As Morrissey moves on to Dublin - just thought I'd brief you on his two superb concerts in Northern Ireland. Wednesday in 'Derry has to be one of the most truly amazing gigs that Morrissey has ever performed. In front of about only 300 !! (that's about all the venue held) Moz took stage in the Rialto, which is an old cinema, and said "welcome to my private party - private? - well you all knew about it".

He played pretty much the same set as the rest of the tour - but the night was almost wrecked when some punter grabbed Morrissey and dragged him off the stage. "November Spawned A Monster" had to be restarted and Morrissey, shaken, quipped "He looked so harmless but you never can tell these days"

Thursday night in Belfast in the Ulster Hall saw a much bigger turnout - but the venue was far from full. Morrissey opened with " I'm glad the people at the back didn't turn up - I didn't want to see them either!"

Finally for anyone with Digital TV BBC Northern Ireland filmed in Derry and will broadcast the feature in an entertainment programme tonight called "the eleventh hour" on a station called BBC Choice!

I've just received a copy of the unofficial David Bowie-biography "Strange Fascination", by David Buckley. This book has received good reviews and is generally considered as the best Bowie-biography available. There are mentions of Morrissey at several places in the book, and then there's this part on the Outside-tour...

"The Outside tour hit the UK in November and December 1995. Morrissey, who had just released the mildly disappointing "Southpaw Grammar", was suggested by Bowie's PR consultant, Alan Edwards, as the ideal support act. Sadly, after dying death after death on the early shows of the tour, Morrissey left the UK tour midway through the UK leg due to illness. The fact that Morrissey was well enough to play dates in Japan only a week or two later indicates that the reason for his departure was more to do with him being pissed off with the tour than anything else, and it was rumoured that he took off after a burst-up with Bowie backstage.

The muted reception given to Mozza at the few gigs he did play was deeply depressing for him and for some Bowie fans. In many ways, Morrissey was Bowie's 1980s heir: a charismatic anti-star and a classic commentator on (northern) suburban boredom and angst. And with "Your Arsenal" (produced by the ailing Mick Ronson in 1992) and "Vauxhall And I", Morrissey had hit a rich vein of songwriting. In many respects, one would have thought that an hors d'oeuvre of psychosexual mini-dramas courtesy of one of Britain's finest lyricists would have pleased Bowie fans a lot more than it apparently did. However, the fact that Morrissey went unappreciated said less about the standard of his performance and more about the traditionalism of Bowie's audience."

For those who won't get to see this tour...

mp3s of the 7 rare tunes that have been played on this tour can be found at a 'secret' web location. mail me personally for the address.

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