Morrissey
The Pearl, September 21
Performance: ****
Audience: * 1/2
Blame tourdate oversaturation, meteorological oversaturation in the form of a thunderstorm, or blame Moz diehards for partying themselves out the previous evening in Tijuana, but the sparse and sedate crowd at Morrissey’s second Palms date in three months could scarcely be bothered to acknowledge the trademark mic-cord whip-cracking, eyebrow-skyrocketing and t-shirt removing on display before them.
For his part, the ex-Smiths frontman rewarded repeat viewers with a wildly eclectic setlist that kicked off with his former band’s “Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before” and grew heavy with gems (“The Boy with the Thorn in His Side” set closer “How Soon Is Now?” and encore closer “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want”) and rarities alike (“Stretch Out and Wait,” “London” and “Death of a Disco Dancer”). From his solo repertoire, Vauxhall and I’s “Why Don’t You Find Out for Yourself?” made a surprise appearance, and though response to You Are the Quarry’s “First of the Gang to Die” overshadowed that of an extended, thunderous “Life Is a Pigsty” and even “Every Day Is Like Sunday,” Morrissey refused to pander, instead charging through new songs “All You Need is Me,” “That’s How People Grow Up,” “One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell” and “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris” (the French city, not Hilton).
He remained in good spirits, remarking, “This is a song from the slow years of my life, which, as you know, has been all of them,” before tackling Your Arsenal’s “Tomorrow” and describing “Sunday” as a song that “kicked, pushed, headbutted its way to Number 9 on the Zimbabwe charts” 19 years ago. When one attendee shouted, “Make it a single!” post-“Paris,” Morrissey sighed, bemusedly explaining, “Make it a single? But I don’t even have a record contract.” Even when things aren’t quite going his way -- audience, weather, love life, means of income be damned -- the Pope of Mope remains never at a loss for words.