Hall For Cornwall, Truro
First Of The Gang To DieSmall venues in small towns often make for good Morrissey concerts, and this one was no exception. All seats had been taken out except for the back tier so it was predominantly a standing gig, which also helped the atmosphere. The crowd was very receptive and sang along to most of the songs, the Smiths-era ones as much as those from the new album. It was perhaps a little placid at times, there was no crowd surfing or serious attempts to climb on stage, but security was numerous and quite strict. Morrissey clearly had a good time. He was in a chatty and playful mood throughout, feeding off the audience's love.
Still Ill
The Youngest Was The Most Loved
In The Future When All's Well
To Me You Are A Work Of Art
Girlfriend In A Coma
You Have Killed Me
I Will See You In Far Off Places
Let Me Kiss You
Ganglord
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
At Last I Am Born
How Soon Is Now?
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now
Life Is A Pigsty
/Irish Blood, English Heart
"Let Me Kiss You" was reintroduced into the setlist, taking the place of "The Father Who Must Be Killed". "Human Being" was on the setlist after "How Soon Is Now?" but it wasn't performed.
Morrissey came on stage with his shirt tied in a knot at the front and greeted the audience before going into opener "First Of The Gang To Die". After the song came the second part of his greeting: "Thank you and welcome... you'll regret it!" After "The Youngest Was The Most Loved", he commented on the amount of security lined up in front of him while pointing: "So behind the wall of security, I can just see the audience (cheers) but you know I'm here, and I know you're there!"
Morrissey's playful mood was clearly displayed in "In The Future When All's Well" when he emphasized a line by singing "I thank you ba-ba ba-ba I thank you with all of my heart". After the song he thanked his friend Winnie in the front row for organising his birthday party the day before: "So I celebrated my birthday yesterday (cheers) at the Lugger Hotel... thank you Winnie for this..." The object of the attention was very shy and crouched to avoid being seen, so Morrissey teasingly made it worse for her by chanting "Winnie-Winnie-Winnie! Lights on Winnie! All the lights onto Winnie! This year, Winnie! She's very shy..."
After "To Me You Are A Work Of Art", Morrissey mentionned how he had played in the region during the Smiths days "So a couple of years ago, before you were born, [undecipherable], none of you were there, support group was Raymonde, but Winnie remembers, she was there... Were you there? (some fans cheer) It was alright? (more cheers) I hope so..." He then proceeded with the customary band introduction: "You have some good looking men about town, mainly Boz Boorer... the two and only Gary Day... the great Matt Walker... Jesse Tobias... the boy with the... horn by his side, Michael Farrell..." This led somehow to the introduction to "Girlfriend In A Coma": "...and the past, the past is really a net..." After the song he bridged to newer material with the line "And yet, against the living odds, we stumble on with life, we pick up the pieces and we stumble on... Winnie knows!"
In "You Have Killed Me" Morrissey adlibbed "I entered nothing quite obviously! and nothing entered me". After the song he joked "And you thought you were coming to see the Counterfeit Stones... and you did!" After "I Will See You In Far Off Places" the very appreciative crowd chanted his name and he commented "You have a lovely singing voice!" After "Let Me Kiss You" came Morrissey's customary nod to his opening act: "We hope you enjoyed the genius of Kristeen Young (mixed reactions from the crowd) Just watch, just wait, and see if I'm wrong... I'm usually wrong..." Then turning to someone shouting "Johnny Marr!" Morrissey once again displayed his good humour by answering "We know you're clever, you don't have to prove it!"
After "Ganglord" Morrissey had a laugh with the audience by connecting the song's chorus line with his knowledge of local geography: "And when I say 'get back to the ghetto', I actually mean Tavistock... some hell of a ghetto! Suffering, human suffering... you can't beat it!" Then turning to someone shouting to him "Get Off The Stage", Morrissey retorted "I'm not on the stage!" After "I Just Want To See The Boy Happy" he started "Thank you for buying...", but choked and shrieked before being able to resume "I got a microphone! Thank you for buying 'Ringleader Of The Tormentors'... it helps!"
A good but neighbour-noisy audience recording of the full set really captured well the ambience of the evening.
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