Listen again: Razor Cuts special

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:40:27 +0100

Pete Mitchell's Razor Cuts show devoted a whole hour to the great man, back in the Summer of 2004. Pete played out Mozza's new album, 'You Are The Quarry' in its entirety, and Morrissey revealed some of his favourite Smiths tracks. Listen back to this very special show from the archives, below:

Check out the 2006 V Festival photos

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:13:13 +0000

Morrissey headlined the stage at V this year, and we've got some photos to remind you of his fantastic performance...

Morrisey headlines at V 2006

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:11:07 +0000

The weekend is drawing to a close, with a slight chill making the crowd waiting for Morrissey to arrive, wish they hadn't left their jumpers in their tents earlier...

The sound of plastic bottles crushing under foot is almost as deafening as the intro tracks blaring from the main stage system, and whoops of appreciation sound out as a Mozza cover of 'You'll never walk alone' comes on. There's not so much a mosh pit accumulating at the front of the stage, as a shuffling pit, in anticipation of the quarryman's arrival.

No fancy theatrical lighting needed for his entrance onto the main stage, simply a peal of pantomime laughter which accompanies the frontman and his band of 5 out to a respectable level of cheering that he would approve of 'the screaming scares me' he explains later.

Mozza, resplendant in a tailored black shirt and flat fronted trousers, fondles the mic stand and asks 'are you lonesome tonight?' before launching into 'Panic' in his familiar nasal tones. An exhausted crowd find a second wind after what has been an incredible day, blisteringly hot day, and forget the fact they'll be back at work in 12 hours time, by singing 'Hang the DJ!' at record volumes.

One foot perched on the top of a floor speaker, he addresses us with 'First of the gang to die' while a Spanish trumpet launches into a surprisingly upbeat solo considering the sombre subject of the song. Morrissey follows suit with flamenco hand claps and flicks his quiff back. And rather than running to the front of the stage, the languid crowd hang back stylishly when mozza mutters' I hope to God you're all not swathed in mud'

'You have killed me' and 'The youngest was the most loved' see his Brylcreemed quiff receive more attention between verses, and matador style stances across the stage. Unlike many similarly established artists with a career spanning several decades, he's not afraid of his roots, harking back and forth between Smiths songs(albeit with meatier basslines) to current solo works.

His vocals are a continuously flawless drool, with vibrato visibly shaking his microphone. but he rarely looks into the audience for long periods, almost like he's shying away from the attention, and happier to meander around the stage, paying visits to the band members.

As a 10 foot high image of fellow dandy, Oscar Wilde projects across the back screen 'How soon is now?' draws the two hour set to a close.

With it's familiar zigzagging riffs engaging the crowd who know that the last chord means the end of the V Festival, and the beginning of a long journey back to the camp site, where the topic of discussion revolves around Morrissey's tradition of throwing his shirt into the audience during his lengthy encores. No wonder he hasn't got a stitch to wear...

Morrissey news

Listen again: Razor Cuts special

Check out the 2006 V Festival photos

Morrisey headlines at V 2006