Saturday 22/05/04 Morrissey @ Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester

The quiff is the greatest haircut in the world.

In a sea of pudding bowls and David Beckham designer 50 quid crap cuts, a quiff will always look good. It's the mark of someone who understands the finer things about rock 'n' roll. It's Elvis instead of Westlife.

Morrissey is, perhaps, the most famous quiff of them all and tonight he brings his haircut back to Manchester to a tumultuous welcome.

"You've made a happy man feel very old"  he quips as the adoring faithful (15,000 sell out gig, which sold out in 63 minutes) sing happy birthday to the 45 year old icon. It's that kind of night. Morrissey's first gig in his hometown for 12 years is a triumphant affair. After years on the outside looking in, he has been welcomed back a national treasure. It's like Oscar Wilde leaving Reading Jail and becoming a media hero. From being whipped with a whole fistful of isms in the early nineties, to being the centre of an unseemly brawl for media attention, Morrissey has pulled off an incredible comeback.

He saunters on stage singing 'My Way', a two fingered salute to his detractors, then proceeds to charge through a set of solo material mixed with Smiths classics, interspersed with quips and bonhomie. He's enjoying this comeback. You see, one moment he was left to his fanatical fan base and the next he's being hilarious on national TV - trading quips with Jonathan Ross, a number 2 album (number one if you forget Keane, which we should), and a brilliant comeback single 'Irish Blood, English Heart' putting him back home on Top Of The Pops (how rare is it that a real star gets on that shitty old show nowadays?).

Yup, Morrissey is back in his pomp and looking scarily good for it. Barely lined, his face is proof of veggie power and he still oozes the starpower. The excitement is at fever pitch when he takes the stage, grown men swoon and there is not a dry thigh in the house.  The quiffed and suited band look great and Boz Boorer is the consummate cool: sharp suit quiffed-up-rockabilly-rebel dealing out great guitar action, the underrated Boorer is the key man to the solo Moz. His songwriting has been great in a run of needlessly ignored albums and he commands a casual presence on the stage behind his band leader.

Morrissey himself is in great form, his voice sounds fantastic and he slots bang into 2004 with the consummate ease of a seasoned pro, who also understands perfectly the ins and outs of contemporary pop culture. Oh! and the Morrissey back drop, with its deliberate mock up of the Elvis '68 comeback is a nice touch. 

The set is a well balanced mixture of Smiths classics and solo material. With unlikely versions of 'Headmaster Ritual' jostling with top tunes like 'America is Not the World' off the new album. 'Everyday Is Like A Sunday' is turned into a mass singalong, whilst 'Shoplifters Of The World Unite' is simply magnificent.

With Morrissey, art meets showbiz. There's a strange magic here and Manchester understands it perfectly well when one of the old boys returns home. The lyrical powers are as strong as ever; the new album bristles with words that range from hilarious to spiteful, and from sad to pointed. A cool mixture of charismatic and uncomfortable, both the flailing extrovert and the shy introvert.  He's the antithesis of the macho rock star and a brilliant frontman...it all being balanced on a knife edge just makes for an even more compelling performance.

The gig is a triumph and Morrissey's quiff stands erect, aloft and proud. and the man himself remains, bizarrely, even more relevant in a world of corporate-pop stage school performing seals.

Its a great pop moment.