Morrissey has a massive Mexican following, so it should be no surprise that a group of Mexican musicians from various bands have joined together under the moniker Mexrrissey to play Spanish versions of songs by Morrissey and The Smiths. Tonight Belinda and I attended the first date of their Australian tour at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
Opening up the evening was another tribute act: The Thin White Ukes. This three piece band played David Bowie songs on the ukulele, including "Ashes To Ashes," "Space Oddity," "Golden Years," "Let's Dance," "Heroes" and "The Man Who Sold The World." The female member also wore an amazing silver jumpsuit.
Mexrrissey emerged on the stage in all black and launched into "First Of The Gang To Die." It's very interesting knowing all these songs and wanting to sing along, but not necessarily knowing the Spanish lyrical translations. Members took turns singing lead, which included the Morrissey tracks "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get," "Everyday Is Like Sunday" and "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys." Considering how conservative a venue like the Melbourne Recital Centre is, it was great that a few songs in the band got the majority of the crowd to stand up and dance along.
The band had some stunning visuals on the large screen behind them, which gave the show a bit of a pop art feel. One of the best was Morrissey hitting a Trump piñata with gladioli while they played The Smiths track "Panic." Other Smiths songs in the set were "Still Ill," "Girlfriend In A Coma,""Ask" and "Bigmouth Strikes Again," which closed the main set. For the encore they started with "Mexico" on trumpet and guitar, and were then joined by the rest of the band for "Suedehead" and "How Soon Is Now?" to close out the night. This show was so much fun and great to hear a different take on these songs I've known for years.
Here is Mexrrissey doing "Estuvo Bien" ("Suedehead"):
The Smiths were one of the most important British bands to emerge in the 1980s. Their third studio album, The Queen Is Dead, was released in 1986 and is regarded by many as their best work. The songwriting partnership of Morrissey (lyrics) and Johnny Marr (music) has produced so many amazing and memorable songs, many of which feature on this album: "Cemetry Gates," "Bigmouth Strikes Again," "The Boy With A Thorn In His Side," "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" and the title track "The Queen Is Dead." Morrissey's lyrics have always had a dark sense of humor to them, and Johnny Marr is one of the best guitar players in the business. These two talents combined should have been unstoppable, but The Smiths only ended up releasing four studio albums before disbanding in 1987. However, the band's influence lives on and can still be heard in numerous bands today.
Favorite Lyric: A dreaded sunny day, so I meet you at the cemetry gates ("Cemetry Gates")
Favorite Song: "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
