12 June 1984
Market Hall, Carlisle
Nowhere Fast
Girl Afraid
Handsome Devil
This Charming Man
William, It Was Really Nothing (instrumental)
William, It Was Really Nothing
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Still Ill
I Don't Owe You Anything
Jeane
Barbarism Begins At Home
Hand In Glove
/What Difference Does It Make?
/You've Got Everything Now
//Pretty Girls Make Graves
//Miserable Lie
///These Things Take Time
This was one of the best Smiths concerts of the summer of 1984. The crowd was energetic and sang along to many of the songs. There were a few troublemakers in the audience, and although "William, It Was Really Nothing" had to be played a second time because of them, they didn't break the band's spirits.

After set opener "Nowhere Fast", Morrissey greeted the audience "Hello!... Hello, we're the Smiths...". The crowd really cheered loudly after each song, and after "This Charming Man", they even broke into a football chant. As they were also requesting songs, Morrissey just shouted "Shut up!" and the band launched into "William, It Was Really Nothing". However just a few lines into it Morrissey was interrupted by intense spitting and most of the song was performed as an instrumental. After that, someone (Johnny?) addressed the audience "Listen, if you spit on Morrissey, he's not going to sing to you... If you see someone next to you spitting... can't you stop, we just want to play". Morrissey punctuated this with a "thank you" and the song was started over again. The whole thing must have had an effect on his concentration because Morrissey sang the wrong line at the wrong time near the end. However he was clever enough to repair the mistake and make it into something funny: "Would you like to marry me / and if you like you can buy the ring / I don't dream about anyone / would you like to marry me / and if you like you can buy the ring / she doesn't care about anything / except myself".

There was a tremendous singalong for "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" which had just made it into the top ten. After the song Morrissey just shouted "Still! Ill!" as an introduction to the next one. In it he sang "I ended up with two lips" besides the more common change "well if I were you I really wouldn't bother". After "Jeane" Morrissey sarcastically exclaimed "Isn't this exciting, aah!". There was another singalong to the first encore, "What Difference Does It Make?". After "You've Got Everything Now", Morrissey exclaimed "Goodbye! Thank you! We love you! Goodbye!". The Smiths were called back for a second encore and then a third. On returning for the third one, Morrissey led the audience into a chant of "Smiths! Smiths! Smiths!" before starting the final song, "These Things Take Time".

 


This concert is not available on any 'official' bootleg, but fan made CD-Rs and tapes are available from bootleg traders. The sound quality is good and the crowd interaction is very well captured. MP3s are also available on the usual networks.

 

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