Morrissey at 02 Festival, Hyde Park

Morrissey at 02 Festival, Hyde Park

28 July, 2008
by: Tom Jeffreys

'Morrissey, Morrissey, Morrissey' the terrace chant rings out across Hyde Park. How does this once fey now fattening sexually ambiguous egotist manage to unite thug with fop like none other? This is how: he bounds on stage in playboy t-shirt for 'Last of the Famous International Playboys', then goes straight into 'Ask' and 'First of the Gang to Die'. This is it! This is what we've all come to see: a lively, charming, disarming Morrissey proud of new and old alike. Voice intact, irony, warmth, a hint of arrogance: this is it!

The humour of 'Vicar in a Tutu' is slightly lost amongst the crowd's ecstatic chanting but who cares when Morrissey follows it up with a rabble-rousing 'Irish Blood, English Heart'? Move over Dimosthenes, Danton, Goebbels, Churchill. In this kind of mood, nobody can stir up the masses like Stephen Patrick Morrissey.

But then, oddly, the energy begins to fade. Not from Moz really or his excellent band, but from the crowd, as you sense them beginning slightly to lose interest. New single 'All You Need is Me' is just not that great and this is followed by a pretty flat period of old solo album tracks ('Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself') and fairly average newer songs ('That's How People Grow Up' and 'Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed').

'Death of a Disco Dancer' and 'Stretch Out and Wait' go some way to rectifying matters. But the problem is that in terms of tempo and tone, all of these tracks are pretty much the same. This is late-night bedsit musing music not the big noise work needed at such a massive event. It's all just very one-paced. Why is he doing this?

As if in answer, a judderingly brilliant 'How Soon Is Now' thunders forth, simultaneously bold and subtle, multi-layered and incredible. But he keeps changing the lyrics, which is a bit perverse. This is then followed by a very moany 'Life Is a Pigsty', which sees Morrissey at his most boringly self-indulgent. With none of the irony that keeps him interesting, this song is just a bit relentlessly dreary. When he collapses to the floor, all you can really see is a chubby middle-aged man lapping up shallow praise.

Throughout the set, Morrissey takes regular pot-shots at a variety of targets: the hamburger stalls (yawn) Ruth Kelly and Harriet Harman (for the Hyde Park curfew) Kylie Minogue (it's not her fault she's just been awarded an OBE) and George Bush (gosh, that's controversial, Stephen). When Morrissey used to sing 'This world is full of crashing bores, and I must be one' you always smiled at the irony. Now, though, it seems a little closer to the truth.

By way of a finale, Morrissey returns to the stage for a resounding 'What She Said'. In the hands of the current band, it's absolutely cracking, but perhaps just too little too late. The amazing opening salvo seems an age ago, and as we leave Hyde Park, it's fair to say, with Morrissey, that 'to pretend to be happy could only be idiocy'. La la la la la la la.

Click here to see all London indie
Click here to see all London live music
Click here for things to do in Paddington

Tom Jeffreys