Moztober: New tour, new songs, and Wilde new fashion

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:

Arlene Schnitzter concert hall in Portland, Oregon

Morrissey with Matt Walker at Santa Barbara Bowl
Via @freddyrules2 on Twitter

Leading up to the US tour and the November 17^th 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 9^th, 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

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

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.