Brit music legend Morrissey has been touring live dates across the UK with his new band line-up. With long-time lead guitarist Jesse Tobias now playing alongside Carmen Vandenberg, Juan Galeano and Brendan Buckley, Morrissey has been performing a string of sold-out shows in Leeds, Portsmouth, Dublin and Liverpool. With the next show being at London’s Troxy this coming Saturday – also now sold out – the former Smiths frontman has been delighting crowds by performing a string of both old hits and new, as yet unreleased, tracks.
Morrissey continues to draw new generations in with timeless classics from the Smiths years and his solo back catalogue on tour – and his latest live gigs seem to signify there is still a huge demand for the singer. Despite the significant interest in Morrissey’s music and live shows, bafflingly there has still been no current record label interest in releasing his new albums, Bonfire Of Teenagers and Without Music The World Dies. Flummoxed by the Capitol Records fiasco – the label signed Morrissey for Bonfire Of Teenagers and then declined to release it – fans are persistently taking to social media and demanding an explanation for why the much-loved artist is being held back from delivering music that is ready to go. One fan even started a petition demanding the release of Bonfire Of Teenagers, which garnered a huge amount of interest.
Morrissey is among a number of public figures who have felt heavy repercussions to their art in this new era of censorship, denial of free speech and cancel culture. To many of the icon’s fans, the message seems loud and clear – if you don’t play along, you will be blocked. Whilst the singer’s live dates continue with immense interest and are regularly selling out, another narrative seems to be coming to the forefront. Great art can never be truly cancelled, nor the artists who are behind it.
