The Morrissey Houston Trip

Back on April 11th, Dawn and I went to Houston to see Morrissey at Jones Hall!!!

We managed to make a whole day of it. We made lunch reservations at Nelore and had a wonderful meal. Last time I went there it was by myself during my MTP week there for Lowe's. I think we tried every type of meat there and on top of that, before we left I was going to buy a can of brazilian soda and they gave me one for the road at no charge!

We then went to the Galleria, which is a huge mall shopping center in Houston. We bought the girls some Easter Dresses! Then went to the Apple store. Dawn is now in love with the Apple and Garage Band! We will one day have this in our home. The one we saw had a piano keyboard attached to it and we played around with the whole track creation. She loved it. We also went into the Hot Topic. We almost bought these Hello Kitty Hoodies. They were cute.

We then found a Fiesta Mart. Dawn had never been to one, and I went last time I was there in Houston. It was fun. She bought some type of milk product for Daniel, and she found some curry powder and some spices and I bought my Brazilian Soda again.

Then it was time to make our way to the show.

We bought the tickets about a month and a half before the show. Looking at the location, we knew we were in the balcony section. What we didn't realize was, how high it was. Our first realization was when we had to take a elevator up to the top. Then I got a picture of how high we were in the building. Dawn, is very fearful of heights. I didn't realize how bad until we got to the top. Dawn couldn't look over the rail of the balcony and I felt a little fearful as well. I took my phone and took a pic over the rail. WOW! We were up there.

Then we had to figure out where our seats were. We were on the front row, but there wasn't anything but the rail and wall in front of us. Dawn was freaking out! She managed to sit down in her chair. But she was like a mom driving with her child in the next seat. Every time I would move she would grab my arm and make me sit back in the seat. But after a while she began to relax a little. But not a lot. But look at the picture and this was pretty much our view. I really felt bad for her. I have never seen Dawn be so overwhelmed. But she did try her best to deal with it. Once the show began, she did seem to calm down a little.

One thing I really like when going to concerts, is the opening acts. It's really a chance to find something new. And here were the Courteeners!!! They had a really good set. Each song seemed to be stronger and stronger until the very last one. By the time their set was over with everyone in that theater was impressed and the response was very evident. Dawn and I looked at eachother and we were impressed. We both looked at eacheother when that last song was over and we were kind of shocked! I went after the show and bought their import CD. It's signed by the band!

They began setting up the stage for Morrissey and were showing some videos of various things. One thing that caught our attention were these songs from Shocking Blue. We really liked them. There were some things from the New York Dolls, of course. And some other things. But it was a good way to pass the time between groups.

And then it was time. The lights went out and everyone was going crazy and there were these faint lights in the back of the stage shining through the backdrop and the opening to a Nina Simone album was playing. It created this morning dawn setting and it looked like the sun was rising on the backdrop. And as it got brighter you could see a silouette of a guy flexing his muscles. And then Morrissey came out and went right into "This Charming Man!" Then you could see that the backdrop was a shirtless Sailor with a cigar in his mouth and the word REFUSAL across his chest.

I've always like Morrissey since I really discovered him just out of High School. I heard the album Bona Drag. Dawn didn't care for him too much, but I just took to it. And I've stuck along with him since. So I was really happy to see him live! My friend Brian, got to see him open for Depeche Mode in Kansas City and I was so Jealous of him. But now here Dawn and I were and there he was on stage. But I do realize that I don't like being so far away. I like being up close to the act. Up in the balcony is not the place to be for me.

But tonight's show was GREAT! He was in prime form. He voice didn't waver once during the whole show. What you hear on the CD's is what you hear live!

He was funny too! Everything he said was done in this poetic fashion. And of course at one point in the show he was trying to invite people in the front to "attack." He wanted people to come on stage. Someone tried and got pulled away. He spoke to some of the people up front. And at one point, he took off his shirt during "Let Me Kiss You," but his shirt wouldn't come off his arm. He even at one point laughing at himself, told everyone that "it won't come off!" He finally got it off and gave it to someone up front. Later it was said that the cuff links kept it from coming off easy. Lucky girl got his shirt with all the stuff still on it!

One of my favorite moments was when he sang the Smith's song "ASK." There was this really awesome vibe going on through the whole hall. Everyone there was singing it word for word! Everyone had this head bob thing going and you could really feel this, for lack of a better description, 80's feel going on. It was AWESOME!!! You could really hear everyone singing and I think he let them be louder than himself. It was great.

He also did some of my favorites through out the set. "Crashing Bores" was a highlight for me when it came to my alltime favorites. He also did some of the songs from the new album. Then of course there was "How Soon Is Now." Everyone was going crazy for that one. Even Dawn liked that one. She didn't realize that this was a song he did. She only knew it from "Charmed." Funny.

Only really down time for the show was during "Disco Dancer." I understand that it was for him to take a break, but by the time it was over, it was just this loud overbearing mess of notes and sound that really wasn't what I wanted to be hearing at that moment.

The band was awesome for the show. They really did a great job. One thing they would do once in a while, that I really got a kick out of, would be for them to take control of the stage. They would all line up and Morrissey would take a step back and let them have their moments up front. He did some funny things too. He got on his back and would stick up his legs on a speaker and would hold it there for a minute in a contorted position. It really looked like he was having fun during this show! And everyone there was having fun too.

For the encore he tried to perform "First of the Gang." I say try because he was attacked seven times from people on stage. They would climb up and try to hug him. Several did succeed very well and some wouldn't. The crowd really got into that. If someone made it they would cheer. If security got them, they would awww. He even would tell them something like, "good try." Some he would step back on the stage and give them a try at hugging him. But so many tried that he was having to improvise and scat the lyrics of the song. It was rather funny. The last person to grab his hand though, he didn't let go. He pulled her up to the stage and she just let him. She got up and they turned to each other and they graciously bowed to eachother. It was a very classy move. He led her back to the crowd and he thanked everyone and left. The band finished and gave up their picks and set lists and stuff. And that was it!

This was a really Great SHOW!!! I really had a fun time there. I think Dawn did too. She eventually was able to not be too scared of the height. I think she began enjoying it more as it went on. Overall, I'm glad that we were able to have the chance to go to see this Legend of Alternative Music. I'm sure that this is something that I'll not have a chance to do again, so I'm really glad we got to go.

Just next time, we're going to have to stay on the ground. But that's okay. We got our tickets for U2 in October. We're going to be right on the floor for this one.

Thanks Morrissey for the great time in Houston, Texas!!!