Morrissey, the master of mope and mononymous former frontman of The Smiths, is hitting the road this fall, and the first stop on the tour is Merriweather Post Pavilion on Sept. 5.
That is, if he doesn’t cancel, as he is wont to do.
The brooding, sharply dressed post-punk band Interpol will be coming along in support, so maybe that will increase the likelihood of the shows happening as they’re scheduled. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 12, at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster and cost $45-$95. Head to MorrisseyOfficial.com for information on pre-sales.
Of course, being a Morrissey fan in 2019 is a fraught thing. The singer, known to shock and titillate with his words, has now gone so far as to embrace far-right politicians and anti-immigrant views, and make outright racist statements. Former fans in Manchester held an anti-racism party during Moz’s gig there last summer. (Morrissey ended wound up cancelling his tour.)
But there are still plenty of die-hards who treat Morrissey with reverence. What to do? As Shihab S. Joi, a “brown-skinned Muslim-born immigrant,” wrote in the Huffington Post last year, the trick is to separate the art from the artist.
“By all means judge them, hate them for it if you like,” he wrote. “But the art itself belongs to you. If you can’t enjoy something without the assurance the person who created it is pure in heart and gold in deed, you’re madder than Morrissey insisting supermarkets no longer sell milk (he did kinda say that too).”
Your mileage may vary.
Today’s tour announcement comes as Moz preps the release of “California Son,” a covers album of songs from the ’60s and ’70s, due out May 24. The record features guest appearances by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste, to name a few.
In the weeks before it comes out, Morrissey will hold a career-spanning seven-day residency on Broadway.
