Morrissey - Hospitality Point, Mission Bay, California - October 10, 1997

I was just talking about this concert experience with someone recently and ten years later, I am still bitter.

At the time we bought tickets to see Morrissey play in San Diego, it was probably the most expensive single concert ticket I ever purchased. I don’t remember how much exactly but I want to say it was in the $60-75 range. While I have always preferred the Smiths to Morrissey solo, I figured it was worth it to see one of my rock heroes in the flesh, and I figured he would have to play some Smiths classics in addition to his own stuff.

The event was outdoors, in October, which even in a beautiful place like San Diego is kind of pushing it. Even in the heat of summer it is not always warm at night by the bay. But it was a beautiful venue with the Pacific Ocean and the sunset in the background.

The first irritating thing about the show was the parking situation. Because there is such limited parking at Mission Bay, we had to park at a distant lot and take a bus in. If we had not come on time we probably would have missed a good chunk of the show. It was probably not really that big a deal, maybe 15 or 20 minutes extra to park and wait for the bus.

I don’t remember if there was an opening act or not, but I do remember it being dark when Morrissey came on stage, so he must have started around 8ish. To be fair, it was kind of nippy that evening. But smart concert goers bring warm clothes when they are going to see a show outside at night.

I guess it must have been too much for Morrissey, because he only had the strength to play 45 minutes. Yes, 45 minutes! And that included an encore! He kept saying, brr and shivering. This is even more irritating now, since I live in London and most summer nights are not even as warm as it was that evening. Get a f***ing jumper, Morrissey!

I was so pissed off that I had paid so much money to see a 45 minute show, shorter than listening to most CDs. We probably spent more time parking and queuing than we actually got to see him perform. Since then I have not really been a Morrissey fan. I still respect his talent and I think I even bought a recent album on iTunes, but I don’t think I will ever pay money to see him live again.