The Scene

MusicDetour.com’s commentary on music, performances, and the DC metro area music scene

Morrissey, who has cancelled shows this week in England, turns 50 next week.  Tomorrow night, fans will gather to celebrate Mozzer’s half-century at the Ottobar in Baltimore.  The debut of the newly reconsituted Smiths tribute band Sorrow’s Native Sons will be the highlight of the evening.  Chris Quinn, formerly of Girlfriend in a Coma, and still of Treading Lemmings, will reprise his role as perhaps the best ersatz Moz in the world.  Expect to hear some of The Smiths weepiest odes, like “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want This Time,” which never made a Girlfriend in a Coma setlist, mix with livelier numbers like “Still Ill.”

Will we sing “Unhappy Birthday” to Morrissey?  Yeah, probably.

For about five years, the Ottobar in Baltmore has hosted Sing Your Life, a Smiths/Morrissey karaoke night, three or four nights a year.  Thursday night’s Valentine’s event will be special, because the promoter just announced that the night will be capped by the debut of The Smiths tribute band Sorrow’s Native Sons, featuring two founding members of previous The Smiths tribute band Dreaded Sunny Day.  Expect Sorrow’s Native Sons to play several more gigs in the coming months around the DC and Baltimore area.  The night will begin with a set of acoustic Smiths and Morrissey covers by Johnny Love of Johnny Love & Speed.