Morrissey Spain Tour 2026

Valencia, you are too loud

Tonight’s show in Valencia, Spain, has been cancelled. It sounds like it’s a party city, the way Morrissey described it. It’s a rare exception, but the explanation is very transparent for this cancellation. Previously we got such terms like “tired” or “logistics” or “illness in the band”. This explanation sounds very plausible and I symphonized with unrest and uncomfortable travel. The devil in me says: for the love of god, someone buy the man some earplugs and a sleep mask.

Morrissey’s official explanation:

Tonight’s scheduled show in Valencia has been rendered impossible due to sleep deprivation. Morrissey drove from Milan to Valencia but has been unable to rest in Valencia due to noise.

The show is not cancelled. Circumstances render the show impossible.

Having travelled for two days by road, Morrissey reached the hotel in Valencia late on Wednesday. Any form of sleep or rest throughout the night was impossible due to festival noise / loud techno singing / megaphone announcements. This experience has left Morrissey in a catatonic state. Before leaving for tonight’s scheduled concert, please check that the show remains possible under these circumstances.

Morrissey has described his hotel on Plaza Manises as …

“indescribable hell. It will take me one year to recover. And that is an understatement”

Morrissey was on a winning streak after he recovered from the flu in January… but it looks like perhaps the last three dates of the tour may be cancelled or postponed.

Scheduled 2026 Tour Dates

03 Jan 2026 Rancho Mirage, CA – The Show at Aqua Caliente
06 Jan 2026 San Diego, CA – San Diego Civic Theatre
10 Jan 2026 San Antonio, TX – Boeing Center at Tech Port
13 Jan 2026 Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion
15 Jan 2026 St. Louis, MO – The Factory
17 Jan 2026 Atlanta, GA – The Fox Theatre
20 Jan 2026 St. Petersburg, FL – Duke Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater
22 Jan 2026 Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live
25 Jan 2026 La Romana – Altos de Chavón
13 Feb 2026 Aarhus – Scandinavian Congress Center
15 Feb 2026 Hamburg – Sporthalle Hamburg
17 Feb 2026 Frankfurt – Jahrhunderthalle
20 Feb 2026 Esch-Sur-Alzette – Rockhal
24 Feb 2026 Rotterdam – De Doelen
28 Feb 2026 London – The O2
04 Mar 2026 Lille – Zenith Des Lille
07 Mar 2026 Zurich – THE HALL
09 Mar 2026 Milan – Fabrique
12 Mar 2026 Valencia – Palau Des Les Arts
14 Mar 2026 Zaragoza – Auditorio Des Zaragoza
16 Mar 2026 Seville – Cartuja Center

Make-Up Is a Lie by Morrissey (March 6, 2026)

Make-Up Is a Lie (March 6, 2026)

Just a brief note, but yes, I did get a chance to listen/stream Make-Up Is a Lie, the fourteenth solo album from Morrissey. The record came out on March 6, 2026. This may be the only album that I will not buy (who am I kidding? I’ll probably get it if I see a good discount).

Before the album came out, Morrissey teased us with the title track, “Make-Up Is a Lie” in January (where he cancelled a bunch of shows), then “Notre-Dame” in early February, and recently “Amazona” and “The Monsters of Pig Alley”. I have not been impressed with the lyrics, some of which became very repetitive (particularly with “Make-Up Is A Lie”) and I didn’t like the instrumentals. I honestly thought Morrissey partnered up with a brand-new songwriter(s). I’m partially right, since Camila Grey (Uh Huh Her) joined the writing team. The rest of the album features the current roster of songwriters, including Jesse Tobias (who started writing with Ringleader of the Tormentors), Gustavo Manzur, Alain Whyte. Obviously absent is Boz Boorer, who probably left the band in 2017. For some odd reasons, I prefer the Boorer composition as it brought more of a rockabilly flavor.

The more I thought about it, it might not have anything to do with the songwriters, but perhaps it is the producer’s fault. All signs points to Joe Chiccarelli, as Pitchfork noted:

…Joe Chiccarelli’s sun-smoothed production doesn’t help. “Notre-Dame” and opener “You’re Right, It’s Time” slink by with the faceless gloss of a latter-period Star Wars film, while the ’70s funk facsimile of “The Night Pop Dropped”—part of an oddly chirpy mid-section to the album alongside the Austin Powers psychedelia of “Zoom Zoom the Little Boy”—would be more convincing with a bit of dirt on its heels. There’s no grit here, no gnashing of musical teeth, and no moments of wild abandon that make you want to smear yourself into the musical soil and proclaim these songs your life.

Registered Historical Facts* is my regular series on Morrissey and the Smiths’ appearances in pop culture.

* The title comes a line in The Queen is Dead:

So, I checked all the registered historical facts
and I was shocked into shame to discover
how I’m the 18th pale descendent
of some old queen or other
has the world changed, or have I changed?