3 May 2004
Apollo Theater, New York, NY

First Of The Gang To Die
Hairdresser On Fire
The Headmaster Ritual
Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice
Jack The Ripper
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
Let Me Kiss You
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Such A Little Thing Makes Such A Big Difference
I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday
No One Can Hold A Candle To You
I'm Not Sorry
Subway Train/Everyday Is Like Sunday
All The Lazy Dykes
Irish Blood, English Heart
/Hand In Glove
After a successful five-night residency at the Wiltern in Los Angeles Morrissey moved to the American East Coast for another one, this time at the legendary New York Apollo. Show #1 went down very well, Morrissey was very talkative and appeared to be in fine form despite having "the Harlem sniffles" as he said. Of course the crowd could not compare to the crazy Southern California ones, but the New York audience was still very receptive, particularly for classics such at "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" or "Everyday Is Like Sunday". Security was tight and brutal, so only one fan made it on stage, and it happened during the encore.

The setlist was very similar to that of the previous show in Los Angeles. "Hand In Glove" returned to the set in the encore seat instead of "Shoplifters Of The World Unite".

Morrissey hit the stage again with a plant or flower hanging from his crotch zipper and greeted his fans with "It's a wet, rainy, Monday night in Harlem and we are Morrissey..." After set opener "First Of The Gang To Die" he said "Thank you friends, it's nice to see you again... and of course I'm thrilled to be in this wonderful venue: Jackie Wilson, Joe Tex, James Brown, David Johansen..." The Smiths classic "The Headmaster Ritual" was introduced with the line "And of course, don't forget the songs that made you smile and the songs that made me cry!" After the song Morrissey asked "Was everything in tune? Noooo... Was everything in tune? Julia, was everything in tune? Everything is in tune... Yes of course I have the Harlem sniffles but it wouldn't be me otherwise... this is a... (fan shouts I love you) well, likewise... this is a new song called (swallows) 'Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice'."

The latter number was very well received despite being unfamiliar to almost everyone in the audience, which prompted Morrissey to follow its performance with "Very kind of you..." He then continued "...and very kind of you to buy tickets for every single night which I know you've done... it's not something I personally would do, but thank you anyway... (squints to read a sign in the audience) Should I really read this, is it really depressing? Oh God yes... well you know, justice will prevail you know, it really will, justice will prevail... you're welcome, but thank you anyway..." Following "Jack The Ripper" the man had a few words with various people in the audience: "Of course it's nice to see you, again, at least for me! Thank you... What? Well we don't know how it happened but we have a recording contract and a new cd (crowd cheers)... yes I know, so, it's an absolute (?) but - and it's called 'You (coughs and points at the audience) Are The Quarry' and this song is called 'How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?'."

Before going into "Let Me Kiss You" Morrissey answered someone's shouts for 'Steven' with "I don't know who Steven is to be quite frank... buried many years ago on Saddleworth Moor... This is a new song called 'Let Me Kiss You'..." After the song Morrissey chatted with people in the front rows: "Are you okay Julia? Yeah?... (fan shouts something, Morrissey repeats) 'Escape from Tony Blair' now what on earth does that mean? Oh you're English! You're English? But you live there? You did, well... But do you feel happier? Do you feel happier? He's worse than Thatcher yeah. Because at least, at least with Thatcher she let you know that she was evil... (Fan shouts 'his hair is even worse') Kerry is even worse? (fan repeats) His hair is even worse! I thought you meant John Kerry, I couldn't quite make the connection but... thank you..."

Following "The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores" Morrissey proceeded with the customary introduction of the band: "And this has absolutely nothing to do with the last song but could I please introduce you to, well, my Globetrotters... That's Boz!... this is Gary!... this is Deano... this is Alain... and this is Mikey..." In "Such A Little Thing Makes Such A Big Difference" Morrissey followed the line "most people keep their brains between their legs" with "some don't!". After the song he repeated the same message: "And of course there are other people who don't..."

The cover of Raymonde's "No One Can Hold A Candle To You" was introduced with "At which point we do a cover version and the very clued-in members amongst you... What? Oh yeah shh-shh-shh-shh, this boy knows everything... (Morrissey hands microphone to a fan who asks 'what is it?') Well he used to know everything. What's happened to you? (fan answers something else) Not yet, these two boys will know everything... This song is from (mumbles random sounds)..." After the song Morrissey asked his favourite fan "I'm not sniffing too much Julia am I? Too much phlegm being flashed around... No? I am a very happy (spoiler?)..."

After "I'm Not Sorry" Morrissey started to say something but was interrupted by someone in the first row saying that they were wearing the same shirt: "And if it's stupendous to say... nothing. Yeah, you sure? Yeah? Okay where did you buy yours? Where? (fan answers 'Express') No, it's not the same shirt..." New song "All The Lazy Dykes" was introduced with the line "And here is another song from 'You Are The Quarry' and it's called 'All The Lazy Dykes'." Then "Irish Blood, English Heart" was quickly introduced with the simple "And now a tale of horror and suspense!" As was tradition, at the end of the concert Morrissey sent his shirt flying into the crowd to be ripped to pieces by fans who each wanted a little piece.

 


An audience recording of the complete concert is circulated on bootleg DVDs, but unfortunately it will only appeal to completists. The footage was filmed from the left balcony, it is often obstructed and shaky and the recorder spent more time zooming on Morrissey's musicians, particularly guitarist Alain, than Morrissey himself. On the good side there are still some good close-ups of the man.

An audio-only audience recording of the complete concert is also circulated on bootleg cds and in digital format on the internet (recorder: Julian). The sound quality is reasonable.

 

Do you have information about this concert? Or do you own an uncirculated recording of it? If yes please contribute and get credited.