Morrissey cancels ‘You Are The Quarry’ anniversary shows
The Smiths’ former frontman has made a habit of cancelling his live concerts. As fans gear up for the forthcoming concerts in celebration of You Are The Quarry, which turns 20 this year, Morrissey has decided to throw a wet towel on proceedings once again.
The flower-toting indie progenitor was set to perform the 2004 solo album in its entirety at the Honda Center in Anaheim and the Kia Forum in Los Angeles this weekend. However, he has cancelled both shows at the last minute, citing “unforeseen circumstances”.
Sadly, Morrissey fans have grown to expect as much. Over the past 12 years, the Smiths singer has cancelled 120 concerts.
Some speculate whether this latest cancellation is related to Morrissey’s recent assertion that he is being systematically erased from The Smiths’ story. On his website, Morrissey Central, the singer defended his central role in the iconic indie band, claiming to have “invented” a number of elements which made The Smiths unique.
“There is also an obvious media shift to delete me from being the central essence of The Smiths, but this cannot work because I invented the group name, the song titles, the album titles, the artwork, the vocal melodies, and all of the lyrical sentiments came from my heart … and so it’s a bit like saying Mick Jagger had nothing to do with the Stones,” Morrissey began.
“Several news sites now claim that the initial meeting at Rough Trade Records was with Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke,’ even though Andy wasn’t even a committed band member at that point. The meeting, of course, was Morrissey and Marr,” he continued.
Adding: “Even Geoff Travis has now suddenly decided that he ‘can’t remember who was with Johnny,’ even though Geoff looked me squarely in the eye on that very day and said ‘we’d like to release ‘Hand In Glove’ immediately,’ and he then more importantly said to me that his name was Geoff with a G, not Jeff with a J. The hounds are snapping!”
Morrissey signed off to his devoted fans by quoting the Smiths’ debut single, ‘Hand In Glove’: “Hand in glove, I stake my claim! I’ll fight to the last breath!”
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