“I FEEL PART OF SOMETHING. LIKE I BELONG” – FANS ON FORTY YEARS OF MORRISSEY

Dickie Felton | 7 October 2023

Only Morrissey could release a teeshirt highlighting current career woes.

Band tees usually boast snappy slogans but the legendary singer has a long-winded list of the lost:

“No record label, no management, no airplay, no promotion, no TV, no new release, no media support…”

Morrissey comes out fighting tonight (Sat 7 October) when his world tour opens in Florida.

His return is a few weeks later than planned – he should’ve played South America last month but was struck down with dengue fever in Mexico.

The only fever now is among his loyal fanbase getting ready to welcome their hero everywhere from Memphis to Melbourne.

It’s 40 years since The Smiths exploded into public consciousness and launched the phenomenon Morrissey.

Four decades on and the enigma is producing music every bit as good as those early Smiths days. You’re just not very likely to ever hear it, unless you see him face-to-face.

The record industry world of 2023 is not as receptive to singers with something to say as they were in 1983.

But Morrissey’s audience remain as committed as ever and over the coming weeks and months will flock to see their hero.

After 11 US dates Morrissey mania will move to Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. His postponed South America dates resume early next year.

It’s some ride for a singer who has two new albums finished but is unable to release them.

It is like he is ‘Still ill’ and – and as the fan tattoo above suggests –  ‘…the sanest days are mad’.

Despite record company obstruction and what feels like a media black-out, the clamour from fans is at fever pitch.

The lower Morrissey’s stock falls among record company execs, the higher his standing among the fanbase.

The more he is shunned, the more he is loved.

Summer shows in Ireland and England saw fan frenzy similar to early solo days.

When Morrissey played two gigs at Dublin’s intimate Vicar Street the sold-out audiences were delirious with love.

At the first night Morrissey opened with ‘How Soon is Now’ followed by ‘Suedehead’, ‘Stop Me if you Think You’ve Heard This One Before’ and ‘Irish Blood English Heart’.

Not getting carried away, but could this be the greatest four-song opening to a Morrissey set ever?

Much of the fanbase cite Morrissey and his lyrics for helping them through tough times in their lives.

Now fans want to repay that support and are backing their man come hell or high water.

In 1984 aged just 25 Morrissey penned ‘Meat is Murder’ and two years later the majestic ‘The Queen is Dead’.

Now aged 64, he is still producing a commentary on life that irks mostly everybody other than his loyal support.

The Morrissey of 2023 has not mellowed.

Recent compositions include a song about the Manchester Arena bombing – ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’.

And then there’s ‘Notre Dame’ – a dark and stunning track that questions the cause of the Paris cathedral fire in 2019.

It’s a song that rivals anything The Smiths produced – but you’ll get thrown in The Seine for suggesting that.

And you won’t hear these songs on Saturday afternoon radio or your go-to streaming service. At least not just yet.

The only place Morrissey’s new music is heard is at his concerts because record companies perceive a risk in releasing it.

French fan Mathieu Besset travelled to the two Dublin gigs.

He said: “The whole show is like a beating pulse shared by everyone. I learned to really love songs like ‘Notre Dame’ and ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’.

“‘Half a Person’ was sung by the whole audience back at Morrissey and it was an almost mystical experience.

“A choir from heaven and hell – a unique moment for everyone’s richness and vulnerability to bloom full.

“Morrissey is such a great entertainer –  very funny, very witty and very true to his art. His energy is communicative to both the audience and the band.

“It’s really hard to come down after such a blast and harder yet to go back home after having shared so special moments with so many beautiful and nice people.

“I wish these moments would last forever, that life would always amount to this magical chemistry between art and life.”

The renewed verve in his audience may be because we are all running out of time.

Morrissey could apply for his free bus pass in 18 months and draw his pension.

But there’s no time to waste and he is more concerned with jetting around the globe to see his people.

Being at a Morrissey gig feels like being in the right place at the right time.

The sense of belonging is off-the-scale as is the ticking clock on the wall.

“We’re all skeletons; we’ll soon be powder. This will pass as a dream; these days will come and go.” – Morrissey on stage 2023.

For the first time in his touring career Morrissey has two female musicians in his band.

Guitarist Carmen Vandenberg and Camila Grey on keyboards add a breathtaking new dimension to the sound.

Fan Mathieu: “I feel there’s something more complete and more universal with Carmen and Camila.  They bring a new balance to this little state where there used to be only guys in the command room.”

Fan Joanne Redmond was among the throng in Dublin.

She said: “Morrissey is an absolute genius. His lyrics just talk to me.

“His voice is better than ever and his fans are the best in the world.

“I definitely think his voice has greatly improved over the years. He seems to have more range and it’s more soulful.

“At Dublin it felt like I was meeting family. I felt part of something. Like I belonged.”

In the sleepy south Cumbrian town of Ulverston the Hope and Anchor pub is hosting a Smiths night.

Morrissey’s music gets played for five hours solid and pub-goers dance with gay abandon to everything from ‘Dagenham Dave’ to ‘This Charming Man’.

DJ Ste Tyson has a Morrissey flag hung over his sound system and curates a mesmerising set of obscure Morrissey b-sides and Smiths classics.

It’s like a secret society of castaways. Each and every person dancing to ‘These Things Take Time’. Some people are alone but together – celebrating the wondrous world of Morrissey in an unlikely setting.

That the quiet birthplace of Stan Laurel would put on an evening dedicated to Morrissey is testament to an enduring love stretching back to 1983.

Some disco dancers in the Hope and Anchor look like they are in their 70s.

There are teenagers – born in a separate century to The Smiths yet singing along to every word of  ‘What Difference Does it Make?’.

You get the impression that the Hope and Anchor will be playing Morrissey’s music in another 40-years-time.

Morrissey fans will reconvene tonight in Florida and then zigzag across America before this leg of the tour concludes in a four-night run at United Palace New York.

From tiny pubs in Cumbria to the bright lights of Broadway, the magic of Morrissey stretches oceans and ages.

Dickie Felton

Dickie has been documenting recent Morrissey tours in image, film and words. His 2009 book The Day I Met Morrissey is still buyable HERE.