Morrissey, Rotterdam Watt

Morrissey

June 6th 2009

When you get older, many things tend to go. Health, for example, and, from the viewpoint of the fan, the original dates for concerts. Morrissey has had a few bouts of illnesses in the last couple of months, but luckily for the Dutch he was ready to go just in time for the gig in Rotterdam. Unfortunately for the Dutch (it can’t be all good…) it was in the relatively new venue of Watt, who days before the gig send out an e-mail to telling us to be on time and not to wear necklaces, and not to bring fireworks, weapons, and blankets. Also no bags and rucksacks were allowed in the venue, so no wonder that after a thorough body and bag search by the security the woman in front of me was constantly bumping into me with her backpack. As long as it works, eh?

So new venues do not work, and new bands do not particularly work either. Doll and the Kicks are supporting Morrissey, but they cannot really bring the house down. The singer has big eyes and a very tiny pink dress, which seems to shrink with every bit of sweat that it consumes. She does have a bit of a voice. However, the voice is kind of a one trick pony, so when she tries to give it all a bit of emotion as opposed to the more danceable fare, it kind of falls flat. She walks around seductively, with an enormous bowtie on her head making her resemble Jessica Rabbit more so than anything else. Not helping is the ramshackle guitar playing, which sounds pretty shaky in parts.

How surprising the contrast with Morrissey’s band. Boz Boorer and company put on a tight show and worries that Morrissey solo lacks cohesion prove to be unfounded. Of course they are his long term associates so you cannot really expect anything else. Morrissey also gives them room to play, with the band often moving upfront. Of course, in the background, Morrissey is either lying down or standing as still as a statue for minutes, or indeed anything that keeps the focus on him, whether it is intentional or not. But with his stage presence that really is implied when joining a band supporting Morrissey.

The question is, after all these years, is this still warranted? Yes, is the unequivocal answer. Not because he was a hero and you have to honor your heroes – he himself always seemed firmly opposed to tradition for tradition’s sake – but his charisma, his stage presence, and his voice are all really good. Especially the latter was a concern, just having had to take time off due to illness and with some rather dodgy television appearances earlier this year, but live in Rotterdam the voice is in excellent condition. Sure, the yelps on opening track ‘This Charming Man’ are conveniently left out, but when he sings the rest with such confidence it is a minor quibble, if that.

Not only his voice, but he himself seems up for it as well. In typically Morrissey fashion he struts the stage, dramatic gestures aplenty. The la-di-da handshake with a crowdsurfing fan, the stripping of the shirt, and the handling of the microphone wire as if it were a whip: it is all done with panache. The shirt, meanwhile, is the exact cause why some people miss the encore, as it apparently is more important to tug and tear up a shirt than to hear the actual music you came for. The music, by the way, is very rock. It is a pretty rocky set, with quite some The Smiths songs, as well as b-sides, as Morrissey often does. Those two mix resulting in ‘Ask’, the song with the lovely line “Ask me, I won’t say no, how could I?”. Still the finest line is “I am human and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does”, which is something more people should bear in mind. Naturally he performs the two singles off the new album, Years of Refusal, as well.

A Morrissey gig would not be the same without some trademark Morrissey quips. He mentions how Holland beat England in cricket, just to add “But I don’t care”. Unfortunately for him, neither does anyone else in the venue (we are not a cricket nation). Some self-deprecation cannot be left out as well, as he describes himself as a “hairy-assed old man”, just to add that he is “not really hairy”. When during ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’ he rubs his breasts with open shirt one might think he has actually forgotten he is indeed fifty. With such a voice though, that is no wonder.

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