Steven Patrick Morrissey. Former moaner of The Smiths. He of the "quoffed" [quiffed?] hair. The venue? The Forum in Melbourne. Read on..

[It's been far too long since I've typed anything here, so bear with me if my HTML has gone haywire]

Let me start off by saying that I've never seen such "big hair" on an audience, at least this side of a Cure gig that is. There was enough bryll cream amongst the audience to satisfy a thousand Elvis Presley concerts. Somehow my long hair & ponytail seemed a tad out of place...

I won't bore you with all the details of the venue, suffice to say that The Forum has be one of the best venues in Australia for an intimate gig. 'Tis rather cosy....

I missed the support band, in fact I'm not even sure sure who they were. My ticket simply said "& Special Guests". The Anyones, maybe? But I wasn't there to see any support band. Beer in hand, Mrs Moby & I made our way to the floor and waited....

For a bloke who hasn't released any new material for the past 5 years, I wasn't sure what to expect. A greatest hits package? More obscure B-sides? It didn't matter in the end. Stephen Patrick made his entrance at 9.15pm, to an enormous cheer. His first words: "Hullo and thanks for coming. it seems we're 20 years late"(sic).. That's okay, Moz. At least you're here now. And off we go..

[This would be an appropriate place to insert the setlist - borrowed from another site because of my bad memory]

I Want The One I Can't Have
Suedehead
Little Man, What Now?
Hairdresser On Fire
The First Of The Gang To Die
Jack The Ripper
I Like You
Alsatian Cousin
Everyday Is Like Sunday
Sister I'm A Poet
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
Meat Is Murder
Irish Blood, English Heart
November Spawned A Monster
Speedway
[Encore]
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out....

I was rather surprised that Morrissey played more than one Smiths song, given his recent lawsuit loss in the UK, brought by the three members of the Smiths. But who cares in the end? "There is a Light..", "I Want the One.." & "Meat is Murder" sounded just as good minus Mike, Andy & Johnny, as if they were present themselves.

Morrissey's vocal delivery was nothing short of sensational. The band even looked like they were enjoying themselves. There was the customary banter with the audience (somewhat catching me by surprise) and the obvious "Let's tear off the shirt and throw it to the audience". One very polite fellow...

The only disappointments? I'd like to have heard "Picadilly Palare", "National Front Disco" and "Last of the Famous International Playboys"; the yobbos screaming out for "How Soon is Now?" & the idiots who kept trying to get past me towards the front...

The highlights?: An awesome version of "Meat is Murder", "November Spawned a Monster" (it sounds so much better live), "Everyday is Like Sunday" (complete with banjo), and of course "There is a Light..."; the beer; a pleasant audience; the quiet drink at the Yak Bar after the show; and of course seeing Moz in the flesh.

Overall definitely worth the $65 a ticket. I've only been to two gigs this year, and I definitely think Moz eclipsed New order....

Now am I not supposed to burst into tears after seeing & hearing the God of Miserable lyrics???????