The Smiths’ last-ever show featured the only performance of one of their best songs and two encores.
The show, which occurred at Brixton Academy on this day in 1986 (December 12), featured hits like Panic and Cemetry Gates as well as a shortened version of Miserable Lie, a song which would feature consistently in the band’s setlist during their touring days. Their sixteen-song set at Brixton Academy would mark their last-ever show together and though some of these songs would feature in both Morrissey and Johnny Marr‘s setlists during their solo careers, the pair have never performed under The Smiths banner again. Rumours of a reunion surfaced earlier this year but were shot down by both parties, who confirmed that neither was interested in a greatest hits tour of any kind.
But when the group were together, they performed the likes of The Boy With the Thorn in His Side and The Queen is Dead for an Artists Against Apartheid benefit show. A full setlist of the gig can be found below.
- Ask
- Bigmout Strikes Again
- London
- Miserable Lie
- Some Girls Are Bigger than Others (live debut)
- The Boy With the Thorn in His Side
- Shoplifters of the World Unite (live debut)
- There is a Light That Never Goes Out
- Is It Really So Strange?
- Cemetry Gates
- This Night Has Opened My Eyes
- Still Ill
- Panic
- The Queen is Dead
- William, It Was Really Nothing
- Hand in Glove
Though there is little footage of the gig available, the band’s performance of Hand in Glove can be viewed below.
Hopes of a reunion by The Smiths are still high but seem extremely unlikely now that Morrissey has confirmed he is selling his share of the band’s rights. The veteran performer has had success of his own with a decades-long solo career, but says he now has “no choice” but to sell off his stake in The Smiths.
Morrissey confirmed the connections to bandmates Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke, and Mike Joyce had left him “burnt out” and that he no longer wanted a stake in the band’s future. A statement to Morrissey’s website confirmed not only his desire to sell, but an email address for those with genuine interest in purchasing those “full and exclusive rights”. The offer includes merchandising rights, recordings, and The Smiths name. A full list of what Morrissey is selling, along with his statement, can be found below.
- The name ‘The Smiths’, as created by Morrissey
- All Smiths artwork, as created by Morrissey
- All Smiths merchandising rights
- All Smiths songs lyrically and musically
- All synchronisation rights
- All Smiths recordings
- All contractual rights for Smiths publishing
Morrissey said: “I am burnt out by any and all connections to Marr, Rourke, Joyce. I have had enough of malicious associations. With my entire life I have paid my rightful dues to these songs and these images.
“I would now like to live disassociated from those who wish me nothing but ill-will and destruction, and this is the only resolution. The songs are me – they are no one else – but they bring with them business communications that go to excessive lengths to create as much dread and spite year after year. I must now protect myself, especially my health.”
