March 28, 2005 - 6 months to the day before I saw Morrissey in concert at DAR Constitution Hall. I am the biggest dork in the world. I show up outside the theatre at nearly 6:30 PM and there�s not a single soul. There is one guy from the defunct-but-recently-revived-in-Baltimore legendary station WHFS. I'm sure he's a little scary to my mother because he's got all sorts of body piercings, she's probably thinking, "what the...?" he's putting up WHFS mini-banners on the walls, these little black background with yellow letters kind of numbers. (I later stole one of these when I was leaving; it�s actually sitting on a shelf in my office. I�m trying to decide if it deserves to be on the wall.) They said they�d let us in at 7:30 but it was more like 8, after the radio station people had eaten their brought-in fast food, before they finally opened the roped-off area and let us go in. The roped-off area wasn�t necessary, the show ended up not being anywhere close to being sold out. I had been fifth in line and not wanting to move until they let us in. I was hoping against hope that there would be a larger crowd - I figured that if they can convince other musicians/bands to have special nights like this in a boring place like Gaithersburg, maybe I wouldn't have to go into D.C. (and even then it's been rather scarce) to see and hear good music. It hadn�t occurred to me that they might be giving away actual good (translation: Morrissey-related) stuff. I�m really bashful when it comes to �public� stuff like this, so I missed out on getting a free copy of Earl�s Court CD because I was too shy to go up and say hi to the WHFS people. whoops. oh well. I figured I�m getting the DVD and CD tomorrow anyway, it just happens that the guy next to me got a free copy (after I�d asked how much it cost him). I get up from my seat � dead center � and then I hear someone calling my name. who could that be? It actually was a HS friend of mine, Dave, who years ago dated one of our other friends.
What are the odds? Disney was right; it is a small world, after all. I find out later that he won tickets for the movie and had he known I was a fan, he would have taken me instead. He asked me if I was here with anyone; I wasn�t. He says, �I always knew you had good taste in music!� so we end up sitting together. I actually really wanted a low-key night, being able to enjoy the Moz movie experience by myself, but he proceeds to tell me his life story. Before the Move performance of �How Soon is Now?� the HFS people are back again and giving away more stuff. Dave had already snagged an Earl�s Court CD and now he wants to win Presidents of the United States tickets � he�s waving his arms trying to win the tickets and they hand him a �Who Put the M�� DVD instead. I don�t know if it�s because he doesn�t have a DVD player at home or what, but he hands it over to me, saying he�s already won something that night. That Dave is a real prince, or what? (Thanks Dave :)
I still don�t know why they made the Move performance of HSIN �exclusive� to the cinema showing. Why can�t they just put it on the DVD with the other Move performances? It seems ridiculous. I�m slightly bummed about that. That and the fact that his Manchester version of �Jack the Ripper� was off-key, although it sounds some folks at moz-solo totally love the off-key version. go figure. Anyway�the movie begins, and there�s this official-looking (but filled in daftly) black and white �certificate.� Then begin a strange and really non-descript collection of photos from in and around Manchester, while the introductory spoken voice intones, ��apartheid�� and whatever else.
It never occurred to me that Morrissey *might not* have blue eyes. There was a minor discussion on Maladjusted, when something about how he wears blue contact lenses, and that in the good old days, he didn't; supposedly, in those days, he had brown eyes. I don't care either way, because whatever he wears, eyeballs nonwithstanding, he manages to look good in whatever he chooses, and even though he graduated from big girl blouses into Gucci, vintage denim, and pleather, he looks f'in, f'in brilliant. That's probably what I will take mostly from the film showing - that this man of 45 is just devastatingly handsome. He also happens to be a cute, cheeky little monkey, with witty comments and the expressions on his face. In some ways I think of him still as a little boy, because he manages to laugh at himself and entertain us, but the breadth of the topics he writes and sings about indicate differently. Steven Morrissey is just such a beguiling personality!
And the presence he manages to garner! There's really no way to describe the feeling adequately. I didn't have to be there at the M.E.N. Arena, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that he has amazing, amazing stage presence that can't be matched by just anyone.
I keep coming back to comparison to the Beatles (band-wise) and Elvis (if you consider Morrissey as a solo artist, away from his band, which you shouldn't, but just for the sake of comparison, humor me). I'm not sure who else I can try and compare Moz to, but you either have a good command of your audience, which includes garnering an incredible level of respect unmatched to any other artist or entertainer, or you don't. Morrissey definitely owns the audience when he's out there onstage. The feeling is one of total electricity when he's out there singing old Smiths tunes like "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" (which will bring tears to your eyes every time), or newer solo songs. it doesn't matter. Steven's got them eating out of his hand, at every performance.
His support band - if you can call it that, or perhaps it's better to call them "Morrissey, the Band" - sounded great. Alain Whyte, arguably the most beloved of all of the Mozzer's post-Smiths collaborators, was in fine form. He switched on and off lead guitar duties with Boz Boorer, who among several, had a nice-looking acoustic and a white electric guitar that looked like it was in support of the Land of the Midnight Sun. Gary Day, the bassist, hung out in the back and in general did not make an overly sensational presence; that was left to Dean "Deano" Butterworth, who got to lend his gong-banging to the end of several songs, including notably "I Have Forgiven Jesus."
So in this short review, I have tried to sum up my feelings on this "film." It's nearly impossible for me to really distill in a short piece about what I thought of "Who Put the M in Manchester?" because the film is just another wonderful example of the incredible power of Morrissey. It's something that brings to mind the cliche, "you have to see it to believe it!" It is terribly ironic that the man who sang "I don't mind if you forget me..." felt the need on May 22, 2004, to say "God bless you, don't forget me, I love you!" But he needn't have even mentioned those words. He is already in the hearts and minds of so many people. It is almost painful inside to even think what every Moz/Smiths fan has dreaded - that this just might be an indication that Morrissey plans to retire fully from his concert life. Some people have said that no, it's an impossibility - he needs his fans, he needs the live feedback of an appreciative crowd to live and feel valid. I've only been able to see him live once, and I would really love the opportunity to be up front, to touch his hand, to be able to show him what he's meant to me in such a short time. Steven, it's almost if you could be my brother.
Anyone who doesn't know what Morrissey - and how fanatical his fans are - need to see this DVD. And even if you already know one iota about who the Smiths were, what they stood for, and why so many people latched onto them, and who Morrissey was and is as a solo artist and what kind of impression he makes on people - you will come out of watching the DVD with a better appreciation for the making of a living legend.