OG emo crooner Morrissey is coming back to the Bay Area this fall, and he's the first semi-major musical act to be announced at the Castro Theatre amid its transformation into a live-performance venue at the hands of Another Planet Entertainment.

Another Planet announced the November 19 Morrissey show Tuesday morning, with ticket pre-sales beginning Thursday, September 22.  The all-ages show will be a seated concert, given that the Castro still has all its seats, and ticket prices are set between $85 and $115 for reserved seats.

This will be Morrissey's first local show since he's seemingly taken a turn for the conservative and racist — supporting Brexit and backing a far-right party called For Britain, and criticizing London's Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan saying he "cannot talk properly." His transformation into a prejudiced, anti-immigrant old grump was even lampooned by The Simpsons last year.

Also, Morrissey fans in the Bay Area know all too well that the singer has had a penchant for canceling shows here in the last two decades — something that has happened multiple times, due to "illness" and other excuses. Morrissey has tended not to cancel shows so readily in San Jose or Los Angeles, where he may have a stronger fan base at this point — especially among the Mexican American community, who have long loved Morrissey and The Smiths.

But hopefully that won't happen this time, and the scheduling of the show at the Castro indicates that Morrissey's management may not be trying to sell out larger venues in the Bay Area anymore.

Morrissey played the larger Paramount Theater in Oakland in 2009, and infamously, after playing a show in San Jose in July 2015, Morrissey spoke out about allegedly being groped by a TSA agent at SFO. The singer claimed that the TSA agent approached him while he was gathering his things from the scanner trays and randomly crouched down and touched his junk.

"Should you find yourself traveling through San Francisco International Airport, you should expect sexual abuse from the so-called 'security officers' who, we are unconvincingly warned, are acting only for our security," Morrissey wrote online at the time.

The show at the Castro Theatre will be something of a test for Another Planet Entertainment and the neighborhood, as some residents have been vehemently opposed to allowing the theater to be converted into anything but the repertory movie house and occasional drag-show venue it has been for several decades. One major objection that still faces scrutiny by city agencies has to do with a proposal to remove all orchestra-level seating and create a series of tiered platforms for standing-room audiences — similar to what Another Planet did at the Fox in Oakland.

A community meeting in August about the proposals brought out a number of those opposed to changes to the theater, while others voiced support for Another Planet and fears that an even less cooperative, non-local operator could take their place if this deal falls through.

Look for tickets to the November Morrissey show here, through Ticketmaster. (Notably at the August meeting, APE senior vice president Mary Conde told the audience that the company had not "chosen the ticketing platform that we will use at this venue," with some objecting to any exclusive deal with Ticketmaster.)

Top image: Morrissey performs during the When We Were Young Festival 2017 at The Observatory on April 8, 2017 in Santa Ana, California. (Photo by Harmony Gerber/WireImage)

British misery-dweller Morrissey is still complaining loudly and publicly about a pat-down by a TSA agent at San Francisco International Airport in July that he characterized as a sexual assault. And now he quips that TSA should stand for "Thorough Sexual Assault," and writes "It is unlikely that ISIS would stoop so low." Wow, Moz.

The incident occurred in July when Morrissey was leaving SFO following a concert in San Jose, en route back to London, and he claims that the agent "crouched before me and groped my penis and testicles." In October, after conducting their own internal investigation, the TSA and the airport released surveillance footage that showed the incident from multiple angles and did not appear to show anything untoward — nor does it show the singer reacting particularly strongly after the alleged groping. The TSA says that what the tape showed was just routine screening, and the agent in question treats another passenger coming through the scanner similarly.

Now, as the NY Daily News and others are reporting, Morrissey gave a comment to his fan zine True to You, expressing his continued outrage over what he seems to suggest is an institutional coverup.

Here's the statement in full:

"TSA have ignored my official and legal and constitutional complaint. From this we gather that TSA stands for Thorough Sexual Assault. If you are traveling through San Francisco International Airport you must be ready for a full sexual attack by people who claim to have your interests at heart. It is unlikely that ISIS would stoop so low."

