“I GROW OLDER, I WILL NEVER DIE” – Morrissey at the O2 Arena, 28 February 2026

Around 20,000 people welcomed Morrissey to the O2 Arena on Saturday night, proving without doubt that the light, the sparkle and the magic never goes out.

The experience of a Morrissey show begins over an hour before the man himself appears on stage. Archive footage of heroes from David Bowie to Judy Garland via Gene Pitney and The Runaways are cast onto the big screen to perfectly prepare the palate for the feast to follow. James Baldwin is the final famous face to appear before the expectant onlookers, supplemented by a swell of sound to mark the most significant arrival.  

Then, he appears. No hesitation. No hint of shyness. He is meant to be here. Dressed in a tasteful pink dress shirt unbuttoned to the stomach, the frontman charges towards a battle he can only win. Without words, he introduces himself to the adoring crowd and edges towards the microphone with a dominant and commanding control. This is his house and we are his guests.

“I wanna know what love is… I want you to show me,” he sings a cappella. Humour and irony are not lost with age. Matt Walker clicks his drumsticks. The night detonates.

Morrissey has well and truly mastered the art of the live setlist. Rambunctious, energising, full-bodied openers Billy Budd, I Just Want to See the Boy Happy and Suedehead make way for a trio of new and enticing tracks, all of which will appear on his 14^th studio album, titled Make-up Is a Lie. Set to release this Friday, Moz does not hide his pride at this news as he jests at the graphic details of the album’s birth to his audience. “I’ve been pregnant for six and a half years,” he smirks. “I will open my legs wide and out will squelch a new album.”

What follows is a sequence of deeper cuts delivered with startling force. Morrissey’s back catalogue is incomparable to any other musician in history. The distinctive opener to 1994’s Vauxhall and I, Now My Heart Is Full is presented with an energy and tenderness so tangible it can almost be caught and embraced. Not a single note is missed. Each one hits and sits. Over recent months, this has quietly become my favourite song.

The soon to be released Monsters of Pig Alley is next, and can be described without hyperbole as an instant classic. A tale of tragic stardom from the perspective of troubled parents, Morrissey presents the dilemma without the solution, trusting the audience to ponder its emotional weight.

Then comes the classic Smiths’ heart-wrencher I Know It’s Over. Morrissey’s sounds of despair in the closing stages of the song transcend language; he delivers yet again the hums of the aching soul, all underpinned by a backdrop photo of his late mother, Elizabeth Dwyer. It is devastating without feeling overly theatrical or forced.

Fan favourites spanning four decades soon carry us to the closing stages of a remarkable evening. Songs stretch across different eras and contexts, but the set feels singular in its purpose. The chosen track list is composed by and for the man himself, and the audience benefit from it, as they are treated to a raft of songs that Morrissey wholeheartedly believes in.

The band are as razor-sharp as the man himself, and are a joy to watch. Camilla Grey’s rolling piano to introduce Everyday Is Like Sunday glows, and Carmen Vandenberg’s mesmerizing and suave stage presence is electric.

He closes the main set with I Will See You in Far-Off Places, seemingly serving as a raucous and intense goodbye to all those who have come to pay homage to their hero.

Then comes the encore of all encores. Wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with beat poet Jack Kerouac, Morrissey delivers the recognisable and ever-anthemic There is a Light That Never Goes Out with aplomb and grace. He clutches and swings a handful of long-stemmed flowers. The loving, teary-eyed crowd sing back with outstretched arms as if they too are under the spotlight on stage, and in that moment, it could be any year between 1982 and 2026. Time ceases to exist in this space of true connection. The final chords are played and all strain for one final glimpse at the great man as he makes his way offstage.

As I leave the arena, I leave pondering a momentous, life-defining evening, and the diversity of Morrissey concert attendees strikes me. Thinly-quiffed men, goth teenage girls and misunderstood twenty-somethings all gather intermingled in search of the ultimate articulation. It proves that despite the body or face, the human heart is the same. We know how it feels. Morrissey presents hope, comfort and assurance through his music. He knows how it feels too.

“I grow older, I will never die,” he exclaims.

I truly believe him.

Thank you, Morrissey.

-          Jacob Davies

Photo by Sara Kryger