While I consider Duran Duran my first real concert, on my 11th birthday no less, the fact is that I went to many "shows" with my family before then. I had seen Kenny Rogers at Harrah's when I was 7 and managed to spend 50 dollars in quarters at their arcade, my father was on a hot streak at Craps and would do anything to keep me busy. Then the next year my Mom took me to see John Denver there and Liberace at the Nugget in Sparks. I mention this because according to the local reviewer it was an autographed framed photo of Liberace entering the Nugget on Bertha (one of Barnum and Baileys' famous elephants) that lured Morrissey to book 2 shows here. I was at that show as a snot filled kid along with my Mom, brother and sister. My Dad skipped that show claiming Liberace was a "fruit." I have no doubt he would feel the same about Morrissey and be dead wrong again.
Morrissey welcomed us with his cherished wit on "Welcome to the Celebrity Showroom, we are the Celebrities". He then launched into a ferocious take on "The Queen is Dead" complete with frantic strobelights with Moz whipping the mic stand and kicking violently as if striking the cymbal crashes himself. In his ivory white blazer he resembled a crooner being transplanted as a matador. However, with his love of animals, a bull ring is the last place he would ever be. Though with his frantic fans doing everything and anything possible to grasp him their hands at times must feel like horns. In fact, the night before in Stockton, Ca some neanderthal didn't know when to stop and Morrissey was forced to leave the stage, the folks in Sparks where just as rabid yet far more polite. As the set progressed his loyal throngs drifted from the back of the room into the lower half as chairs were passed back to make even more room, the tables were spared. The Nugget had never seen anything like this and probably never will again. Morrissey seemed almost sheepish and apologetic when he announced "I would like to thank the Nugget family for putting up with us for two days".
As always Morrissey and his band delivered a tight and varied set, and at this point of his career it would be impossible to make everyone happy. The nice lady next to me kept calling for "Break Up the Family" and while I would have rather heard that than "Gang Lord" it would not have been my first choice of a song to shout out. ("This Charming Man" for those curious). However, who could or should complain when gifted with fine renditions of "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side" and "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" on Saturday and "Girlfriend in a Coma" on Sunday. This current group has the old Smiths tunes down pat and Boz seems to have finally figured out how to accurately play "How Soon is Now?" whereas in previous years he had sometimes butchered it. Other highlights and surprises were "Disappointed" , "Lucky Lisp" and "The National Front Disco" and both nights ended with two of his best loved heavier tunes "Irish Blood English Heart" on Saturday and "You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side" on Sunday.
The crowd was more enthusiastic on Saturday and I left exhausted. On Sunday the crowd seemed more mature and I was able to listen more intently and was able to get two totally different experiences despite the set-list being almost identical. Morrissey even noted the craziness of going to a concert on a Sunday. Then again being a Morrissey fan captures the idea perfectly that "There is no such thing in life as Normal" as the show was the ultimate cross section of America. There were 30 something's still dressing Goth or at least what Goth was all those years ago (nothing from Hot Topic thank you) lovely lasses in vintage dresses, skinheads with Elvis-like mutton chops, yuppies who make deals that would make Morrissey cringe, drunken hillbillies with hockey teeth and even pudgy fathers all reduced to 12 year-old girls when the lights came on and Morrissey appeared.
The Nugget
Sparks, NV
April 28th and 29th
by Josh R. Perry
http://www.staticmultimedia.com/content/music/features/feature_1178502557
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