POWER MOVES

Morrissey Canceled a Show In California Because It Was Too Cold

It was in the mid-40s.


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Nick Knight

The thing about Morrissey’s concerts is that they’re never for sure until they actually start. The Smiths frontman’s devoted fans have learned that lesson the hard way over the years as Moz has canceled a whopping 123 shows just since 2012, according to Consequence of Sound. Many of those cancellations—outside of the ones due to his strict veganism that apparently prevents him from performing in venues that serve meat—has been due to his health. Morrissey has been receiving treatment for Barrett’s oesophageal cancer over the past handful of years. His latest cancellation, however, had nothing to do with that. Instead, Morrissey backed out of playing a show last-minute strictly because of the weather, specifically because it was too cold in Paso Robles, California where he was scheduled to perform.

Just minutes before Morrissey was supposed to take the stage at the Vina Robles Amphitheatre, an outdoor music venue—again, in California—a voice over the PA system alerted everyone in the crowd that he would not be performing after all. “Due to an inoperable heating system on stage, tonight’s engagement is postponed. However, a new date will be rescheduled for the 2018 season,” said the announcement, according to Radio.com.

How cold is too cold for Morrissey? Apparently it’s somewhere between 61 and 43 degrees, as that was the high and low yesterday in the city nearby San Luis Obispo. Leave it to the UK transplant, who was raised in Manchester, in the north of England, to validate that whole Californians-can’t-take-the-cold stereotype. Although, while 43 degrees certainly isn’t nippy—even in this Californian’s opinion—it may have prevented Morrissey from wearing his signature stage ensemble: a collared shirt barely buttoned to expose his often-sweaty chest. Perhaps he wasn’t into the idea of adding a scarf to it, or, you know, putting his hands in gloves.

That didn’t stop fans from making their own “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable” jokes.

Or just venting. “Morrissey cancelled at the last minute. F— that drama queen. Never again. Rot in hell,” wrote one fan on Twitter.

Or making up their own songs, as the current listing for the show on Setlist.fm shows.

While an apology seems unlikely, fans can hope for the best: a rescheduling of the canceled show that doesn’t inevitably end in another cancellation.

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