Morrissey announces ‘You Are The Quarry’ 20th anniversary shows in the US

Morrissey has announced that he will be playing a pair of shows in the US in 2024 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his album ‘You Are the Quarry’. 

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The first concert will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on January 26, followed by a show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on January 27. Tickets will be available from 10am local time on Friday December 8 here. 

The 2004 album included the singles ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’ and ‘First of the Gang to Die’, and was cited by many at the time as a return to form for the former Smiths singer. It also remains his highest-charting album in the US.

The news of the shows comes amid an ongoing struggle for the singer to release his latest solo record, ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’. 

In October 2022, Morrissey announced that the album would be released in 2023 through Capitol. In late December, however, the former Smiths frontman said he had “voluntarily withdrawn from any association with Capitol Records”. He also revealed that Miley Cyrus, who recorded backing vocals for ‘Bonfire’ track ‘I Am Veronica’ in 2020, had asked to have her vocals removed from the song. 

Morrissey then released a statement on his website in which it was asserted that, despite Capitol still maintaining ownership of ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’, the label would not release it. It comes after he was dropped by BMG in 2020, months after he released his most recent album, ‘I Am Not A Dog On A Chain’. 

In a statement, the singer said he’s starting to think that his former label are intentionally “sabotaging” his new album. A statement wrote: “Morrissey has said that although he does not believe that Capitol Records in Los Angeles signed ‘Bonfire of Teenagers’ in order to sabotage it, he is quickly coming around to that belief.” 

In October, Morrissey said that Capitol are willing to give ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’ back to him “for a certain price”. 

He said: said: “This album was recorded in January 2021 and Capitol signed it and didn’t release it, but they’re now prepared to give it back to me for a certain price. It’s been quite traumatic and quite sad because when you record something, you want it to be available immediately and it was very much of the time. For me, it was a very personal thing and the fact that it hasn’t been released has been torture.” 

Morrissey had debuted the title track ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’ – which he said was about “England’s 9/11”, the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing – back in July 2022. 

Morrissey also revealed earlier this year that he recorded a new album called ‘Without Music The World Dies’ and shared its tracklist. 

No release date has been confirmed for the new LP, but a post on Morrissey’s website detailed that it was recorded at La Fabrique Studios in St-Remy, France and was produced by longtime collaborator Joe Chiccarelli.