18 December 2006
Hamburg (Germany), Color Line Arena

Panic
First Of The Gang To Die
The Youngest Was The Most Loved
You Have Killed Me
Disappointed
Ganglord
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now
William, It Was Really Nothing
Irish Blood, English Heart
I Will See You In Far Off Places
Girlfriend In A Coma
Everyday Is Like Sunday
In The Future When All's Well
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty
Let Me Kiss You
The National Front Disco
Dear God Please Help Me
How Soon Is Now?
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
Life Is A Pigsty
/Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
/Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice
This concert went without a hitch, Morrissey gave an excellent performance, but the Hamburg reception wasn't the best and this seemed to affect the singer's enthusiasm at times. He even commented on it here and there between songs. At other times he seemed to have difficulties collecting his thoughts or concentrating on what he was trying to say. Another sign of Morrissey's lack of enthusiasm was the incredible number of lyric changes done in many of the songs that had been performed often that year. There was no change in the setlist.

Morrissey walked on stage after a different intro music on this date. After the usual crescendo piano piece, Michael Farrell played "Deutschlandlied", a classical number by Haydn from which the German national anthem was taken. Morrissey and the rest of the band entered stage following that. The singer's greeting was "Hamburgers!". After set opener "Panic" came the second part of his greeting: "Thank you... and hello to you!" After "First Of The Gang To Die" he said "Please be patient, we're very shy, be gentle, be soft, be patient, to hell with it!" This was perhaps a comment on the lukewarm crowd response so far.

In "The Youngest Was The Most Loved" Morrissey added emphasis to a line by singing "We kept him from the world's glare thank God! he turned into a killer". As tradition now dictated he started "You Have Killed Me" by climbing on the drum riser, pointing at the Pasolini backdrop and singing "Pasolini is he" This was followed by "... and Mozalini I'm forced to be!" Further down he sang "Visconti is me, Diana Dors you will always be". The usual live change "Who am I that I come to be standing here" was replaced by "Who am I that I come to be shaking your hand", as Morrissey shook the hand of a fan in the front row.

After the song came the customary band introduction: "Would you like to say hello to the band? (crowd cheers)... For what? They're very shy, very demure, they're all teetotal, Boz Boorer!... Gary Day... Matt Walker... obviously he cuts his own hair, he uses a knife and a fork, as does Jesse Tobias!... Have I forgotten somebody? Last and certainly least, Michael Farrell!" He then signaled that it was time to kick into the following song with a shout of "Yes!".

Besides all of the usual live changes in "Disappointed" Morrissey also sang "to say the least I'm truly disappointed, I'm truly, cruelly, cruelly..." As the first notes of "Ganglord" were heard and the crowd was chanting Morrissey's name, the man in question replied "Yeah but can you spell it though? See! Simple!" In that song Morrissey slightly changed the meaning of a line by singing that the clock on the wall is making fun and makes a joke "...of you all". He also changed a line to "Ganglord remember it's obvious the police can always be bribed". Near the end of that number he sang "get your fat ass back to the ghetto".

After "Ganglord" Morrissey said "So my basic theory on life, as I grow younger and younger each day is (someone shouts compliment)... well thank you... it's not necessary but thank you... so my basic theory - 'cause all my theories are very basic - is that (someone shouts something; Morrissey has difficulties collecting his thoughts)... What? What? How is my basic theory? It is... if it doesn't happen... let me get this straight, if it doesn't happen, Julia, if it doesn't happen, it's not meant to happen. (Morrissey turns to his favourite fan) Let me ask Julia... (crowd members disagree) No?" He then handed Julia his microphone so that she could tell him that it's going to happen someday.

In "I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now" Morrissey changed a line to "They who shouldn't love me cannot stand me". "William, It Was Really Nothing" was introduced with another dig at the audience's lack of enthusiasm: "So many years ago, before most of you were even... born... whereas now you're nearly bored... there was a very strange song (someone shouts title)... very good!" After the song Morrissey explained "And the moral of this song - of that song - is quite boring, but the moral of the song is... even a cockroach has a life!"

After "Irish Blood, English Heart" and the great reception it got Morrissey said "Thank you, you are very enjoyable..." He was very playful with the lyrics of "I Will See You In Far Off Places". He sang "...I will close my mouth forever" and followed the usual live change "It's so easy for us to stand here together..." with "...but it's impossible for the flesh to combine..." He also sang "And why? Why, why, I don't know why..." and changed "but destiny for some is to end lives" to "but destiny for most is to end lives". Further down he sang "I will see you maybe in far off places". After the song he said "Thank you for understanding..."

After "Girlfriend In A Coma" Morrissey chatted with some fans: "Is it bearable? Should I learn more German? (crowd: yes!) What would I do with it?" In live performances of "Everyday Is Like Sunday" he usually changed a line to "scratch on a postcard" and on this date he extended that to "scratch on a postcard oh Mama! how I dearly wish I was not here". He also extended another line to "Everyday is silent and grey at least when you're all alone, on your own, all alone". After the song he announced "I have to change into a black shirt otherwise I would be physically sick... not now..."

Beside the usual live changes in "In The Future When All's Well" Morrissey also playfully sang "I will lie down and be sat on, in the future when all's well". This was followed by "I thank you too! I thank you with what's left of my heart". Further down he sang "Every day I play a silly game called...", "I thank you, and I do, I thank you with all of my heart" and "Lee, anybody, stand up and defend me". He also changed "Hold me closely if your will allows it" to "Hold me closely if you dare allow it".

After "I've Changed My Plea To Guilty" Morrissey replied to something shouted to him with the question "What you trying to say?" Just before "Dear God Please Help Me" he was about to say something but was interrupted by Michael playing the first notes of the song. He laughed then, over the opening notes of the song, prosed "Where am I? Why was I born? What ill did I do? Very true..." He then followed the opening lyrics "I am walking through Rome, with my heart on a string" with "it's yours!".

Main set closer "Life Is A Pigsty" was introduced with a string of questions: "So I think you must ask yourself, I think you must ask yourself if pop music, or rock music, is such a powerful and poetic force then why is music television crap? (crowd cheers) Why is radio crap? (cheers) Why is most music crap? (cheers) So the answer is..." Of course the answer Morrissey had in mind was the title of the song he was introducing. When he returned to the stage for the encore he saluted his audience in a subdued voice: "So thanks for all that you've given and if you didn't enjoy it, I will grow on you, ciao!"

 


Two different audience recordings of the complete concert are circulated on bootlegs, physical and digital. The best of the two (recorder: Wiltteri) sounds quite good but at times suffers from too much bass. It features the full set except for halfway into "I've Changed My Plea To Guilty" to halfway into "Let Me Kiss You". The other recording (recorder: TheMonk) features the complete set and also sounds good, although slightly less than the other one.

 

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