Exactly 28 years ago today, The Smiths took the stage for only their third concert — and only their second with the final Morrissey/Johnny Marr/Andy Rourke/Mike Joyce lineup — opening for Factory Records funk band 52nd Street at New Order’s infamous Manchester club The Hacienda.
A chronicle of the show on Passions Just Like Mine calls the eight-song set “a milestone in the Smiths’ history,” and notes that, “Morrissey thought the Hacienda was too grey and had the place filled with flowers, beginning a recognizable tradition (fans bringing flowers) that would last many years.” The setlist (see below) is notable for its inclusions of early B-side “Jeane” and “What Do You See in Him?,” a rarely performed track that would later resurface with different lyrics as the song “Wonderful Woman,” another B-side.
The concert was professionally filmed, Passions Just Like Mine notes, but never broadcast — and remained largely unseen until surfacing online in 2009. Unfortunately, the uploader has disabled embedding, so we can’t post it here — but we’ve got the entire show playlisted on our Slicing Up Video channel on YouTube. Given the footage’s age and the band’s unknown status at the time, the quality’s fairly remarkable.
WATCH: The Smiths at the Hacienda, 2/4/83
See the Smiths’ Feb. 4, 1983, setlist after the jump…
Setlist: The Smiths, The Hacienda, Manchester, UK, 2/4/83
“These Things Take Time”
“What Difference Does It Make?”
“The Hand That Rocks The Cradle”
“Handsome Devil”
“Jeane”
“What Do You See In Him?”
“Hand In Glove””
“Miserable Lie”
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS:
- Hear The Smiths’ reggae version of ‘Girlfriend In A Coma,’ other rare outtakes
- Video: British PM Cameron, MP McCarthy use The Smiths to debate tuition
- Morrissey joins Johnny Marr in ‘forbidding’ David Cameron from liking The Smiths
- Hey, look, it’s another picture of Morrissey with a cat sitting on top of his head
- Morrissey wears a cat on his head, says ‘the Chinese are a subspecies’
- Morrissey’s ‘Bona Drag’ 20th anniversary reissue to feature 6 unreleased tracks
- Photo: Morrissey and Rick Astley backstage at the BBC’s ‘Top of the Pops’ in 1989
All concerts at the Hacienda were professionally filmed. Footage was given to the bands, free of charge. Another small step in the eventual financial downfall of the venue…!
Here’s the concert at hacienda
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5707443548504258107