Clear Lake, Iowa, is the town closest to the site of the infamous plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper on February 3, 1959, “the day the music died.” Despite a population of fewer than 8,000 people, Clear Lake is still host to the Surf Ballroom, the last venue Holly ever played. Brian Wilson paid a visit last summer, and Morrissey has announced that he will be stopping there as part of a 33-date U.S. fall tour.
Morrissey played a smattering of U.S. dates late last year, and he undertook a 2009 tour that brought him through smaller venues including New York’s Bowery Ballroom, but his fall schedule marks the former Smiths frontman’s broadest-ranging stateside foray since 2007’s Greatest Hits tour. Alongside all the usual large cities, Moz will be hitting up not only tiny Clear Lake, but also Wichita Falls, Texas; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Bellingham, Washington. During a November 24 gig at the Staples Center Arena in Los Angeles, he’ll be joined by “special guest” Iggy and the Stooges, a bill that unites one a toweringly influential figure from ’80s and ’90s underground rock with a key ’70s precursor.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Morrissey’s libel trial against the NME is set for July 16-19, no doubt bringing him another round of publicity. The British magazine has apologized to the crooner for publishing a story he said portrayed him as a racist. As an outspoken vegetarian and indie-rock avatar whose brilliant song catalog includes the cringe-worthy nativist sentiments of 1988’s “Bengali in Platforms,” and yet many of whose most passionate fans are American Latinos, it’s safe to say Moz occupies a uniquely complicated demographic position. ¡Oye Esteban!
Morrissey U.S. tour dates:
October 5 – Boston, MA @ Wang Theatre
October 6 – Waterbury, CT @ Palace Theater
October 10 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
October 15 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre
October 16 – Burlington, VT @Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
October 18 – Albany, NY @ Palace Theatre
October 19 – Niagara Falls, NY @ Rapids Theatre
October 23 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Heinz Hall
October 24 – Columbus, OH @ LC Indoor Pavilion
October 26 – Flint, MI @ James H Whiting Auditorium
October 27 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
October 29 – Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theatre
October 30 – Clear Lake, IA @ Surf Ballroom
November 1 – Lincoln, NE @ Rococo Theatre
November 3 – Denver, CO @ Ellie Caulkins Opera House
November 4 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kingsbury Hall at University of Utah
November 8 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
November 10 – Bellingham, WA @ Mount Baker Theatre
November 11 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
November 14 – Davis, CA @ Robert Mondavi Center at UC Davis
November 16 – San Francisco, CA @ Davies Symphony Hall
November 17 – Reno, NV @ John Ascuaga’s Nugget – Rose Ballroom
November 21 – Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theater
November 23 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas at The Chelsea Ballroom
November 24 – Los Angeles, CA @ Staples Center Arena w/ Iggy and The Stooges as support
November 27 – El Paso, TX @ Tricky Falls
November 28 – Wichita Falls, TX @ Kay Yeager Coliseum
November 30 – Pharr, TX @ Pharr Entertainment Center
December 1 – Beaumont, TX @ Jefferson Theatre
December 3 – Atlanta, GA @ Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
December 5 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
December 7 – North Bethesda, MD @ The Music Center at Strathmore
December 8 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Showboat Resort and Casino – House of Blues
