The Smiths - Humdrum Town

20 July 1986 - University Of Salford - Salford, UK

This gig which took place in the Smiths's hometown was listed by Q Magazine among the 100 best concerts ever. The band was in excellent form and the audience very enthusiastic and energetic. The cheers and chants (not of the band's name, but 'Salford! Salford!') between every song were deafening. As soon as "Panic" started everyone in the crowd was jumping up and down. You could feel the floor bounce in time. At some point the stage actually collapsed and they had to stop the show for a few minutes. When they restarted the front rows were almost on the stage, and Johnny and Andy eventually retreated to the drum riser. This made stage invading a little easier, and by the end the place was almost flooded with fans. The setlist was scrambled and started to look like the typical set of the "The Queen Is Dead" tour. "Stretch Out And Wait" was ditched and replaced with a returning "What She Said" now bookended by the intro and outro from "Rubber Ring". The Smiths also introduced the instrumental "Money Changes Everything" as the first encore, giving Morrissey the chance to rest a little longer than the others before returning to the stage. Since its live inception, newest single "Panic" had been played with a drum intro not on the studio version. However now that the song was moved as opener, the intro was extended even more than before. Referring to the previous night's concert, Morrissey said "Thank you, who needs G-Mex?... nobody..." before "Frankly Mr Shankly". The yet to be released "Ask" was introduced with "This is a new song... which nobody's heard... it's called... 'Ask'!" Pleased and surprised of the crowd's reaction, Morrissey said "Thank you... we're enjoying you immensely..." before "Cemetry Gates". He didn't sing the last few lines of that song. Instead he turned around, wiped his face and had a drink of water. The explanation for skipping those lines came right after when he said: "A little message... just a little message... If the person next to you spits... please kill them!". Before "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore", Marr introduced his fellow guitarist Craig Gannon then Morrissey said "Don't be shy!". After that number the singer asked "Everyone sitting comfortably?". As mentioned earlier, "What She Said" was played for the first time in between the intro and outro from "Rubber Ring". However this first performance featured a longer intro than subsequent ones. Before the final song of the main set, Morrissey started chanting with the crowd, but changed the words to "Stretford! Stretford!" while Mike banged the drums to the rhythm. As Morrissey removed his shirt and threw it into the audience, Mike's drum rhythm gradually became the drum intro to the following song, the fast-paced "The Queen Is Dead". As he sang the title line in the latter song, Morrissey pulled out a board saying THE QUEEN IS DEAD which he waved about for the rest of the song. The Smiths returned without Morrissey for the first encore to perform the instrumental "Money Changes Everything". After the song Morrissey rejoined his bandmates on stage and chanted with the crowd "Stretford! Stretford! The night is young!" before launching into "I Know It's Over". The first stage climbers made it up to their idol during the second encore, "Bigmouth Strikes Again" which, on this occasion, was performed with an extended intro. Returning for the third encore, Morrissey threw into the audience the shirt he had just changed into, said "You missed the last bus? Ha ha!" and went into the "Rusholme Ruffians" medley. During the two songs of this final encore, about 20 or 30 fans climbed on stage but instead of throwing themselves to Morrissey's neck, they formed a wall behind which Morrissey was protected from others, but also half hidden for the rest of the audience. Meanwhile Johnny remained in view by climbing on the drum rise.

01- Prokofiev Intro
02- Panic
03- Shakespeare's Sister
04- Frankly Mr.Shankly
05- Vicar In A Tutu
06- Ask
07- I Want The One I Can't Have
08- Cemetry Gates
09- Never Had One Ever
10- Is It Really So Strange?
11- The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
12- There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
13- That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
14- What She Said / Rubber Ring
15- The Queen Is Dead
16- Money Changes Everything
17- I Know It's Over
18- Bigmouth Strikes Again
19- (Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame / Rusholme Ruffians
20- Hand In Glove

Credit HERE And HERE


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