Earlier, and equally witheringly, Morrissey spoke out in the zine saying, "In the interests of imperishable bureaucracy my submitted complaint against this ‘officer’ will obviously be either unread or ignored because, as we all know, on matters of officialism it is not possible to be pleasantly surprised by anything at all."

We probably shouldn't minimize this if he's being so insistent, but the TSA maintains "the supervised officer followed standard operating procedures in the screening of this individual."

San Francisco, at the very least, can look forward to Morrissey never playing here again.

Previously: Morrissey Says Security Officer At SFO Groped His Junk

Did Morrissey actually get inappropriately groped by a TSA agent at San Francisco International Airport as he alleges he did in July? The TSA says no, after reviewing the closed-circuit TV footage of the entire incident that you can review yourself above. And I have to say that watching the incident, and seeing said agent give pat-downs to men who come through the body scanner both before and after Morrissey, it does not seem like the guy did anything too unusual, though it is hard to tell what he's doing as he crouches down in front of the singer's groin area. Morrissey is the man in the untucked turquoise shirt who comes out of the scanner around the 0:20 mark.

The only odd thing about the video, actually, having gone through security at SFO plenty of times myself, is that it appears every single person coming through the scanner gets an additional pat-down. In my experience, they only pull aside people for pat-downs when the scanner shows some bit of metal or some other object in a pocket, and typically they just check the area where the item appeared on the scan. For some reason, everyone is getting a full frisk here. But it would be strange and ballsy (sorry) for someone doing anything untoward with regard to men's genitals to be doing so in such close proximity to several coworkers, no?

Morrissey's original version of events was the agent "crouched before me and groped my penis and testicles," and then "He quickly moved away as an older 'airport security officer' approached." The video doesn't really depict that, nor does Morrissey look at all bothered in the video. He does look annoyed, however, when he's taken over to the side at the end to have his hands swabbed for explosives by another agent.

As Gawker points out, when the notoriously "asexual" Morrissey spoke about the incident later to Larry King, he added the detail that the TSA agent "put his finger down my rear cleavage."

The TSA has responded, and via Rolling Stone gave a statement.

“TSA takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and strives to treat every passenger with dignity and respect. Upon review of closed circuit TV footage, TSA determined that the supervised officer followed standard operating procedures in the screening of this individual.”

There is, also, an overhead cam shot here in which it is equally difficult to see what the officer is doing. Unquestionably, the officer seems to spend more time than necessary with this pat-down, but the video up top shows him doing exactly the same thing with the fellow who comes through before Morrissey.

Morrissey apparently has an assault claim pending against the airport and the unnamed officer which has yet to surface.

Previously: Morrissey Says Security Officer At SFO Groped His Junk

Britain's greatest dour crooner Morrissey was in the Bay Area last weekend performing a Saturday show at the Event Center at San Jose State, and once again he departed here with a major complaint. This time Morrissey claims that an "airport security officer" at SFO (at SFO they're not TSA, but employees of Covenant Aviation Security who contract with TSA) approached him after he'd already gone through security screening and groped his penis and testicles for no apparent reason. The incident allegedly occurred on Monday afternoon, and he concludes, "should you find yourself traveling through San Francisco International Airport, you should expect sexual abuse from the so-called 'security officers' who, we are unconvincingly warned, are acting only for our security."

Morrissey described the whole incident on the fan zine True to You, and Rolling Stone and others subsequently picked up the story.

He writes:

At 2:30 in the afternoon I went through the usual airport security procedure including the stand-up 'scanner', and all was well - no bleeps and nothing unusual.

Before I could gather my belongings from the usual array of trays I was approached by an "airport security officer" who stopped me, crouched before me and groped my penis and testicles. He quickly moved away as an older "airport security officer" approached.

Morrissey says that the officer in question was identified as a "General Manager on Duty," and the singer proceeds to go on a tear about how he almost didn't lodge a complaint because figures of "authority" (scare quotes his) can't be questioned and his complaints "will obviously be either unread or ignored."

He also says that the officer was confronted about the groping by someone, possibly one of the singer's escorts from British Airways Special Services, and the security guy repeatedly responded to the accusations with "that's just your opinion."

