There was a time
when October was my favourite month of the year. Having never been a
sun-worshipper, and prone to being morbid and pale, I’ve spent my
life craving crisp air and knit wear, not to mention the added bonuses
of my birthday and Halloween. Over the last few years, however, I’ve
found Fall somewhat troubling, mostly because
October’s
my birth-month, and I find the closer I trudge towards 40, the more
daunting the entire aging process becomes; it’s just plain strange
to see yourself change, to find lines tracing emotional road maps
across your face, and discover that universal truth you’ve always known, but never wanted to consider,
that - as
some old cliché or other goes - human life has seasons of its
own. Autumn, with its pretty golds and rusts, also
conveys change, withering...
oh, what a drag.
Luckily,
I’ve been able to keep
myself busy making travel plans – because – this autumn we are
looking forward to a Morrissey US tour, which will kick off in
Portland, Oregon on Halloween. It should be a treat, and Moz and the
band might have some delicious tricks up their sleeves (I’m toying
with the idea of deleting the trick-or-treat pun because it’s just
not very clever, but I’ll
hurdle you
into the moment with me - too
much caffeine, not enough sleep...so...let's make this stream-of-consciousness) However, as it is a holiday of sorts, perhaps something special will be arranged: remember the sugar skull face painting for last year's Día de los muertos concert in Santa Barbara?
Of course, I'm wondering, as any other
mid-thirty-something attending a Halloween concert would wonder,
should I wear a costume? In
the meantime, check out the
decadently
beautiful historic venue:
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| Arlene Schnitzter concert hall in Portland, Oregon |
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| Morrissey with Matt Walker at Santa Barbara Bowl Via @freddyrules2 on Twitter |
Leading
up to the US tour and the
November 17th
release of Low In High School,
Morrissey will sing live
on a number of programmes
throughout the UK and Europe. To date he has appeared on...
BBC
6 Music Live (UK)
Later
With Jools Holland (UK)
Le
Live – C à Vous (Paris)
Arte
concert – Schwuz (Berlin)
The
appearance on BBC 6 fell on the heels of a
horrific mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert. 58
people were killed, and hundreds
injured, by a gun-loving
lunatic gutlessly huddled
within Mandalay Bay’s
gilded towers, showering
a hurricane
of bullets on thousands of people who simply wanted to enjoy
themselves for the night. Concerts are, for many of us, the places
where we feel most
free, and perhaps it is only at concerts that we can
escape from
the struggles within us,
surrounding us, and engulfing
us. Something about attacks in this vein strike
as particularly evil... life
is a pigsty. This, of course, also begs the question, as I sit here up in relatively gun-free Canada... why do a certain number of NRA-obsessed Americans feel it is necessary to own guns, period? And those who excuse gun ownership for hunting... why feel the need to kill any animal, human or not? It is nothing but senseless death and violence.
Feeling
a bit numb that particular Monday, and due to being about 8 time zones away, like many of my North American friends, I chose to pick up the BBC 6
concert the following night. Musing over some personal stress as well, my mood felt glum, unfocused...
but I
tuned in, nursing a glass of Malbec that tasted vaguely of dusty,
dusky attics – and oh,
my heart...
There
was Morrissey – upon the stage – the first time I’d witnessed him singing live since Dallas in
April. Wearing
a sleek, plaid-lined Gucci jacket... he walked up to the lone, brave, powerful silhouette of the microphone - “made available” at Maida
Vale.
 |
| Morrissey in Gucci collage by franeby on Instagram |
Ultra-exclusive
and difficult to attain tickets for, I only knew of one person in
attendance at this gig.
The band opened with Ringleader’s guitar-driven masterpiece You Have Killed Me, before
jumping into a couple of new tracks: I Wish You Lonely
and lead single, Spent The Day In Bed.
At the right time, at the
wrong time, at any time, truly
great music says something
to you about your life, and yet – it simultaneously
helps you escape – into a different sphere. Awe.
My
purpose today is not to review the
new songs or
do so formally – letting
them absorb with purity on
release of the new album, to
me, seems the way to go, but
– wow – I adore I Wish You Lonely. I
think it’s quickly becoming one of my favourite Morrissey songs of
all time. Mando Lopez expertly
drives the tune with a killer bass line, and the lyrics and
Morrissey’s vocals are
sheer emotional force,
throwing you
into the mindset of the grotesquely
lonely. “Tombs are full of
fools” who give their lives upon
command to war, romance,
addiction – and the intoxicating lure of lost causes, chasing any
opiate
to dissolve our own crippling sense of emptiness, inevitably hurling us into the grave.
