REVIEW: The operatic, bittersweet Morrissey in Manila
“This is not alternative rock. This is not pop music. This is not punk,” said Morrissey to his Manila fans on the night of May the 13th.
“This is OPERA.”
Drama, check. Brilliant lyricism, check. Sublimely visual spectacle, check (you don't need extravagant sets for an “operatic” feel).
But of course, the Quiffed One could have been just messing with the World Trade Center crowd, which is quite possible. Whatever his intent may have been, people just laughed as if to say, “Oh that's cute. Let's move on, shall we?”
Wore the Philippine flag like a skirt
The Moz started the show with The Smiths classic, “How Soon Is Now” as if he was laying his cards on the proverbial table, saying to the crowd, “This is my soul, it might be an ugly sight, but I hope you appreciate me nevertheless. And if you don't, fine with me.”
The crowd, of course, was plain ecstatic over the fact that the former singer of The Smiths singer was finally here.
With the Philippine flag wrapped around him like a skirt.
Morrissey quickly got away from the shadow of The Smiths and proceeded to his song from 1997, the defiant “Alma Matters,” which can be argued is as intense as Frank Sinatra's “My Way,” albeit with a nonchalance in its arrangement.
An arm around Paris, a speedway, and a black cloud later (not to mention crooning to the crowd about the person who was “First of the Gang to Die”), he proceeded to do “You're the One for Me, Fatty” (a short happy ditty in an otherwise emotionally-intense set).
Showed vids of animals being slaughtered
Morrissey will not have for the audience to be comfortable (“Let yourselves go,” he tells the crowd).
A couple of songs later, he dove into what was possibly the heaviest song of the night, the Smiths' “Meat Is Murder.” The crowd was visibly unsure how to feel, as videos of farm animals being slaughtered for food were played onscreen (Morrissey is a vegetarian, and is also a PETA supporter).
For a Filipino audience that LOVES pork and meat, it was definitely the most intense part of the night: non-vegetarians like this writer surely felt guilty about eating, say, KFC, prior to the show. Props to Moz for effectivity of presentation.
And to think he did not even need to say, “save the animals! Don't eat meat!” Show, not tell.
The bittersweet pleasure was ours
Morrissey seemed to be aware of the effect this song could have on people, so he returned with “Let Me Kiss You.” The people may not have liked what they had just previously seen, but the crooner offering to make the audience feel good with a kiss was at the very least comforting.
After imploring shoplifters to unite and more, The Smiths singer ended the set with another one of his patented downers: “I Know It's Over.” The audience knew it, but like in one of the song's lines (“And I know it's over - still I cling / I don't know where else I can go”), people stayed.
So Morrissey returned for one more romp, with The Smiths' “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out.”
Bittersweet. That's how Morrissey has always been. And Filipinos saw it firsthand.
