Morrissey

BEING WILD(E) ABOUT MORRISSEYby a cross-dressing lead singer, as well as several hours ofmusic by Morrissey and The Smiths. The stage backdropwas a continuous video loop with quotes from Morrissey’ssongs.‘The regular irregulars’Morrissey’s fan base is increasingly mobile. Cheaper airtravel means that a growing number of fans followed the2004 tour throughout Europe and North America. Two of myinformants – one from Israel and one from Scotland – gaveup paid employment for a year to follow this tour. At otherconcerts, in Paris and London, I spoke to Irish, Canadianand British fans who replicated this pattern. Irish fans alsotravelled to Boston in 2004. Some structured a year out fromwork or study around following the tour. Friendships aremade and information is exchanged amongst the fans, withMorrissey being the most talked about theme. ‘Full-time’Morrissey fans, from Ireland and beyond, made use of thediscussion boards on fan websites in order to find thecheapest places to stay in Dublin. In the weeks leading up tothe concert they discussed travel and accommodationoptions, they made arrangements to meet up either beforeor after the concert and they discussed the rumour that thePoint gig would possibly be the last ever in Morrissey’scareer. Over six hundred messages were sent to thediscussion boards concerning this concert. Morrissey madespecific reference to these fans during the concert as beingthe ‘regular irregulars’. During the concert, he also spokedirectly to one specific fan – Julia Riley – who had attendedevery single concert on this and previous tours. He alsoreferred to a group of Spanish fans that he could identify inthe audience.Who or what is Morrissey?Morrissey’s biographical details and his influences are welldocumented. He was born Steven Patrick Morrissey on 22241