesuch.

Wait--do you still have these on MD? Do you need help converting & uploading them?

 

[troubleluvsme]

I listened to the one in Sparks, NV.

So did I Flax!!

 

[Mel_Torment]

Wait--do you still have these on MD? Do you need help converting & uploading them?

I believe I may still have these but not at my current residence. The MDs are probably 200 miles away.

I didn't convert boots that had very poor sound or if a better quality recording already existed. In the case of the soundchecks, it wasn't worth bothering to convert since he played these songs in concert and better boots of them are out there.

 

[dothewatusi]

Cool stories, especially Dothewatusi and Sharron Needles!

I have no cool stories like yours Mel. The description about the Inverness soundcheck was written by Steve of Soundsville, found at Smithstorrents, not me. But I do love hearing a good soundcheck.

 

[ronnieglavin]

Me n the missus sneaked in the back of the London Palladium after some shopping when moz did the three consecutive weekend shows. It was around 5pm. We managed to stand at the back and watch the lads soundcheck 3 songs until Jan applauded and we were duly ejected! no sign of Morrissey though.