As you may know, Morrissey's had a somewhat difficult relationship with the Bay Area in recent years, frustrating many local fans by canceling shows in Oakland and San Francisco, only to play dates in Stockton, San Jose, and Los Angeles instead. Then in May 2014 an over-zealous fan jumped on stage during the encore of a San Jose show, audibly body-slamming the singer, causing him to drop his microphone and leave the stage, ending the show right there.

At this rate, he may just never come back.

During the encore at last night's Morrissey show at San Jose's City National Civic, fans rushed the stage to try to hug the curmudgeonly singer, as they do. But these fans got way too aggressive and Morrissey had to leave the stage mid-song. Great, guys. He's really never coming back to the Bay Area now.

Local Morrissey fans have been pretty frustrated the last few years as he's canceled shows last-minute what feels like dozens of times, while continuing to tour the country and always making his dates in L.A. He finally came back our way, only to head to the South Bay, and only to be accosted on stage by not one, but several overly aggressive huggers, as you can see in the cell phone video below.

During the middle of what was probably his last song in the encore, "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell," several fans rushed the stage in what's basically a tradition at Morrissey shows, trying to get a hug. At least two were pulled off the singer by stagehands before one went in for a body slam, causing Morrissey to audibly grunt. Then he just dropped the mike and left.

In better news, he debuted a few new songs last night, including the one below, "Earth Is the Loneliest Planet Of All." As he said, by way of introduction, "I've traveled extensively in my very young life, and I've found that Earth is the loneliest planet." So he's an astronaut now?

[HuffPo]
[Stereogum]

Last week, Morrissey fans lamented yet another last-minute cancelation by the singer -- his fourth in three years in the Bay Area. He was supposed to play Davies Symphony Hall on Sunday but begged off for health reasons. Again. Anyway, he now has two other shows with two other promoters on the calendar, and even though it seems highly likely that he'll cancel those too, we can promise you he won't be making it to both.

The first announced show, not a rescheduling of the Davies appearance but a separate one, is set for Regency Ballroom on March 9. The next, announced today, is on April 30 at the Warfield. We note that both of these venues are smaller than Davies, and much smaller than the Fox, where he was scheduled to perform back in 2011. Is it just that Bay Area fans aren't buying tickets, and with each successive cancellation even fewer people are buying them? That seems highly likely.

The Warfield tickets, for what it's worth (not much!), go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m.

[SF Weekly]

We know some of you were getting girlfriend-in-a-coma-level bereft the other week when you heard that Morrissey had cancelled yet another SF concert date, his second cancellation in under a year. Well, good news: It was, as he promised, just a postponement, and he'll be back at Davies Symphony Hall on February 24.

He unveiled his full rescheduling of all his North American tour dates, which includes a rescheduled Staples Center appearance in L.A. on March 1, where he'll be joined by Patti Smith. All ticketholders from his scheduled November 16 show here will have their tickets honored in February.

The reason for the postponement was that his mother had taken ill in England, and he flew back to be with her. He'll restart touring in January, in New York.

In the meantime, tide yourselves over with the above concert clip, from his un-canceled LA appearance at the Hollywood Bowl last December, after he canceled his December concert here, but we're not bitter or anything.

[Live4Ever]

Once again, Morrissey is disappointing (and pissing off) Bay Area fans by canceling a scheduled show here, and it's the second time this has happened in less than twelve months. The November 16 show at Davies Symphony Hall, as well as another show at the Mondavi Center in Davis, have been postponed (they're saying they're not canceled but that was similarly the word last December at the Fox, only to have him schedule a return to a different venue 11 months later). The reason, according to Another Planet Entertainment, is Morrissey's mother's failing health in England.

But, as many cynical fans will point out, there have been a host of excuses for canceling shows in the past that may or may not have been true, including a "visa administration error" and last year's had to do with an "eye injury" to his drummer. As a friend of SFist also pointed out, he didn't cancel his LA show, where he has a ton of ardent fans.

Ticket holders are instructed to hold on to their tickets pending a new date. And "Morrissey would like to thank everyone for their understanding and patience as the shows are being prepared for a swift reschedule."

