A sold out Morrissey concert in San Diego ended abruptly on Nov. 10 following what was largely speculated to be a malicious attack.
During the encore of Everyday is Like Sunday, a die-hard fan jumped onstage simply for a hug. The man was intercepted by security and taken down while the former Smiths’ singer was escorted offstage.
The music stopped and the rest of the band left after security rushed the stage. The lights came on and the show ended immediately, making for an awkward and unexpected grand finale.
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“Moz’s” team were quick to deny the rumours of any attack in an official Facebook statement. “Nobody tried to punch M last night. Morrissey’s fans are not malicious,” manager Peter Katsis wrote, ensuring the fans that the singer was okay and used to such behaviour.
“The fans were simply doing what they have been doing for almost 30 years,” Katsis added. “Trying anything they can to jump onstage and touch him.”
The team accredited the security at Copley Symphony Hall for doing their job and wrote, “The fan in question was certainly more aggressive than most, so security had to do their job and subdue the fan.”
The fan was not arrested, nor did Morrissey file for charges. “That’s all it was,” Katsis admitted. “In the end no one was hurt, and no one was arrested.”
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In a further statement, Morrissey took aim at a number of journalists for inaccurately reporting the embrace as an “attack.”
Katsis further thanked the suspect for “setting the story straight.” The man in question later revealed himself on Facebook as Carlos Rodriguez.
The euphoric fan owned up to his actions and admitted he just wanted to hug him. He wrote back to Morrissey admitting his mistake, highlighting that it was only in good spirits.
“I admit it looks bad. The momentum to get up did look as if it was aggressive,” Rodriguez wrote. “I hugged him, he laughed and I was headlocked. End of story.”
“I have nothing but love for El Jefe,” he concluded.
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A number of sombre attendees reached out to Morrissey claiming that Rodriguez ruined the entire concert for them.
“Some entitled, attention hog decided to ruin a perfect moment,” one fan wrote. “They’re selfish and they ruined it for everyone,” they added.
“Think before you jump on stage cause it sucked having the lights come on before the encore,” someone else offered. “Come back again soon and entertain us in San Diego.
As of this writing, it seems there are no plans for the concert to be rescheduled, given the show ended during its encore. Fans were angered that they didn’t get their full money’s worth.
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As of this writing, Moz has no plans to return to Canada. He is finishing a U.S. tour in promotion of his latest album, Low in High School (2017).
Tickets for those U.S. dates are available through the official Morrissey website.
adam.wallis@globalnews.ca