On This Day 25/09/1984 The Smiths

On this day, 25 September 1984, legendary band The Smiths played Cardiff University, with support provided by The Woodentops.

Formed in Manchester in 1982 and composed of singer Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke, and drummer Mike Joyce. Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwriting partnership. The Smiths are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerge from 1980s British independent music.

The Smiths signed to the independent label Rough Trade Records in 1983 and released their first album, The Smiths, in 1984.

Review - Passions Just Like Mine website

This was a very good show. The band was well received, fed off and returned the crowd's energy. There was no change in the setlist.

The Smiths entered stage following the new dramatic intro from Romeo And Juliet and Morrissey greeted the audience by saying "It's so nice of you to come, we're the Smiths..." Set opener "William, It Was Really Nothing" was in the charts at the time and everyone in the audience seemed to be familiar with it because they sang along with Morrissey. Next up was the rockabilly-fied "Handsome Devil" and on this one Morrissey was also backed by the whole audience. After that number Morrissey scolded troublemakers in the crowd by saying that spitting was "...a little rude... it's boring and out of fashion... anyone that spits is an old, fat hippy!".

"Nowhere Fast" was the first of a few songs the audience wasn't familiar with because they had yet to be released. It was followed with the current b-side but future classic "How Soon Is Now?", which was introduced by Morrissey with undecipherable words. "Barbarism Begins At Home" was introduced as "Sexuality Begins At Home". Just as the band was about to launch into the song Morrissey replied to hecklers in the crowd with a very loud "WHAT!". "Rusholme Ruffians" was also unreleased and unfamiliar to everyone in the room, so Morrissey introduced it before performing it. It had been debuted the night before and just like then, at the end of the song Mike kept on playing the drum track for a few bars, with Morrissey wailing "devout...", then Andy kicked in with the bass line from "This Charming Man". For a few bars the rhythm track they were playing together sounded like the intro to the New York mix of "This Charming Man". Fans who still hadn't recognised the song finally did when Johnny added the guitar line and Morrissey started singing "Punctured bicycle, on a hillside desolate..."

It took some time for one band member to be ready to go into "Reel Around The Fountain" and an impatient Morrissey had to encourage him with a faint "now!" The latter crowd favourite stirred the fans into another big singalong followed with very loud cheers. The performance of that song sounded like a mass, with Morrissey as the preacher. After "Jeane" Morrissey acknowledged the fact that the song was one of their oldest and most obscure by saying "Thank you... it's nice to see that some people still remember..." The crowd showed its appreciation for "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" by trying to drown Morrissey's singing in their own. "Still Ill" was simply introduced as "Ill Still". Main set closer "These Things Take Time" ended with an extended guitar wall of sound while Morrissey wailed in a high pitched voice.

The Smiths returned to the stage after a short break amid deafening cheers and started the first of two encores with a dry acoustic version of "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want". This was the second ever live outing of the song and it wasn't yet well adapted to live performance. Later renditions would show a significant improvement. At this point in time it was extended with a repeat of the second verse and ended abruptly after Morrissey's last word, without the recorded version's beautiful outro. However, as if to make up for that, the outro to "Hand In Glove" was extended by Morrissey repeating the traditional "Ah-ah-ah-ah" that he always ended live performances of the song with.

Tickets were £4.