"For us and for him."
The Quest Club, Minneapolis, Tuesday February 8, 2000

The only perspective I bring to this show is that of the other 2 shows Morrissey
has had in the Twin Cities -- November 7, 1991 at Northrup Auditorium and
September 12, 1992 at the Orpheum. The venue and audience here has grown smaller
over the 3 shows but I feel that the quality of shows has also increased.

I went to the Quest Club with my college friend Jenelle who also went to the 1992
show with me. We had front row seats and got on stage at that show. I guess one
of my life goals was accomplished then. We didn't get to the Quest Club until
the opening band, The Cultivators, was almost done. We only caught the last 2
songs. They didn't sound too bad to me. We made the obligatory stop at the
merchandise booth. I got a t-shirt and magnet. The merchandise was quite
interesting. Next came finding a seat, or floorspace. The main floor was
rapidly filling up so we moved to the balcony above. Rather than fighting my way
to the front I just wanted to enjoy the show and take it all in. We got a pretty
good spot off to the side with a good view of most of the stage. The Quest had
TVs all around so you could watch the action if you were in a bad location -- a
nice feature.

The Quest really was an excellent venue for the size of the crowd. It felt small
and intimate and everyone had a fair chance to see the stage pretty well. Having
never been to Roy Wilkins Auditorium but guessing from the seating maps I think
it would have been way too big. Apart from some sound troubles initially during
"The Boy Racer" the sound was excellent. Everyone sounded excellent -- very
crisp and sharp. I could tell they were comfortable with each other. It seemed
like every note that really hits you from the songs came through perfectly in the
performance. The new drummer, Spike, was very energetic and provided a great
backbone to the sound. Looking back on the first show in Minneapolis, I could
tell that was their first tour together. They seemed not very comfortable up
there. The second tour was better but the several years of playing together
really shows now.

The set list was similar to the other shows on the 2000 leg, a few reorderings
but pretty much the same songs. Oh yeah, Jenelle wanted everyone to know that
"Meat Is Murder" sounded incredible. She really enjoys that song and loved the
performance of it. She did wish there was some wailing during "November Spawned
A Monster." I enjoyed the well-orchestrated use of lights. During "November..."
the lights really brought out the drama of the song. Judging by reviews at
MorrisseyTour.com, Morrissey seemed as lively and talkative as other shows on
this leg. He was also more understandable than I remember. Perhaps it was the
sound system or he wasn't mumbling as much as he used to.

I got the feeling at the show that this tour was for the fans and for him. He
really seemed to have a good time performing. There's no record contract, no new
album to promote, no record company pushing him. This tour is just because he
can and he's loving it. But afterwards all I could think was "I need a live CD!"
Perhaps a concert CD through mp3.com? I also wondered if anyone at the Quest
had thought to record the video feed on the monitors? It would have made a
decent concert video. The venue size, the sharpness of the performance, and the
general feeling of enjoyment made this the best show of the 3 I've been to.

Be sure to read about other people's experiences at Morrissey-Solo.com and MorrsseyTour.com.

My ticket!