Morrissey began his long-awaited tour in the US last night, playing a gig in Phoenix’s Orpheum Theatre. The famed singer-songwriter played a number of old hits, both from his solo career and his time in The Smiths, and he even tried out a bit of new material – namely his upcoming single “I Am Veronica“.
“I Am Veronica“ will reportedly be the opening track to Morrissey’s upcoming solo album, Bonfire of Teenagers. The LP has had a bit of difficulty getting a release date, what with Morrissey having left his previous record label BMG back in 2020, more of which you can read about here. This means that the record is up for grabs to the highest bidder (at least as of May 2021 when it was announced, as there doesn’t seem to have been any announcements of a successful bid as of yet).
Morrissey’s said of the new album that “The worst year of my life concludes with the best album of my life. Morrissey is unsigned. The album is available to the highest (or lowest) bidder.” Being the ever-confident performer, he told audience members last night on his new single that “We hope you like it, and if you don’t – you must die!” – fair enough!
However, his hopes of excellence don’t extend to the single’s eventual commercial performance. In seeming response to a crowd-member shouting “I hope it will be a hit“, Morrissey said – “It won’t be“.
If you fancy proving Morrissey wrong, you can stay informed of further updates concerning the album through his website here. If you’re keen on seeing him live (and happen to be in the US at the moment), he’ll be at it again tomorrow in San Luis Obispo’s Fremont Theater. Tickets for the tour, and any more dates, can be found here.
Despite playing some of his old band’s songs, it doesn’t appear that The Smiths are likely to be playing them all together any time soon. Johnny Marr recently said there was “zero chance“ of a future collaboration with Morrissey, which seems a fair bet considering their recent public spat. Morrissey’s open letter to Marr warning against further mentions of him in interviews received a flippant response, with Marr tweeting “An ‘open letter’ hasn’t really been a thing since 1953, It’s all ‘social media’ now. Even Donald J Trump had that one down. Also, this fake news business… a bit 2021 yeah?”
Dear @officialmoz . An ‘open letter’ hasn’t really been a thing since 1953, It’s all ‘social media’ now. Even Donald J Trump had that one down. Also, this fake news business…a bit 2021 yeah ?#makingindiegreatagain
— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) January 26, 2022
It’s a bit of a disappointing end to one of the defining bands of their decade, but there you go. If you fancy putting both their new solo albums together so the eighties feel just that little bit closer, Marr’s latest album Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 was out last February and can be ordered here. Otherwise we’ll just have to hope someone bids soon for Morrissey’s latest offering.
