The Smiths Final Concert 1986-12-12 Brixton Academy, London, England

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• published: 02 Nov 2012
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Friday 12 December 1986 Brixton Academy, London, England Audience video recording - credit to Steve from Soundsville International 1:26 Ask 4:52 Bigmouth Strikes Again 9:54 London/Miserable Lie 14:14 Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others (only live performance) 19:26 The Boy With The Thorn In His Side 23:08 Shoplifters Of The World Unite 27:08 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out 31:21 Is It Really So Strange? 35:02 Cemetry Gates 38:16 This Night Has Opened My Eyes 42:20 Still Ill 46:35 Panic 50:10 /The Queen Is Dead 55:08 //William It Was Really Nothing 57:43 //Hand In Glove Notes from Passions Just Like Mine: This concert was put together for the Artists Against Apartheid. Tickets were £8, £7 £6 and £5. It was to be the last time the Smiths would be on stage together, bar a few television appearances. What makes this gig even more special is that it turned out to be the only time songs like "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others", the yet unreleased "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" and the "London"/"Miserable Lie" medley were ever performed by the Smiths. "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" and "William It Was Really Nothing" which hadn't been played in a long time were also performed. Finally, the live staple "Hand In Glove" which had been dropped on the recent British leg of the "The Queen Is Dead" tour also returned, making the Smiths' debut single also the last song they played together in a concert. The gig was a much more personal and lively affair than the previous Brixton concert in October when the tension behind the scenes and the exhaustion of touring could not be hidden. There seemed to be a great complicity between the members of the band, nothing hinted that within a year the Smiths would be no more. During "Still Ill", Johnny moved next to Andy and Morrissey joined them. They could be seen smiling and laughing, as if they were in on some inside joke. The last song before the Smiths entered stage was a whole recording of "Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty", not only the short snippet as heard at the beginning of "The Queen Is Dead" on the album of the same name. Before "Bigmouth Strikes Again", Mike teased the audience with the drum beat to "Panic". The audience was surprised to find out that at the end of "London", the band moved into the fast-paced outro to "Miserable Lie". As they switched from the former to the latter, Morrissey wildly whipped the microphone cord in loops. Instead of singing "I'm just a country mile behind the world", he switched to the early lyric "I'd run a hundred miles away from you". The medley was extremely well received, the crowd roared in appreciation and Morrissey thanked them by telling them "You've got incredibly good taste". In the next song, "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" which was being played for the first and last time ever, Morrissey added an extra verse saying "On the shop floor, there's a calendar, as obvious as snow, as if we didn't know". Morrissey replied to the loud applause that number also received by growling loudly "Hello!". A few songs later, the soon to be released "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" was introduced with "This is our new single..." Before the crowd favourite "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" in which as usual he didn't sing the outro chorus, Morrissey picked up a letter on the floor and placed it on the drum rise. He then picked a flower, crumpled it and threw it away, then another one which he placed inside his jacket, hugging it next to his heart before throwing it into the crowd. Morrissey acknowledged the audience's unfamiliarity with the following song by saying "Thank you, that song was called 'Is It Really So Strange?'". In it he reversed the lines "..you can kick me" and "...you can punch me". In "Cemetry Gates" a line was inverted to "We stonely read the graves". Morrissey also sang "They were born, they lived, they died" instead of the longer usual line. In "Panic" he swung a noose around to highlight the "Hang the DJ" chorus. Returning for the first of two encores, Morrissey said "Thank you we love you" and then launched into a roaring version of "The Queen Is Dead". This was when fans started to climb on stage. There would be about a dozen of them making it there throughout the two encores. Instead of parading with a board saying "The Queen Is Dead" as he had done earlier in the year while singing that song, Morrissey had a different board that said "Two light ales please". After the song he threw his shirt into the crowd before exiting again. The Smiths then returned for a final two song encore. The last of these was "Hand In Glove". It ended with Morrissey wailing in a high pitched voice for about 20 seconds. The Smiths didn't know it at the time, but with its final line "I'll probably never see you again", "Hand In Glove" couldn't have been a better choice of final song to perform together.