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Morrissey's 50th Birthday gig - Manchester Apollo - May 22
ALTHOUGH he hasn't lived in Manchester for years, on his 50th birthday, Morrissey truly came home.
Despite controversial declarations of alienation from his birth nation over its "immigration explosion," there was nowhere else the Smiths idol could ring in his half century.
The very stones of Manchester Apollo will remember as fans dedicated enough to grab tickets that sold out in 15 minutes flat arrive at the city's best birthday party ever.
Party favours are laminates bearing the legend "I Came To Wish Morrissey A Happy 50th Birthday," bars are decked in banners asking "Who Put The "M" in Manchester?" and the air fizzes with excitement.
In 26 years since Hand In Glove grabbed an unsuspecting public, the spectrum of ages here shows Morrissey has won new fans with every generation.
Your reviewers are a perfect example - Judith recalls the epoch-making moment when this Wildean stickman first swung a bunch of gladioli to This Charming Man on Top of The Pops.
And Ella is a teenager literally born to the Smiths. Her father played their debut in the delivery room - she emerged on Still Ill.
Furious football chanting welcomes birthday boy and the opening bars of This Charming Man gets a seismic reaction.
As a birthday present, we get a plethora of Smiths classics - Ask Me, Some Girls Are Bigger, Girlfriend in a Coma and an ecstatically greeted How Soon Is Now, though sadly, no Unhappy Birthday.
And there's the best of his solo career - Irish Blood, English Heart, Throwing My Arms Around Paris, The World Is Full of Crashing Bores and First of the Gang as an encore.
Morrissey grinning isn't something you see every day but, as the band lead the crowd through an impromptu Happy Birthday, he even quips cheerily, "I'm not actually 50...I'm 40-10!"
He hands the mike to two lucky front-rowers - one man says emotionally: "Oh Morrissey, I can't believe it - Happy Birthday, mate!" while the girl next to him purrs: "I love you, you handsome devil!"
As fans drain, exhilarated, into the street, we know we witnessed history. Happy Birthday, Moz, mate.
Judith Dornan and Ella Levine-Shrimpton
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Weather for Preston
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
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