Niklas' blog

I just came home from seeing Morrissey live at Hovet.

It was a good show, and I liked “Still Ill” and “Life Is A Pigsty” best. His comments were really good, and the band was tight; I don’t really know for how long Jesse Tobias, the new guitarist who has replaced Alain Whyte, has been part of the troupe, but he’s fresh and good.

I managed to snap this film [appx. 19MB, QuickTime] tonight, using my super-duper mobile phone. Hence, the quality is crap, but you can actually hear bits of the music, and clearly (mostly) hear what Morrissey is saying.

Here’s a list of some notable alterations that were made to lyrics, music plus some in-between song comments by Morrissey:

“I decree today that life/is simply taking and not giving/England is swine” on “Still Ill”

“The answer is, yes, I am still ill.”

“Well, according to the mid-week sales in Sweden, our new CD-album, ‘Ringleader Of The Tormentors’, is almost in Sweden, number one.”

“My name is Gustav.” – said while introducing the band.

“Do you actually like ice-hockey? I do. And it’s a great game.”

“Tomorrow, we go to Helsinki. [is met by cheers and boo's] Helsinki is nice.”

“I still see you have Marabou here…but my favourite is…Plopp.”

Mikey Farrell plays “Helan Går“, a very folky Swedish song that’s always played when people are about to down schnapps, and the track segues into “Trouble Loves Me”.

edit: Morrissey might have been using the same shirt as at SXSW. Ooh, conspiracy theories abound! Or just theories such as “Ooh-er! He actually uses the same clobber more than once? Oh no, he’s human!”

The first review of the show courtesy of Stockholm City; they complain about the awful sound, the boring audience (at one point Morrissey actually asked “Are you bored?”) and rounds off by saying Morrissey is a great entertainer, but that this show wasn’t one of his stronger; I agree.

edit 2: this is a wonderful article off The Guardian, where Mark Taylor, founder of the foremost fanzine on The Smiths, “Smiths Indeed”, tells his story. It’s a labour of love, followed by reader comments.