Benedum Center, Pittsburgh, PA..... With a Morrissey concert, one always wonders whether it will take place at all--given Morrissey's well-documented history of shows cancelled at the last minute. So it was concerning when several recent of his concerts had to be scrapped due to credible death threats on the former Smiths frontman. But, it turned out not to be a concern and the show went on as scheduled. Morrissey was in fine voice but I had some issues with the setlist. Towards the end of the main set, I thought it's got to be bangers all the way down, but I was disappointed. Some deeper cuts, but more problematically, midtempo songs that didn't get the energy up except for the hardest-core of Moz-heads. There were a lot of people heading to the exits early, and my daughter (first time seeing him live) said to me at one point, "The music for each song sounds good but once he starts singing, they all sound the same." The last time I saw Morrissey , while a showcas...
The Ritz, New York, NY I was at the concert with my college friend Tim. We were both big Billy Bragg fans, so we really enjoyed the show; particularly so, as this was my first time seeing him live. When he came out by himself and performed "The Milkman of Human Kindness," I was stuck by how much intensity he could deliver, just him and his electric guitar. And when he sang the refrain line -- "I am the milkman of human kindness, I will leave an extra pint!" -- he would kick a leg backwards as he ended it, as if using the motion to put extra force into his singing. Tim was living in Jersey, so he decided to leave during the encore break. However, as soon as he began making his way towards the door, a member of the stage crew started setting up additional microphones. Since the concert had been entirely Billy solo (with occasional 2nd guitar contributed by Billy's friend Wiggy), I quickly realized that Something Was Up. I scanned the crowd of people leaving t...
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