Morrissey has just announced two major outdoor summer shows: one in South London on July 9 and one in Leeds on July 12.
The former Smiths frontman will be performing at two of the country’s biggest outdoor venues, playing at Crystal Palace Park in London and Millennium Square in Leeds.
General tickets for the shows will go on sale on March 10.
In Leeds he will be joined by English rock band The Slow Readers Club, while his support act in London hasn’t yet been announced.
The Slow Readers Club Tweeted: “We’re buzzin to announce that we will be supporting Morrissey on 12th July in Leeds! We are huge fans of Morrissey and The Smiths and we can’t wait to share this experience with you.”
MORRISSEY SUPPORT SHOW!
— THE SLOW READERS CLUB (@slowreadersclub) March 7, 2023
We’re buzzin to announce that we will be supporting Morrissey on 12th July in Leeds!
We are huge fans of Morrissey and The Smiths and we can’t wait to share this experience with you.
🎟️ Tickets go on-sale Friday at 10am here: https://t.co/FpGmrBgomA pic.twitter.com/TDZNKuehIi
The outdoor dates are part of Morrissey’s 2023 European tour, which begins tomorrow in Paris. Morrissey will play in cities in France and Belgium before going on to play one date in London.
On March 19 he will be playing at London’s Eventim Apollo and there are still some tickets available for this performance for fans who cannot wait until July.
Last November the English singer-songwriter released single Rebels Without Applause which was his first new track since 2020. His last studio album, I Am Not a Dog on a Chain, was also released in 2020. The album went to peak at number one in the UK’s Independent Albums chart and number three in the UK Albums chart.
Morrissey currently has a new album in the works: Without Music the World Dies is set to be released in late 2023. Morrissey’s album Bonfire of Teenagers is also awaiting release. According to his website it is currently “available to the highest (or lowest)” bidder. The singer split from Capitol Records last December.
A statement on Morrissey’s website posted on February 13 said: “Capitol Records (Los Angeles) proudly promotes Sam Smith’s ‘satanism’; yet they consider the honest truth of Morrissey’s factual ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ to be their biggest threat and they will not release it despite their contractual obligation and promise to do so.”
The satanism comment seems to be a reference to Smith and Kim Petras’ Grammys performance. During the performance of their hit single Unholy, Smith wore a top hat with horns and the stage was lit up with red lights and lined with fire. Dancers wore long black wigs and Petras sung her verse from inside a cage.
Republican senator Ted Cruz criticized the performance, tweeting, “This is… evil”. Elon Musk also commented on the performance, tweeting: “If that’s satan, we have nothing to worry about.”
According to Morrissey’s website, Morrissey was also dropped by label BMG Records in November 2020.
“BMG have appointed a new Executive who does not want another Morrissey album. Instead, the new BMG Executive has announced new plans for ‘diversity’ within BMG’s artist roster, and all projected BMG Morrissey releases/reissues have been scrapped,” said a statement on Morrissey’s site.
“This news is perfectly in keeping with the relentless galvanic horror of 2020,” said Morrissey on his website, “we would be critically insane to expect anything positive.”
The Standard has asked Capitol Records and BMG for comment.