For your evening viewing pleasure, we give you Morrissey's PETA ad, which features a feline atop the singer's head. Regarding the campaign to spay or neuter your pets, Morrissey said, "Letting cats or dogs have litters is tantamount to shooting shelter animals in the head since it kills their chances of adoption. Please do the right thing and spay or neuter your animals."

[Vulture]

Sad news, Moz fans: Morrissey has just announced that tonight's show at Oakland's Fox Theater has been cancelled due to a bandmate's injury. According to an email from Morrissey's publicist, his drummer has sustained an unfortunate eye injury.

The cancellation is the second in a month for the notoriously difficult Morrissey. In early November, Moz and Co. cancelled a Chicago show due to "a visa administration error" with his lead guitarist's paperwork.

Anyway, if you're headed south of the border to catch Morrisey's December Mexico tour, the drummer's eye injury is not expected to affect any other tour dates. Which is good, because they love him down there.

Meanwhile, to keep the hungry fans satiated in the absence of His Meatlessness, SFWeekly's All Shook Down has thrown together a list of the Top 10 Morrissey song titles that describe your anguish about his canceled show. Heaven knows we're all miserable now.

Former Smiths lead singer and avowed racist Morrissey will make a pitstop at the Fox Theater later this year. The (not so) sensitive crooner will appear with Kristeen Young at the Fox Theater on December 1st, with ticket prices ranging from $49.50 - $75.

Last year, if you recall, Morrissey said the following about the fine people of China, "You can't help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies." He was referencing their treatment of animals, but...that doesn't make it OK. No, it does not.

He also made several deplorable anti-immigration remarks to NME magazine while living in Rome in 2009.

If you must, tickets go on sale this Sunday.

Last night old Moz paid a visit to the Bay Area, and he didn't cancel the show or collapse on stage. That's the good news. Also for good news, he played a ton of old Smiths songs and seems to be keen on just giving the audience what it wants these days. The bad news is that The Paramount, while lovely, is a pretty shoddily run venue that can't even handle a not-sold-out show.

The walk into the Paramount is stunning, especially this time of year with the big Christmas tree in the center of the atrium, all the deco details lit up like they were just an elaborate part of the holiday cheer. This reviewer had seen a few shows there in the past decade, but not since long before the Fox Theater reopened up the street under the helm of Another Planet Entertainment. The Paramount is still beautiful inside, with an intense amount of wood carving that went into the walls and proscenium to create the bronze- and gold-leafed patterns rising up on all sides. But now that music fans have been spoiled by The Fox, The Paramount had better step up its game in terms of service.

The opening act, Doll & The Kicks, seemed talented but didn't sound so hot live -- sort of a strained, sloppy amalgam of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and No Doubt, with a lead singer whose vocal style owes a debt to Gwen Stefani. Also, the majority of Morrissey's fans didn't seem like they were in the mood for these guys, and mostly just lined up at the bars for beverages.

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar.

Other CD's being released today:
1. Nancy LaMott - Ask Me Again
2. Morrissey - Greatest Hits*
3. Carrie Newcomer - The Geography of Light
4. Michael Jackson - Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition
5. Simple Plan - Self Titled
6. Widespread Panic - Free Somehow
7. The Puppini Sisters - The Rise & Fall of Ruby Woo*

We recommend*
Image courtesy of amazon.com

Morrissey is coming. And you know what that means? Clever lyrics, melancholia, and no tender morsels of tasty beef. Or chicken. Or even a Hot Pocket. Last month Leah Garchik mentioned that, "word from the Fillmore, where Morrissey is doing four shows at the end of September: 'Do not bring any meat to eat. He wants no meat whatsoever in the house!'" While we teeter on respecting the (privileged) choices of vegetarianism and veganism, this is harsh of Morrissey, inflicting such an inane house rule during his stay there.

So, you know what that means, kids: send us your photos of you and Moz snapping into a Slim Jim, or whatever preferred meaty product you manage to smuggle into the Fillmore on 9/23 or 9/24, and we'll post them for you.

And remember, Morrissey must be in the shot as you eat your meat.