• Morrissey – Low in High School

    To say that Steven Patrick Morrissey is a different artist to the one so many of us flocked to in our teens seems a platitude at this stage. In The Smiths, Morrissey’s marriage of equal parts teenage melodrama, small town misery and genuine wit struck a chord somewhere between Paul Weller, Oscar Wilde and Holden Caulfield. There have been plenty of smart-arsed indie singers since, but not one can hold a candle to what this man was when at his best.  The persona of a sensitive, working class and vehemently anti-Tory frontman is long gone though, and has given way to an increasingly…

  • Morrissey Set For 3Arena Show in February

    Love, hate or merely tolerate him, Stephen Patrick Morrissey will return to Dublin’s 3Arena on February 20. Set to release his eleventh solo studio album on November 17, Morrissey released his latest single ‘I Wish You Lonely’ on Tuesday. Ticket prices for the Dublin are TBC. Tickets go on sale next Friday (November 3) at 10am.

  • England is Mine

    Present-day fans of The Smiths, embarrassed by Morrissey’s descent into unfashionableness, usually preface their admiration with the disclaimer that it’s ‘about the music, not the man’. England is Mine provides the reverse: the man, not the music. Mark Gill’s unlicensed biopic is a portrait of the artist as a moody young man, covering the early stages of Steven Patrick Morrissey’s artistic development, before he began building his first tracks with Johnny Marr (Laurie Kynaston). Basically, it’s a music biopic without the music; in a genre well known for coasting on familiar beats, this is, at least, something new. Played by…

  • Morrissey @ Odyssey Arena, Belfast

    A man who needs no introduction whatsoever, Morrissey played the Odyssey arena in Belfast last night. In a set largely comprised of tracks from his latest album, World Peace Is None of Your Business, Moz also delivered storming renditions of the likes of ‘Suedehead’ and Smiths‘ songs ‘The Queen Is Dead’, ‘What She Said’ and ‘Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One’ Before. Photos by Alan Maguire.

  • Morrissey w/ Anna Calvi @ 3Arena, Dublin

    What an indulgence it must be to be able to gather your gripes together and air them on a grand scale via music, imagery and the written word. Morrissey’s grievances are legion, his ire legendary, and the usual Morrissey-isms are cheerfully present and correct on his latest album World Peace Is None of Your Business. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer; four legs good, two legs bad; an unparalleled sense of self-righteousness – all of these things, already none too subtle on record, are bundled together for tonight’s Dublin crowd into an audio-visual feast of disdain. He…

  • Morrissey to play the renamed 3Arena

    Following the news of Dublin’s O2 Arena’s – also formerly The Point – renaming to the 3Arena, it has been announced that the British voice of indie music, Morrissey, is to play on December 1 at the aforementioned venue. This date, the only one announced for Ireland, follows the July release of his first solo album in five years, World Peace Is None of Your Business. Support will come from immensely talented singer-songwriter & guitarist Anna Calvi, who has just released her latest Strange Weather EP. Tickets, priced at €59.50, go on sale at 9pm on Friday, September 12 from Ticketmaster. Have a listen…

  • Classic Album: The Smiths (1984)

    Hindsight is a wonderful thing. After 30 years of disappointments, you can look back and see exactly what started it all, throwing all amount of history and emotional baggage on top of it to make some kind of distorted, grotesque picture of what it was like. But when you sit down to listen to The Smiths‘ debut album, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this month, you’d be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. For an album that supposedly changed everything, it’s so damn ordinary. The Smiths’ debut had a tortured genesis, involving betrayal, back room deals, and…