By Anita

Day 1: Arrival

Christina and I arrived in Chicago and headed directly to Schubas’ Harmony Grill to meet up with Darren the Birthday Boy and to partake in the much-hyped Vegetarian Chili Mac.  A good time was had by all!

Day 2:  The Day of the Morrissey Show

Mike prepared a lovely breakfast for us, which consisted of waffles.  They kept us full and happy all day.  Who knew waffles were such great waiting-in-line food??  We arrived at the Aragon Ballroom in the early afternoon to find a MorrisseyLine of a little over 50 people located in an alley next to the venue.  We knew people began queuing up before 6:45 a.m., as that is when Scott arrived and he was just fifth in line.  You’ve got to love these General Admission shows! The weather was pretty tolerable until the sun went down and the temperature dropped.  A lot of people were prepared for this ­ we saw some folks with camping chairs and blankets near the front of the line.  We came armed with only our scarves and coffees.

Once inside the nice warm venue, we staked our claim to our spots in the crowd near the front of the stage.  Classical music played in the background, presumably to calm people before the Moz insanity took over.  Kristeen Young then took the stage with her day-glo and zippers 80s homemade outfit and proceeded to yelp, scream and once in a while, sing her way through her set of songs.  Morrissey could be seen sitting alone up above in a balcony looking on for a portion of her set.  Subsequent to her performance, an interesting mix of footage was projected onto a large white sheet at the front of the stage.  The footage included the New York Dolls, some 60s-70s type Italian movies/musicals, screen tests from East of Eden featuring James Dean, Elvis impersonators and a singing man in drag.  Wearing a gold dress. Wow.  Finally, the lights went down, the white curtain dropped and Morrissey took the stage looking handsome and dramatic in a fuchsia shirt and silver striped tie.


Honorable mention goes to the band, who were dressed like they were going to play a wedding or a prom.

The set list was varied and included -
The Smiths:
Girlfriend In A Coma
Panic
William, It Was Really Nothing
How Soon Is Now?
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want)

Early solo material:
Disappointed
Everyday Is Like Sunday
National Front Disco
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty

Recent songs:
Irish Blood, English Heart
First Of The Gang To Die
Let Me Kiss You
The Youngest Was The Most Loved
You Have Killed Me
Dear God, Please Help Me
In The Future When All's Well
I Will See You In Far-off Places,
Life Is A Pigsty
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy

and one B-side:
Ganglord.

Near the end of the show, Moz took of his shirt and threw it into crowd.  It went over my head and into the hands of the tallest man I have ever seen, who happened to be standing right behind me.  Darnit!  Not a single person crashed the stage (unheard of on the East Coast)… but then again the stage was quite far away and high above us.  A couple lucky folks got a handshake.  One encore was performed, which is standard, and with that Morrissey left the stage.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait until there’s a proper tour. Who’s with me?

Day 3:  Free Day
 
Christina and I attempted to do some sightseeing; however, the lure of an Irish pub (with their vegetarian chili and $5 martinis) was just too much for us!  Millennium Park, with its reflective bean-shaped object, provided me with far too much entertainment.   Then we got fairly inebriated at the pub.  Then we got some more vegetarian food at the Chicago Diner. Do you see a pattern here?

Day 4:  Going Home
We returned home on Thanksgiving Day.  Even though we missed a day with our families, I was still thankful for my experiences that week: a Morrissey performance that was worth the trip; Mike’s hospitality; and most importantly, being surrounded by good friends.  Cheers!




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