(i) lineup
(1a) Blondie
(2b) Morrissey
(1a) (Blondie’s) setlist
- One Way or Another
- Rave
- Hanging On the Telephone (The Nerves cover)
- Call Me
- Maria
- A Rose By Any Name
- Rapture
- Heart of Glass
- The Tide is High (The Paragons cover)
(1b) highlights
- dude, it was BLONDIE
- Debbie Harry KNOWS WHAT’S UP
- the Gay Marriage Act had just been passed in that week, so Debbie was up there with her rainbow flag and dancing around, celebrating it; it was adorable
- apparently Debbie Harry was turning SEVENTY three days before the performance, which is PSYCHOTIC to me because she still sounded so, so good
- a whole marching band came out during “The Tide is High,” like how precious is that
(1c) lowlights
- I brought my nice Canon Rebel XS, but we had super far back seats in MSG and there was no jumbotron or feed whatsoever, so Blondie was, uh, super small for everyone in my section
(1d) overall thoughts
Seeing a super iconic artist like Blondie open for someone I love so much in crazy famous venue like Madison Square Garden is something you don’t forget. After all these years, the band still sounded strong. Yeah, their young, punky days have been over for awhile but there’s nothing like hearing “Heart of Glass” and “The Tide Is High” in Madison Square Garden regardless of everyone’s age. Blondie, and Debbie Harry in particular, totally killed it.
Bottom Line: Debbie Harry was 69 years old for this performance and more interesting than half the boring ass Brooklyn-based, leather-jacket-wearing, mediocre-ass opening bands I’ve seen in NYC.
(2a) (Morrissey’s) setlist
- The Queen Is Dead (The Smiths cover)
- Suedehead
- Staircase at the University
- Ganglord
- World Peace is None of Your Business
- Speedway
- Kiss Me A Lot
- Alma Matters
- I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
- Everyday Is Like Sunday
- Istanbul
- Will Never Marry
- I Will See You in Far-Off Places
- Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed
- Kick The Bride Down the Aisle
- Neal Cassady Drops Dead
- The World is Full of Crashing Bores
- The Bullfighter Dies
- Meat Is Murder (The Smiths cover)
- What She Said (The Smiths cover)
Encore:
- Now My Heart Is Full
(2b) highlights
- MORRISSEY!!!!!!
- “THE QUEEN IS DEAD”!!! I WAS DEAD!!!
- seeing the entirety of Madison Square Garden literally light up as the whole crowd belted out “Everyday Is Like Sunday” along with Moz will forever be burned into my retina; such a beautiful, wonderful, almost serenely perfect experience
- “Ganglord” is stupidly funny to me and it’s totally not supposed to be, but I can’t get over it
- all of MSG went “meatless” at the request of Moz, which I thought was cool, and “Meat Is Murder” was AMAZING
- Moz took off his shirt and threw it into the crowd at the end, which I’d only basically read about in books at that point, so that was next-level living a dream
(2c) lowlights
- at one point in between songs, Moz referenced how bright the theatre was, saying, “there’s a light in here…that never goes out” BUT THEN DIDN’T FUCKING PLAY “THERE’S A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT” LIIIIIKE, WTF?????!!!!???
- again, there was no jumbotron or live feed, so Moz was like an inch tall – so much for bringing my nice camera for pics -____-
(2d) overall thoughts
Morrissey is basically a god to Smiths’ fans and to the rest of the world who doesn’t find him super insufferable, myself included. I’d been looking forward to this performance forEVER because Morrissey (of course) had cancelled a show at Barclays Center in Brooklyn a year earlier that I was supposed to go to. I was pretty freaking relieved more than anything that MSG agreed to go meatless and Moz actually showed up.
On one hand, this was an incredible performance and definitely one I’ll never forget. There seriously isn’t a better feeling than waiting for him to come on-stage and seeing the Queen give two middle fingers while “The Queen Is Dead” starts playing. Like, my freaking breath caught in my chest, I could barely stand it. The crowd was mostly really responsive and the stage design and lights were really solid. But on the other hand…I feel like Moz actively tries to annoy the crowd. It’s as if he performs better knowing everyone is annoyed with him. He played so much new material from his newest album World Peace Is None of Your Business, which I actually wouldn’t at all mind…if the album was actually good. (That’s mostly unfair – the album is fine, but nowhere near his previous works, but I digress.) Like, why not play “Hairdresser On Fire”? Or another solo song that everyone knows and loves and can dance too. I’m not saying I want an hour-long performance only of Smiths’ covers, but how fucked up can you get when you seriously reference a Smiths’ song in your between-song banter, but then not play it???? I love you, Morrissey, but my god.
Bottom Line: The memorable moments outweighed the bad at this Moz performance and at least he didn’t run off stage this time! Also he took off his shirt! What a time to be alive!
Kat Goes To Shows 