After reportedly suffering breathing difficulties and then collapsing on stage two weeks ago, on Saturday Morrissey once again cut a U.K. show short in the middle of his performance. This time around the culprit wasn’t health problems but instead a bottle of beer thrown onstage.
Moz greeted the crowd at Liverpool Echo Arena in Liverpool, U.K., by saying, “It’s Saturday, it’s Liverpool, it’s raining, it’s perfect,” according to the Daily Mail. He kicked off the show with the Smiths’ hit “This Charming Man” – and then things became not so perfect.
In the middle of his second song, “Black Cloud” from 2009’s Years of Refusal, the 50-year-old singer reached down into the front of the crowd to shake hands with fans and then was hit by a plastic beer bottle bottled thrown on stage.
A YouTube shows the beer splashing on Moz’s face but it’s hard to tell if the bottle actually comes into contact with the singer-songwriter. The Daily Mail reports the bottle hit him in the eye, NME.com writes that he was hit in the head and according to the Guardian, “eyewitnesses said the singer narrowly avoided being hit.”
Whether Moz was actually hit or just splashed by the beer, he couldn’t find the silver lining in that black cloud. After wiping his face with his hand, Morrissey simply says “Goodnight” and walks off stage.
Less than two songs in, the show was over. Although fans chanted his name over and over again, Morrissey never returned to the scene of the crime.
According to NME.com, a crew member came on stage to announce the show wasn’t going to go on but that fans would receive a full refund.
The venue’s general manager, Tim Banfield, didn’t blame Morrissey for calling off the show but pointed a finger at the bottle thrower.
“We are exceptionally disappointed that one individual should choose to recklessly cause the concert to be abandoned, ruining what should have been a brilliant night out for thousands of Morrissey fans,” he said, according to the Daily Mail.
“The Echo Arena team take great care to ensure the safety of visitors and artists at the venue. However it appears that one person was determined last night to throw an object at the stage with the intention of causing as much disruption as possible.”
Banfield said he plans to review the venue’s food and drink options “to tackle the small minority who appear incapable of behaving in a responsible manner.”
This obviously isn’t the first time a rowdy crowd has thrown objects onstage but it’s the first I can think of where the act has cut the show short – especially after performing less than two songs. Since Moz was able to say “Goodnight” and walk off stage, it appears that he was just insulted, not seriously injured.
Do you think he overreacted? Or do you think that he had the right idea teaching fans a lesson not to hurl objects like a monkey in a zoo?
Morrissey is scheduled to perform tonight at Concertgebouw De Vereeniging in Nijmegen, Netherlands, followed by shows in France, Belgium, Germany and Ireland. His U.S. tour kicks off Nov. 29 at Paramount Theatre in Seattle with dates lined up through a Dec. 11 gig at Majestic Ventura Theatre in Ventura, Calif.
Click here for Morrissey’s website.
Click here for the Daily Mail article.
Click here for the NME.com article.
Click here for the Guardian article.