Setlist
for Maida Vale, October 2, 2017:
1. You Have
Killed Me
2. I Wish You
Lonely (new track)
3. Spent The Day
In Bed (new track)
4. Speedway
5. Istanbul
6. Ganglord
7. Jacky’s Only
Happy When She’s Up On Stage (new
track)
8. Back On The
Chain Gang (Pretenders cover)
9. World Peace Is
None Of Your Business
10. The
Bullfighter Dies
11. When You Open
Your Legs (new track)
12. Jack The
Ripper
13. Home Is A
Question Mark (new track)
14. All The Young
People Must Fall In Love (new
track)
 |
| Moz sang friend Hynde's song Back On The Chain Gang |
Fast
Forward to October 9th, when Morrissey appeared live in
Paris for a very intimate set on French programme C à Vous Live,
singing Spent The Day In Bed. I also missed watching
this one live, but managed to get hold of some YouTube footage later.
To my absolute delight, Morrissey was decked out in a tawny-coloured
cardigan embellished
with a gold peacock feather. As both a cardigan lover and bird lover, this sent me nearly over the edge of excitment. I don’t believe Mozzer has appeared on
stage in a cardi since Bergen last August, where he wore a glorious black sparkly
one.
 |
| Morrissey wearing a cardigan on French TV |
Due
to my fascination with Moz fashion (particularly cardigans), I took
to Google to see if I could find any info about the knitted
piece. It turns out the sweater is from Alexander McQueen’s 2017
Autumn Collection, which was
inspired by Oscar Wilde’s aestheticism, hence the peacock feather.
Peacock feathers and sunflowers were favourites of Wilde’s from his
days
at Magdalen College, when he immersed himself in the oft-critiqued (by rigid traditionalists, anyway) aesthetic
movement, becoming one of the movement's head figures. It's been a while since I've read Wilde's tragedy Salome, but peacocks do make an appearance at some point (I think?) and feature on the play's cover art.
 |
| Morrissey reading Wilde |
 |
| Original cover art sketch, by Audrey Beardsley, for Salome |
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| Alla Nazimova as Salome |
Like Wilde, McQueen also cast a distinctly tragic figure, as both died in their 40s. While Wilde passed away at 46, his health never recuperating after his imprisonment, McQueen died at 40 from suicide, after a series of attempts, a battle with depression and substance use, and unbearable grief over his mother’s death. Like Wilde, McQueen was considered a genius and found success at a fairly young age: his fashion design blurred lines with art, shock culture, political commentary, and has been described as “menacing, disturbing, and uncompromising.” Having heard of McQueen by name only, I learned more of him after a Twitter follower of mine, @michaelgracejr from indie band My Favourite pointed out to me that McQueen designed a collection in 1998 based on Joan of Arc: “now I know how Joan of Arc felt.”
 |
| McQueen's Joan of Arc via pinterest |
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| Still from The Passion of Joan of Arc (Falconetti) Used as backdrop by Morrissey |
To
add layer over layer,
McQueen’s 1992 graduate collection was inspired by Jack the Ripper. The
collection featured jackets lined with strands of human hair. Perhaps
this isn’t as creepy or
unusual as it sounds,
because, as an accessory, and
a form of mourning art, human
hair was a thing in
Victorian times; look up “Victorian Hair Jewellery”. McQueen’s
collection was called “Jack The Ripper Stalks His Victims.” Between Wilde, Joan, and Ripper, it
seems that McQueen and Morrissey, at least
at some level, have been captivated
by a few similar figures.
 |
| Morrissey singing Jack the Ripper via mischievousnose on IG |
With a new tour and album, we are also treated to new interviews. This week, in an interview for Rolling Stone, Morrissey said the songs on Low In High School are united by the common thread of “a rage in the blood, plus endless hooks.” He also maintains that, while the world may be in a messy state, hope can be found in art: “the political elite has stopped breathing, and the people and politicians everywhere are openly in a state of mutual contempt. Translate all of this into great music and life becomes hopeful.” For, how many of us actually look to politicians to speak to us about our lives, and, if we do, what the hell is wrong with us? It really is music that speaks to us on a deeper level, that drills into our blood, our moods, our minds, and helps us feel understood amidst the depersonalizing chaos surrounding us.
Excited
to see Moz, excited to see my friends from far-off places, and also
to visit some new cities, I’m back to planning my trip. I’m
particularly excited to travel to the Eastern US, as I’ve never
been out that way before. Speaking of Wilde, New York City now boasts a
bar devoted to the quick-quipping writer. While seemingly not having
any original items of Wilde's on display... Oscar Wilde NYC might just be
a place to check out, as it’s located near Madison Square Garden. I have a
feeling that Wilde, a master of ready-with-ready-wit, would find the
“Wilde mushroom pasta” slightly cringey, however, but the lure of
absinthe cocktails may be too great to resist.
 |
| Oscar Wilde Bar in NYC via Town & Country Magazine |
As of the day of writing, I am happy to say that a few friends of mine were able to attend Morrissey in Berlin, where he debuted another new track from Low In High School: My Love, I’d Do Anything For You.
 |
| Moz in Berlin via seemserene on IG |
New
beginnings, albeit later in the year.
Maybe
I’ve found a silver lining to this autumn thing after all.
