Morrissey, The Roundhouse, Camden, London, 22-01-08

I'm getting better at this. Before these gigs started I made a promise that I would take it easy for the first three and hammer it for the last three. I made it to the venue in good time, chatted to the people I met on Monday and met some new people. I went to the top level and perched myself on a chair overlooking Camden, through a room length glass window. It was quite a beautiful moment. At 8.45 I strolled downstairs and entered the auditorium, ready to see that intro film again. I blinked and stopped as I realised he had come on early (stage time is 9) and was half way through International Playboys, the encore from Monday. Oops. That'll teach me.
The setlist was all mixed up and, given that I was fully prepared to get exactly the same songs as Monday, I was delighted to get three songs I'd never heard live before. Everything about the gig was better than Monday - the band were even tighter, the sound was better, he was clearly in a good mood and the crowd were a great deal louder and more excited than Monday's audience.

He was much more chatty than the first night, telling us Hillary Clinton is changing her name to Billary since no-one is sure who they're voting for anyway, her or her husband! He reiterated his support for Barack Obama, something he'd been saying every night on stage in the US last year. We had a thanks to XFM and Radio 2 for playing his new single - why he's still obsessed, after all these years, with airplay is anyone's guess. The crowd on the whole is mixed but knowledgeable. He's contrary so people coming to hear This Charming Man and Heaven Knows and other 'hits' are going to find themselves disappointed. But with those who love the Smiths, those who scrambled to get a ticket for these shows, they don't want or expect famous songs, they holler their approval at obscure album tracks like Death of a Disco Dancer. With the recent Mark Ronson cover still fresh in the memory he reminded us what a brilliant song Stop Me... is when *he* plays it.

Those present are more likely to nod in appreciation at a Vauxhall and I album track than Hand in Glove - as the reactions to Billy Budd and Your Arsenal's Tomorrow proved. Even for me, who owns his entire back catalogue, there are songs known less than others. In particular the gorgeous Stretch Out and Wait (from compilations Louder than Bombs and The World Won't Listen) is becoming a real discovery of these shows since I never knew it that well before. He keeps pulling these gems out from nowhere, like The Loop, available only on little known compilation the World of Morrissey - played with an upright bass it's as rockabilly Moz as he's ever gotten, reminiscent of songs like Sing Your Life.

The setlist is a treat, all told. A nicely balanced mixture of new songs, obscure solo songs plus the odd big tune (HSIN) and rare Smiths tracks. The biggest reactions of the night actually came not for Smiths songs but the pair from You Are The Quarry. Irish Blood, English Heart in particular, despite being only three years old, has been taken to heart by fans, it's overtly political lyrics are sung with conviction, a little anger and passion which makes it the most powerful song he currently performs. Much like going to a football match, seeing Morrissey live is a primal scream of an evening. A chance to bond together with others of a like mind - this may be true of any gig but having been to my fair share of concerts in the last 20 years I can say the frenzy, the passion is most concentrated at Morrissey shows, of all the gigs I've attended. Again, like a football match, it has something of the tribal gathering about it.

My abiding memory of last night is the huge roar as he changed the lyric in Stretch Out and Wait from 'it's the eskimo blood in my veins' to 'it's the Manchester blood in my veins'. Stupid as this sounds, he makes me feel closer to home a little. A Manc who, like me, hasn't lived there for many years - yet it's something that runs deeper than most things in my blood too.
One more show tonight then a night off tomorrow. In the 8 Morrissey gigs I've attended so far I have heard almost 50 songs. I could name another 20, at least, that I'd like to hear. Some bands don't even have ten good songs. This is quite the journey, I'm loving every second of it.