Last night Colleen and I went to see Morrissey at the State Theater in Minneapolis. This was our first time seeing him perform live, although we had seen him in person once before:

A few years ago, he was doing a show at the Las Vegas House of Blues that we almost attended. The next day as we were leaving town, he was in line in front of us at the airport Cinnabon! No one else was in there but us, Morrissey and his band. We sat at the table next to them and listened in until they left. We still stop at the “Morrissey Cinnabon” every time we go back to Vegas…

The show openers were the Manchester band The Courteeners, who played an entertaining, enjoyable set. I had to ask the guys behind us to please stop yelling back and forth and take their conversation out to the lobby – why does this happen at every show now? Shut the hell up, already, and listen to the music.

Damn I hate that.

As the roadies broke down the Courteeners gear, they played older videos of the New York Dolls and Shocking Blue, among others. Once the curtain was torn down, the stage opened up to a cool WWII-era photo of a sailor showing his guns and smoking a cigar. Here’s a crappy iPhone picture:

I don’t have a set list yet, but I think it was very similar to the Chicago show two nights ago:

• This Charming Man
• Something is Squeezing My Skull
• Billy Budd
• Black Cloud
• How Soon is Now
• Irish Blood, English Heart
• How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
• Ask
• I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
• The World is Full of Crashing Bores
• Death of a Disco Dancer
• The Loop
• I Keep Mine Hidden
• One Day Goodbye Will be Farewell
• Seasick, Yet Still Docked
• Best Friend on the Payroll
• Let Me Kiss You
• Sorry Doesn’t Help
• When Last I Spoke to Carol
• I’m OK by Myself
• — Encore —
• First of the Gang to Die

I’m not an ultra-Morrissey fan, so I don’t know all of the song titles by heart. I’ll revise this list when I see something posted elsewhere. I do know that he dedicated a song towards the end to “our friend Jill Smith who passed away in London today” and proceeded to play Life Is A Pigsty.

A few songs I was hoping to hear (but didn’t): Glamourous Glue, Redondo Beach and I Have Forgiven Jesus (which, if you ever used to watch the old Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, holds special meaning). I knew those were all long-shots, but otherwise really loved the show. The version of How Soon is Now? was amazing and I was glad he played my favorite song from the new album – When Last I Spoke to Carol (despite the lack of a trumpet and old western sound effects).

The 49-year-old Englishman took off his shirt twice during the show and a near riot broke out during the encore as people tried to jump up on the stage. The tall, young Lurch of a security man stage left seemed to enjoy his job a little too much, violently throwing people back into the crowd. You know it’s bad when the huge bald security guy has to restrain the tall, young security guy.

Perhaps the most entertaining part of the evening, however, was the woman in the row in front of us. She really liked Morrissey and had more energy and dance moves than I’ve seen anywhere in a long time. And I’m about 95% sure she had multiple orgasms during the course of the evening.

Not a bad deal for $40, eh?

UPDATE: Here is the Minneapolis set list, according to the Star Tribune:

• This Charming Man
• Billy Budd
• Black Cloud
• How Soon Is Now?
• Irish Blood, English Heart
• When I Last Spoke to Carol
• How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
• I Keep Mine Hidden
• Let Me Kiss You
• Seasick, Yet Still Docked
• That’s How People Grow Up
• Death Of A Disco Dancer
• The Loop
• Something Is Squeezing My Skull
• The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
• I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
• Sorry Doesn’t Help
• Ask
• Life Is A Pigsty
• I’m OK By Myself
• — Encore —
• First Of The Gang To Die