26 September 1985
Caird Hall, Dundee
Shakespeare's Sister
I Want The One I Can't Have
What She Said
What's The World
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Nowhere Fast
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
Stretch Out And Wait
Frankly, Mr Shankly
Bigmouth Strikes Again
Still Ill
(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame/Rusholme Ruffians
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Meat Is Murder
/This Charming Man
/Hand In Glove
//William, It Was Really Nothing
//Miserable Lie
This uneventful concert wasn't sold out, a rare occurrence in 1985. The setlist was the same as it had been in Glasgow the night before.

When the Smiths entered stage, Morrissey started by greeting the audience and added "Nice of you to turn up!" He acknowledged that "What's The World" was not a Smiths song, but didn't say it was written by James. Actually this had become standard practice on this mini-tour of Scotland: "That song was written by... handsome friends." He then tried to introduce the next song, "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side", but was interrupted before he could finish: "This is our new single... which is called errr...". Shortly after, "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" was introduced with "This was a monster", probably a sarcastic comment about the song's lack of success as a single.

In "Stretch Out And Wait", Morrissey changed the first few lines to something that came closer to the alternate version that would eventually be released on "The World Won't Listen": "With the lies that you say, what's at the back of your mind, oh the three day debate with the lies that you say, what's at the back of your mind". After the song he introduced the next one "This is a new song... called 'Frankly Mr Shankly'." In that one he changed one line to "I want to do something that I might be ashamed of". After that he enquired "Thank you... d'you like it? Honestly? Will you buy it?... This is another new song, which is even nicer... which is called... What? 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'." "Still Ill" was introduced by Morrissey as being "...for Tim, thank you for finding out the library... and it's also for Annette (undecipherable), it's called..." Morrissey sang extra lyrics during the extended instrumental outro to "Meat Is Murder". Most of it was undecipherable, but it included the recurring line "...nothing at all".

Returning after a short break to perform the first encore, Morrissey announced "Nostalgia is a wonderful thing" as an introduction to a fast-paced "This Charming Man". At some point into that song he sang "Punctured bicycle on a hillside desolate, I wonder, will nature make a man of me yet?" and "It's gruesome that someone so ugly should care". Returning for the second encore, he said "I never realised there were so many great people in Dundee, my!" before going into "William, It Was Really Nothing". In "Miserable Lie" he changed a line to "Put your mother's dress away" instead of "please put your tongue away". He shouted "We love you goodbye!" before he and the other Smiths left the stage for good.

 


A very good audience recording of the complete concert is circulated on bootlegs (recorder: Soundsville's Steve). At this point in time it is scarcely found on the internet in its original form. A poor muffled transfer of this same recording - possibly via second or third generation tape - is commonly seen under the title "Brass And Money". It must be said that the latter also lacks the finale "Miserable Lie" (although the artwork does list that song and not "Rusholme Ruffians"). Fans and collectors should make sure they get the master recording instead of the more common inferior version.

Note: The full concert from the night before in Glasgow is sometimes circulated under this date on the internet.

Soundchecks done before this gig were recorded by the same bootleggers who recorded the concert. The whole 56-minute recording can be found on the internet. It starts with bass and/or drums only soundchecks, then Johnny joins in for about 30 minutes until Morrissey joins them for his part. The three last songs on the recording feature the whole band, doing "Jeane", "What's The World" and the newest release "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side". "Jeane" was not a setlist regular on this mini tour, it would only be played a few days later in Aberdeen.

The latter 30 minutes of this soundcheck recording has made it onto the "Asleep" bootleg (with 3 radio sessions, an alternate outtake of "How Soon Is Now?", "Girl Afraid" from 2 March 1984 and 5 soundchecks from 1 October 1985). A selection of them is also available on the "Soundcheck" bootleg. The latter are all found in digital format on the internet

 

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