Morrissey delivers knock-out performance at Echo Stage
Alternative-rock titan Morrissey graced D.C.’s Echo Stage Wednesday night, the fourth stop on his 2015 U.S. tour.
Morrissey has been notorious in recent years for cancelling shows, so fans had to be pleased that he even showed up. He was slated to play the Lincoln Theatre last June, but it was postponed and then cancelled altogether along with numerous other dates because of illness. The last time Morrissey performed in the D.C. area was his January 2013 show at the Strathmore in Bethesda. Since then, he released a new album — last year’s outstanding World Peace is None of Your Business — and a widely-hailed memoir.
To see the legend responsible for “How Soon is Now,” “This Charming Man,” and “Hand in Glove” — to name a few — is a bit surreal. Few write as incisively of the human experience as Morrissey. His caustic observations are laced with wit and mordant humor. His music is authentically human, lurching from towering self-righteousness to self-pity with remarkable rapidity. He covers the full spectrum of human experience, and he’s certainly not afraid to put his opinions front and center.
Despite his status in alternative rock, Morrissey has remained an outsider his entire career, especially in America. He’s scored dozens of hits in the U.K. with The Smiths and as a solo artist, but has never made the Top 40 in the U.S. In fact, he’s only appeared once on the Hot 100 — his brooding and obsessive “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get” peaked at #46 in 1994. That’s it.
From the first chords of his debut solo single “Suedehead,” Morrissey held the Echo Stage crowd in his palm. He looked to be in excellent condition, and his vocals were strong throughout. His band members were a tight group of musicians who rocked hard all night. The crowd was a surprisingly diverse mix. There was an expected contingent of slightly disheveled, suburban, pothead, vinyl aficionados and younger hipsters, but some parents even brought young children. One girl gleefully sat on her daddy’s shoulders clapping wildly and bouncing along to “Staircase at the University,” a grim tale of a college student fracturing under pressuring and hurling herself down a staircase to her death. It was that kind of night.
During a compelling performance of “Ganglord,” images of violent scenes of police brutality — including the infamous clip of Walter Scott’s ghastly murder at the hands of police officer Michael Slager in North Charleston, South Carolina — provided a haunting visual accompaniment to the harrowing song. Morrissey also featured his latest album, World Peace is None of Your Business, prominently in the set. The title track, a derisive torch-song dripping with barbed sarcasm, was particularly suited to a live setting, with Morrissey proving that his talents as a vocalist and performer remain undiminished.
The songs he performed ranged over a 30 year period, but each of them felt vital and current. Highlights of the evening were his soaring takes on the classics “Now My Heart is Full” and “Everyday Is Like Sunday,” with the audience singing along blissfully, arms waving. But his vicious rendition of the Smiths’ tune “Meat is Murder,” with graphic and bloody images of animals being slaughtered flashing on the screen behind him, reduced the audience to shocked silence. At the end of the song there was a moment of darkness with the words “What’s your excuse now?” written starkly across the screen. Morrissey is an outspoken advocate for animal rights, and he’s not ashamed of bringing these views to his audience. It was disturbing and brave — say what you will about Morrissey, he is not afraid to speak his mind.
He closed with a spirited take on “First of the Gang to Die,” helping the audience recover from the haunting visuals of “Meat is Murder.” By then, his voice finally seemed to be creaking a bit, but he was clearly happy with the performance and the audience’s warm reception. He kept his stage chatter to a minimum (at one point wryly acknowledging his cancellation of last year’s show), but at the end he sang out “I love you, I love you, I love you” to the crowd — and it was obvious he meant it.
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