FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $75! *TERMS AND EXCLUSIONS APPLY

CENTERSTAGE

It all boils down to the collapse and decay of the British Empire. You could blame it on Margaret Thatcher. Or on Joy Division. Or on dreary Manchester and Northern England. Whatever the symbol, it has everything to do with the sorry state of Great Britain.

December 1, 1986
Bill Holdship

CENTERSTAGE

MA BELLE AMIE

THE SMITHS Fox Theater, Detroit August 14, 1986

by Bill Holdship

It all boils down to the collapse and decay of the British Empire. You could blame it on Margaret Thatcher. Or on Joy Division. Or on dreary Manchester and Northern England. Whatever the symbol, it has everything to do with the sorry state of Great Britain. But where the Sex Pistols were about rage and anger, the Smiths are about resignation. God save the Queen, snarled Rotten. Screw that, thinks Morrissey. The Queen is dead.

This was overwhelmingly evident when the Smiths closed their short but powerful set with the title track from their new LP, using the album’s morbid cover as a stage backdrop, while Morrissey danced like a klutz imitating a pretzel, and held a “The Queen Is Dead” placard not unlike Joey Ramone’s “Gabba! Gabba! Hey!” sign. The overall effect—haunting music, moody lighting, stark portrait, rock ’n’ roll band, village “idiot”—had an effect akin to Edvard Munch’s The Scream painting or the cover of Joy Division’s Closer LP: frightening, depressing but strangely fascinating...and draining, though the latter had something to do with the lack of air conditioning in a hot hall.

Sign In to Your Account

Registered subscribers can access the complete archive.

Login

Don’t have an account?

Subscribe

...or read now for $1 via Supertab

READ NOW