London, England 1991-10-04 (Morrissey concert)

From Morrissey-solo Wiki
Morrissey Live
Tour Kill Uncle Tour
Date October 4, 1991
Venue Hammersmith Odeon
Location London, England
Opening Act The Johnson Family, Phranc


Set List [1]


Concert Notes

"This show didn't start on a good note. Security at the Hammersmith Odeon was very strict and no one was allowed to leave their seats, something that annoyed Morrissey. But he took care of the situation halfway into the concert (read further for details). "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys" returned to the setlist, as set opener. "Pregnant For The Last Time" replaced the noisy "That's Entertainment", perhaps because of the venue.

"In live performances of "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys" Morrissey was known to change a line to "just to make myself attracted to you", but on this date, he took it a step further by singing "just to make myself less attracted to you". In "Pregnant For The Last Time", the line "If ever we had the nerve to" was changed to "If ever we had the chance to" and "And people being nice for the very first time" to "...the last time".

"There supposedly were microphone problems at the beginning of "Interesting Drug", although this can't be heard on any recording of the concert. At the end of "Mute Witness", Morrissey posed for an extended period of time with his forehead on his fist, in a thinker position. For some reason, in "Piccadilly Palare", at the end of the line "good sons like you, they never do...", Morrissey added "...at last".

"After that number, Morrissey asked "I hope you haven't been hammered to your seats?". Then, at the beginning of "Driving Your Girlfriend Home", a fan who was trying to get on stage was brutally dragged away by security. This prompted Morrissey to move forward in order to see what was happening. He then stopped the band and asked "Why does the security have to be so ugly? We're going to have to have two minutes to do something about the security because this is shit". He and the band then exited the stage to discuss security matters. After 10 minutes, they came back to resume the show, to a relieved roaring crowd.

"The venue's security was replaced by Morrissey's own and it did make a difference. But it might not have been the best of ideas because the crowd became uncontrollable. As soon as the first notes of a second take of "Driving Your Girlfriend Home" were heard, fans started climbing on stage and before he could barely sing his first word, Morrissey was already buried under 5 or 6 fans while others were struggling to make it up on stage. Meanwhile the band kept on playing the song as an instrumental, until Morrissey managed to free himself and make it back to the microphone. The whole situation could have angered any other performer, but it wasn't the case with Morrissey. He got back up with a smug look on his face, which he quickly hid. The fans didn't miss a single word because Morrissey started singing from the beginning, and not where he would have been in the song had he not been disturbed.

"Disappointed" was the standard set closer, or at least main set closer for the whole Kill Uncle tour. It was a natural position for that song, given its line "This is the final song that I will ever sing". Only twice was the song performed in a different position in 1991: the very first gig in Dublin, and this one. On this date, the band actually started playing "Cosmic Dancer", but after Morrissey did the first line "I was dancing when I was twelve", the band went straight into "Disappointed". Although Morrissey acted surprised, the whole thing was planned. In "Disappointed" Morrissey changed a line to "your friends and your foes, would rather die than have to shag you". The end of the song usually saw more changes, but on this date Morrissey just decided to leave his lines unfinished: "Young girl, one day... but the thing is... this is the last song I will ever sing... ooooooooooooh aaaaaaaaaah..." In "Our Frank" a line was changed to " the world may be ending, but look, I'm practically human".

"These events left the seats in the first four or five rows smashed to pieces.

"This concert was recorded and broadcast on KROQ in Los Angeles three weeks later. It was also broadcast on Japanese television on 21 December 1991, with Japanese subtitles. This first television broadcast was limited to 13 songs, probably to fit inside a one-hour programme, but some re-runs featured the whole concert. In all cases, the banter in between songs was edited out. For obvious reasons, the security matters and concert interruption were also edited out." [2]


Live Recordings

This concert was recorded and has been broadcast on Japanese television and radio.

Unofficial Recordings

The broadcasts were captured and have been released. "The full concert is usually featured, although some of the older VHS bootlegs only feature an earlier 13-song broadcast. As of 2007, a version of the full television broadcast is circulated on DVD with 'remastered audio'."[3]

Home-front.jpg Multiple bootlegs of this concert have been produced. "The best of them is found on the Home Is Where The Heart Is bootleg CD, which features the whole concert, in order. The sound is excellent, straight from the soundboard. This bootleg is also circulated with alternate artwork."[3]
Hmv-front.jpg The His Master's Voice bootleg CD contains the entire set except for Piccadilly Palare.
Coverdigitalexcitationfront-boot.jpeg The Digital Excitation bootleg CD "was probably produced from the radio broadcast because the sound is excellent, but the intros of certain songs have short bits edited out, probably where an announcer was heard."[3] This bootleg lacks the first 2 songs: The Last Of The Famous International Playboys and Sister I'm A Poet.
Lear-front.jpg The King Lear: Live At Hammersmith 10/91 bootleg CD "seems to have been produced from the same recording, the sound is excellent, it also lacks the first two numbers, but the editing is even worse than on Digital Excitation."[3]

MP3 versions are available at the usual places.

Official Recordings

Audio recordings of Suedehead, I've Changed My Plea To Guilty, Pregnant For The Last Time and Alsatian Cousin were released, in various combinations, on the We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful 7", 12" and CD releases.

References And Notes

<references> [3]

  1. Set List provided by Passions Just Like Mine
  2. Concert Notes provided by Passions Just Like Mine
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Bootleg description provided by Passions Just Like Mine