Monday, April 30, 2007

moz!

Morrissey in Stockton was a night I'll never forget. It's hard to put into words what it meant to me but it meant a lot. Unfortunately, the show was cut short. If you've ever been to a Morrissey show you know that part of the deal is people getting on the stage. His fanbase in the last ten years has changed a lot and there are considerably larger dudes trying to get onstage now (rather than the anemic Morrissey wanna-bes that used to get up there) and during the encore one grabbed onto Morrissey (it seems too dorky to write Moz but I don't want to keep typing the whole name) and wrassled him and tore his shirt. The bodyguards pulled him off and Moz and the whole band instantly left the stage as if on cue and Frank Sinatra singing "that's life" blasted through the theater, which was a pretty cheeky way to end it. Wow, Chris Macias already published something about it. I'm really glad I'm not a professional music critic, because it seems to leach a lot of your enjoyment out of everything. Mushy sound? Didn't notice. I was too mesmerized. And what's an aging metrosexual? If they exist I didn't see any there. Here's an article (which I just found and haven't had time to read yet) that attempts to analyze his somewhat recent fanbase within the Latino population. And here's another one. And here's a rad recent la weekly article with video links at the end.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's a weird phenomenon -- mostly in the Mexican burbs like Downey. During the 80's in LA, most of the suedhead/rude boy kids you saw around were Latinos, so I guess it's really not such a strange transition because there's quite a bit of fashion overlap.

BTW - !!! were fucking amazing last night. Pugh is a pretty great frontman with some impressive pipes.

-- Patrone

beckler said...

I'm sure they will be even better tonight, considering the superb acoustics and all around good vibes of the Library. That reminds me, what time does it start? No what time does it REALLY start?

Anonymous said...

I heard that somebody we know wrote a fan letter to Moz, years and years ago. If only we could get ahold of that letter today!! Scandal!

-heckamax

PS Miller, I saw the Bird Lady sans (imaginary) bird. I tried to pick up a Scottish accent by eavsdropping on her conversation. Yup, its Licorice allright.

Jeff M. said...

I still have a piece of mozzer's shirt from when I was one of those 'anemic Morrissey wanna-bes,' in high school. I didn't manage to get on stage, but he tossed his shirt into the audience. This was at the Greek theather in Berkley. I also got into a fight with some frat boys who were calling all of moz's fans fags. I stabbed one of the guys (there was like four) with the boutique of flowers I had brought to throw on the stage (the show hadn't started yet, and I think what set the frats off was that this lesbien folk singer named phrank had opened the show). anyway I was getting my ass beat good when this huge skinhead in a leather jacket (I still remember the smell of the leather) grabbed me and dragged me into the crown to safety. And the sercuirty showed up and tossed the frats out. It was a glorious day.

werenotdeep said...

You stabbed a guy with a boutique? How do you do that? Was it like when the house fell on the wicked witch of the east?

Jeff M. said...

bouquet...spelling phonetically from spanish instead of french...also crowd not crown

Anonymous said...

Jeff M. writes:

...and I think what set the frats off was that this lesbien folk singer named phrank had opened the show.
------------------

That'd be Phranc The Jewish Lesbian Folksinger. She opened for the Dead Kennedys at their last UC Davis show...

Pres,
SASSF

Anonymous said...

^ ^ ^

I meant Phranc The All-American Jewish Lesbian Folksinger.

Anonymous said...

I think you meant Phranc the All-American Jewish Lesbian Folksinger & Tupperware Lady.

A friend of mine in L.A. has already had one Phranc Tupperware party (Phranc sings some songs, then does the tupperware sales thing) & is having another in a week or two.

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! I wish I could of saw the show... The set list looks hella fun and dandy. Didn`t Cornershop give em` a hard time about National Front Disco. As for Latinos do they prescribe to a certain genre of music??? Don`t forget the Plugz,Mano Negra,The Jaguares,Volemen Cero,Los Otros and hell-- Oingo Boingo all awesome rock/punk/alt. bands. I would hopefully wish that cultural background wouldn`t matter at a show or a music style.Which brings me to the Afro punk Documentary...Anybody see it??? I guess my moz sub will be at days bar with a cup of absinthe watching the english expats wallow "i know it`s over"...The bartender always throws on "girlfriend in a coma" after a few hoppshu`s in me. I do my best drunken Moz swagger..get a couple "sugoi`s"..Cause it`s golden week !!!! 4 days off from the kancho!!! Yatta!!! jay

Anonymous said...

Darin writes:

A friend of mine in L.A. has already had one Phranc Tupperware party (Phranc sings some songs, then does the tupperware sales thing) & is having another in a week or two.
------------------

I'll buy that for a dollar!!!

Pres,
SASSF

Anonymous said...

my.tupperware.com/phranc

Anonymous said...

Holy shit! The second Morrisey article under "and here's another one" just about brought me to tears by the third page. No wonder he's like Christ to my people. I've always known that his lyrics had alot in common with traditional Mexican ballads but I had no idea that it went even deeper. 50 years from now, Latin-American churches will have Morrisey statues along side the virgin. What a great article, thanks for posting it.
Larry

beckler said...

I'm glad you liked it, I felt a little weird that people make such a big deal about his Latino fans, but I was just very curious because I last paid attention to his career in the early nineties and was oblivious to his new fans for the most part. Moz Angeles! My favorite quote was when the guy said "I see Moz as something like Los Tigres Del Norte". I also loved the recent la weekly interview where Morrissey talked about how when you see a roadkilled squirrel you should go check to see if it's still alive because it may be just "concussed".

beckler said...

I forgot about Phranc! Now that I remembered her I can forget about her again. It's funny to me how I was pretending so hard when I was young that morrissey was "celibate" and not gay (so that he could be my boyfriend some day, of course) that I would ignore how explicitly gay all his reference points were. Klaus Nomi? Phranc? Come on.

werenotdeep said...

Well, aren't you glad, now, that he is gay? I mean, sure, he's doing great for his age, but suppose he was straight, and you did meet him and marry him. You'd basically just be married to Mr. Howell.

Anonymous said...

Man, I remember listening to my Positively Phranc cassette over and over again in my car. There are 29 Cds available from $.83 on Amazon. I think I will pick one up. I may be able to get her entire catalog for the price of one Coors Light at the Library.

gbomb

beckler said...

You mean the New Rave Coors Light(TM)?

it's crazy how gay morrissey is now and i love it! or possibly he was always exactly like that and i couldn't see it.

Anonymous said...

I was so in to dancey pop as a lad in the 80's & it's funny how oblivious I was to the gayness of it all. "Bronski Beat were gay??!". "Dead or Alive too??!!". "And Frankie Goes To Hollywood??!!" Nah, even I knew they were gay.

-miller

Anonymous said...

I think I've still got a Phranc lp at home-- good ole tower promos. It was the one with the ballad about her parakeet. and no, I'm not kidding.