Helsinki - Jäähalli (Dec. 05, 1997)

Set list provided by Jyri Rinnemaa
According to Jyri, "Hold On To Your Friends" was listed after "Now My Heart Is Full", but not played.

Summary by Jyri Rinnemaa

On Dec. 5, Morrissey played in Finland for the first time since 1984. Having read the tour reports and having some info on the Sweden shows, I had a pretty good idea what to expect from the show. The set list had seemed to be quite the same at recent shows, mainly concentrating on material from Vauxhall & I and Southpaw Grammar. I was hoping to hear more from Maladjusted, though.

The concert was at the ice hall, and not to my surprise, there were perhaps some 1,500-2,000 people there. Judging by Morrissey's record sales here, I think that a smaller and intimate venue would've been better. But then, onto the show... Since I was in the front row I can't say much about what it was like being in the seats or how the crowd responded at the back.

Elcka started at about 7.30 p.m. To me it seemed that there was only a handful of people at the front of the stage. Regardless of that, Elcka played quite a good set. I'd never heard them before and I'll have to check out their new album. They finished their set at 8.15. After that we were waiting for the drum solo... At 8.45 it started and people got louder. I'd say that the atmosphere was getting better and better (not that I paid much attention to it, you know why).

Morrissey & co. came on stage. Morrissey greeted Helsinki and they launched into "Do You Best And Don't Worry". To fashion people out there: Morrissey was wearing a dark silk shirt and black/brown slacks. He had the same jewelry as in the Southpaw Grammar session pictures. Having waited for quite a while to actually see Morrissey perform, I was somewhat mesmerized at the beginning. Next came "The Boy Racer"; his gestures during the 'stood at the urinal' part were quite funny... Some gladiolas were thrown at the beginning which Morrissey caught in the air and threw back at the audience. From this point on I was just paying attention to what happened on stage and didn't look back at the audience to see how people were reacting to Morrissey's songs. I could hear the cheering and chanting, though.

Near the end of "The Boy Racer", Morrissey came to us and a friend beside me handed her letter to him which he put into his pocket. I merely grabbed his hand even though I had an invitation to a friend's tea party to give to Morrissey. This just goes to show that one should immediately take every chance one gets. After that the songs came and went. I was determined to give the letter to Morrissey, which I finally managed to do.

Overall, Morrissey didn't speak much between songs. An occasional 'thank you', the introduction to "Reader Meet Author" and something along the lines, 'I hope you like our Christmas carols' were the only verbal interaction with the crowd I heard. I'd say he was in good spirits - playing the diva role occasionally (near the crowd pondering whether he would reach for the crowd and touch their hands or not). This part was enjoyable, too. He played with the mic and whipped the cord as seems to be his style, bounded his heart during "Now My Heart Is Full" etc. Alain would do his 'I'm-bored-I'll-roll-my-eyes'-thing during some song, only to laugh later. They laughed a bit during songs, so I'd say they were having at least some fun.

The 63-minute show was great, but my only disappointment is that I didn't take the near-2-meter leap onto the stage (nor did anyone else). There were some security guys in front of us, but not that many so I'm pretty sure at least someone would've made it onto the stage. Oh well, another opportunity lost.