SFist Reviews: Morrissey @ The Paramount, Oakland
Photo by gloomboy on Flickr
The walk into the Paramount is stunning, especially this time of year with the big Christmas tree in the center of the atrium, all the deco details lit up like they were just an elaborate part of the holiday cheer. This reviewer had seen a few shows there in the past decade, but not since long before the Fox Theater reopened up the street under the helm of Another Planet Entertainment. The Paramount is still beautiful inside, with an intense amount of wood carving that went into the walls and proscenium to create the bronze- and gold-leafed patterns rising up on all sides. But now that music fans have been spoiled by The Fox, The Paramount had better step up its game in terms of service.
The opening act, Doll & The Kicks, seemed talented but didn't sound so hot live -- sort of a strained, sloppy amalgam of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and No Doubt, with a lead singer whose vocal style owes a debt to Gwen Stefani. Also, the majority of Morrissey's fans didn't seem like they were in the mood for these guys, and mostly just lined up at the bars for beverages.
As for Morrissey, he sounds great. His voice is as clear as ever, the band was well rehearsed, and we really dug the enormous gong and drum that sat behind the drummer, both of which he got to bang on a few times -- most memorably at the end of "How Soon Is Now?" Moz sang a bunch of stuff off his most recent album Years of Refusal and the recently released B-sides disc, Swords, as well as two popular tracks from the last few years -- "Irish Blood, English Heart" and "First of the Gang to Die," which was the one and only encore. But compared to previous Morrissey shows where we always felt like we left hungry for one or two of our old favorites, he delivered a heavy helping of Smiths songs and a few from his early solo days. In particular we were surprised to hear the old and obscure Smiths track "Death at One's Elbow," and one of our favorites that we don't think we've heard him play live before, "Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself" off of Vauxhall & I.
But the energy in the room wasn't that high -- maybe partly because people were restricted to their seats, or because Moz (thankfully) kept his shirt on, or because the crowd was disheartened after not being able to get a drink! The venue has a couple of full bars -- one in the basement and one on the second floor, with a couple of beer/wine concessions in the lobby and elsewhere. But not only were the bartenders slow and seemingly unprepared for the crowds, there really weren't enough of them. The lines snaked around rooms, up stairs, and eventually the bars just ran out of beer altogether. The worst part was that they closed the bars about six songs into Morrissey's set -- at, like, 9:45 p.m. -- which is just inexcusable. Everyone was pissed and muttering about how much more awesome the Fox is when it comes to getting a drink.
Regardless of the cause for the low energy, Morrissey cut the show off a song or two early, leading the band off stage right as one of the guitarists was readying himself for another song, and then brought them back on just for one quick encore. Yes, there was the requisite leaping onto stage by a few lanky boys who wanted to hug the great melancholic. But even they seemed lazier and less in love than the last decade's fans -- they looked like they were just going through the motions, a bit like Morrissey himself, knowing that this was what one does at a Morrissey show.