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Morrissey sings at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Sept. 5, 2019. (Photos by Jason Nicholson; Words by Mickey McCarter)
Steven Patrick Morrissey is an entertainer, and a really good one at that. Morrissey launched a North American Tour recently in support of a new album of covers, titled California Son, at Merriweather Post Pavilion, and he presented a straightforward but rousing show that rewarded fans with rarely performed songs and his glorious baritone.
Morrissey (Photo by Sam Rayner)
Earlier this year, Morrissey dropped California Son, his latest studio album and a collection of cover songs drawn from the artist’s favorites from the ’60s and ’70s. Around the same time, Morrissey drew critical acclaim for a sold-out run of shows on Broadway. Now, he’s touring in support of the new album, and he opens the tour with support from post-punk rockers Interpol at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Thursday, Sept. 5.
Morrisey performs live. (Photo courtesy Shore Fire Media)
The audience swelled into a crowded concert hall at The Anthem to welcome their hero, Steven Patrick Morrissey, who greeted them with humble smiles and vigorous handshakes from the stage. In town to promote Low in High School, his 11th studio album released last month via BMG, Morrissey was in very good spirits, which made his 22-song set rather quite enjoyable.
Johnny Marr and his guitar at New York’s Gramercy Theatre on Nov. 15, 2016. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Johnny Marr, surely the world’s most famous living guitar player for us in Generation X, released his autobiography “Set the Boy Free” in the United States last month, and he delivered a book talk with DC indie rock musician Ian Svenonius as host at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City on Nov. 15, the day of the US release. I was there, and now I’ve finished reading the book.
Nalinee Darmrong with some pix in her exhibit at Studio 1469 at an opening reception on June 17. (Photo by Mickey)
“Towards the summer of 1985, The Smiths were creating a buzz in the US, with the release of their second album, ‘Meat Is Murder’ earlier that year,” Nalinee Darmrong wrote in the introduction to her remarkable book The Smiths, printed recently by Rizzoli New York.
She continued: “They had done a short US tour previously, and news was circulating that they were coming to the US once more. I was graduating high school that year (I was 17), and Tony, for a graduation present, got me a ticket to see The Smiths at the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC on June 11, 1985.”
Thus began the adventure of a girl and her camera, as she spent some 17 shows tailing Steven Patrick Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke, and Mike Joyce around the United States and to the United Kingdom. Using a beat-up 35mm camera, Nalinee captured her experiences on film, and those pictures remained hidden from the world until now.
Morrissey admirers reach for their hero at Echostage on Wednesday.
“We were supposed to be here previously, and we couldn’t make it,” Morrissey said at Echostage Wednesday night. After a dramatic pause, he added, “The suicide rate in this band is very high.”
Speaking in reference to several cancelled shows in the DC area over the past several years, the latter part of that statement was offered as sardonic consolation to the audience via a bit of typically morbid humor from the Poet of Manchester, who actually then proceeded to put on a damn fine show.
The very very full Echostage was held rapturous as Morrissey and his longtime band (all of whom are hale and hearty despite his witty offering) dove into a robust set of 19 songs and one encore. The set focused heavily on rather good new material by Morrissey from the album World Peace Is None of Your Business — an odd album to be certain as it is not widely commercially available at the time of this writing due to a fallout last year between Morrissey and his label.
Regardless, Morrissey’s concert performance was entertaining in its own right, and what better way to get to know new songs than to enjoy them live? And more than enough people knew the lyrics to numbers like the title track “World Peace Is None of Your Business,” which revisits typical Morrissey themes of economic inequality and government suppression.
The crowd goes crazy at Firefly Music Festival 2014. (Photo courtesy Firefly Music Festival)
The Firefly Music Festival is returning for its fourth year to The Woodlands of Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del., for a long weekend of Thursday, June 18 to Sunday, June 21.
Festival ticket sales are underway, and early bird tickets already have sold out. Currently, music lovers can purchase $299 festival passes for the entire weekend or VIP packages at higher rates.
But the festival will not offer single-day passes this year, as it anticipates selling out its capacity of 90,000 attendees with full weekend passes, Red Frog Events, the organizer of the festival, announced Wednesday.
“We’ve seen an unprecedented increase each year since Firefly’s inaugural 2012 festival derived from our success in multiple areas,” said Greg Bostrom, director of Firefly Music Festival, in a press release. “This, in turn, eliminated our ability to offer single day general admission passes in 2015 as we plan to welcome 90,000 attendees, which will bring us to capacity this year.”
Headliners for the festival this year include the legendary Paul McCartney, who will close out Friday night. Kings of Leon headline Saturday night and the Killers close out the festival on Sunday. On Thursday, indie pop movers and shakers like Chari XCX and the Kooks are set to appear.
The 2015 lineup also includes Morrissey, Snoop Dogg, Foster the People, Bastille, Modest Mouse, Zedd, Hozier, Empire of the Sun, Kid Cudi and nearly 100 additional acts performing across seven stages, according to Red Frog.
Once the festival sells out of four-day passes at the general admission price of $299, it may offer “Encore” passes at $329.
Tickets are available online, and a payment plan is available for those who purchase before March 31. For more information, visit http://www.FireflyFestival.com.
Firefly Music Festival
The Woodlands of Dover International Speedway
Dover, DE
June 18-21, 2015
$299 general admission
12pm-1am
All ages
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