Morrissey begins Camden residency with controversial set

Morrissey kicked off his residency at the Camden Roundhouse in London last night (January 21) with a set featuring four Smiths songs, four new songs from his forthcoming album, rarely aired B-sides - plus controversial ‘Your Arsenal’ track ‘The National Front Disco’.

With his appearance preceded by a short set from Girl In A Coma, followed by huge video screen footage of the likes of Vince Taylor and New York Dolls, Morrissey announced his arrival onstage with a bellow of, “Good evening, West Ham!”, before his matching-denim-clad backing band launched into ‘How Soon Is Now?’.

The star seemed to be struggling slightly with illness, telling the crowd before ‘Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before’ that he had “as people in Tottenham say, ‘a frog in me throat’ – and I don’t mean a small French person”.

There was no direct mention of his recent feud with NME, though Morrissey did precede new song ‘Something Is Squeezing My Skull’ with the announcement: “In between bloodbaths, we have recorded a new album!” He then wryly asked members of the front row at the end of ‘The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores’, whether they “could name one…”

Morrissey played:

'How Soon Is Now?'
'First Of The Gang To Die'
'I Just Want To See The Boy Happy'
'That's How People Grow Up'
'Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before'
'Sister I'm A Poet'
'Something Is Squeezing My Skull'
'All You Need Is Me'
'The National Front Disco'
'Death Of A Disco Dancer'
'Life Is A Pigsty'
'The Loop'
'Billy Budd'
'Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed'
'The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores'
'I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris'
'Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?'
'Stretch Out And Wait'
'Irish Blood, English Heart'
'Last Of The Famous International Playboys'

The sold out residency continues this week on January 22, 23, 25, 26 and 27.