I used to be a giant Morrissey fan, I’m still a fan now just not as die hard “the man can do no wrong”. The Smiths and Morrissey were just always there, taking over everything in my teen years. As I grew older and started attending more concerts then the obsession grew. I wasn’t one of those girly girls that went to prom or even wore make up so Dad bought me my first few seats to sold out shows from ticket brokers because he was far too accommodating of a father and would do whatever we asked and hey he was saving all that money on eyeliner and Sharpie for my eyebrows.
My first trip to New York was to see a bunch of Morrissey shows, four concerts at small venues across the city and in Philadelphia during the Thanksgiving week. I had a cheap ticket from signing up for an American Express card on campus and set off with two friends to see what we could make happen. Without tickets or even a place to stay we set off and had an amazing week, we made it in to all of the shows – front and center for every single one thanks to general admission and a stroke of luck at the Philadelphia box office. We spent Thanksgiving day eating Sbarro then waiting at Morrissey’s hotel to try to meet him. He finally appeared after hours of us waiting in the cold after being kicked out of the lobby which was understandable as it was small and we were obviously not guests. He was with Linder and he met with us briefly before he went upstairs, she came back out of the hotel and took all of the things we wanted signed with some notes as to what belonged to who. She came back with a stack of autographed items all with personal little touches, its where my England “Hoist it high” flag was signed. We would go on to have many other adventures following Morrissey and other bands around the world but nothing will match the excitement of those first few trips. I met some of my favorite people ever around these concerts, I’ve lost touch with most of them but when we do run into each other it’s our shared history that brings us right back.
I still sing along and sometimes dance if I’m in my apartment when a song comes up in the shuffle, admittedly I haven’t bought an album since You Are The Quarry but I”m still aware of what the man is doing. The blind faith devotion is definitely gone now, I loved the Coachella hissy fit / dry heaving that happened in 2009 and it made me realize that I had really put it all behind me and now it was just a bit of nostalgia to go to one of his shows like going to see The Monkees in Vegas (yes I know Davy is dead and you can’t do this anymore). Morrissey is starting a new tour soon, I have a ticket for the show in Los Angeles – how could I not go Iggy Pop is opening and it’s over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. I’m sure I’ll run into some old friends, maybe make some new generation fan sulk when they try to “outfan” me. I suppose this tour is why he went on The Colbert Report. I’m glad he agreed to do this because this is hands down the greatest Morrissey interview I’ve ever seen.
Mi Vida Gordita 
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