Coachella’s Friday lineup included another performer who used to be in a famous band and who went solo after that band ended with a major falling out among its members–not McCartney and the Beatles, but Morrissey and the Smiths. We had never even tried to get tickets to Moz’s Hollywood shows; we assumed the seats we would be able to afford would require a magnifying aid the size of the Hubble to know it was him. Here, we would be only a few yards away from the man whose music we had followed for over 20 years, the man who turned self-pity into art. Indie Mom took these two great photos, above and just below.

This was neither the best nor the worst concert Morrissey ever gave. He was petulant and a bit melodramatic–his fans know this and are forgiving. He seemed in a bad mood for most of the show, and some reasons were obvious. A reknowned vegetarian, the smells from the food court bothered him. He stalked offstage early in the show, and the guy next to me, who had witnessed this before at a concert in Tiajuana, said, “He won’t come back now.” But he did after changing shirts, declaring loudly, “I smell burning flesh! I hope to god it’s human.”

After “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others,” he took off the shirt and tried to throw it into the audience, but due to the distance between the stage and the barricade, it fell short. He was not happy about that either. He left the stage again and came back in a third shirt. “How much more can you take?” he asked, and the crowd roared back. All you can give us.

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The set contained no rarities or surprises. He alternated great old Smiths’ favorites that generated singalongs with numbers from his latest album Years of Refusal. It’s a shame he didn’t sing his new single, “Something Is Squeezing My Skull.” Although with as prolific career as he’s had there were lots of songs we all could have wished for (”Jack the Ripper”!), I was happy he sang my favorite of his newer songs, “Let Me Kiss You,” one of his most beautiful and at the same time typically self-despising compositions. It all ended with the classic “How Soon Is Now?” with its plea that everyone can identify with, “I am human and I need to be loved, just like anybody else does.”

Setlist:
1. This Charming Man
2. The First of the Gang To Die (Live at Earl’s Court, 2005)
3. Black Cloud (from Years of Refusal)
4. Girlfriend In a Coma
5. Irish Blood, English Heart (Live at Earl’s Court, 2005)
6. How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel
7. When Last I Spoke to Carol (from Years of Refusal)
8. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
9. I Am Throwing My Arms Around Paris (from Years of Refusal)
10. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
11. The Loop (from World Of Morrissey, 1995).
12. Sorry Doesn’t Help (from Years of Refusal)
13. Ask
14. Let Me Kiss You (live, Santiago, Chile, 2004 — from You Are the Quarry, 2004)
15. How Soon Is Now?

MySpace | Morrissey World | Label: Polydor Records
Buy at Morrissey Store, Amazon

Filed under: Coachella 2009, Morrissey

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