Fans stock up on T-shirts and dog bandannas before eagerly awaited Brooklyn gig as Mporium, last seen in Manchester, raises funds for animal shelter
Lovers of Morrissey, animals and merchandise were treated to an exhibition of all three on Saturday, as the singer hosted a pop-up store at the Sugar Mutts animal shelter in New York.
Morrissey announced details of the store, which is selling limited edition T-shirts, posters and dog apparel, on Facebook. He wasnt actually manning the Mporium, but that didnt stop people lining up outside.
Matt Gross, 35, had been there since 8am, two hours before opening time. Im a pit bull advocate and I also volunteer at a shelter, he said. So I feel like this is tailor made for me.
Gross, who said he had two Morrissey tattoos, was due to see the former Smiths singer at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn on Saturday night. He emerged from Sugar Mutts with a dog-sweater bearing the legend Be kind to Morrissey or Ill kill you and a human-T-shirt that said: All over Brooklyn some hope and some despair.
The T-shirt carried a picture of Morrissey with a dog superimposed over his face, and a cat superimposed over the dogs face.
Morrissey is donating a percentage of sales from the Mporium to Sugar Mutts, which rescues dogs from high-kill shelters. His representatives approached the shelter ahead of his New York show, having held a similar pop-up in Manchester in August. By happy coincidence, Amy Marciano, the founder of the shelter, turned out to be a longtime Morrissey enthusiast.
I was a fan ever since I was a teenager, she said. I had Morrissey all over my walls in high school. I love his ethics and his quirky personality. Ive always loved his music, of course, so I was just thrilled.
Marciano said she regularly plays Morrisseys music in the shelter. It is perfect for dogs, she said, because its that great mix of upbeat alternative rocknroll and melancholy introspection. Its a good mix.
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figcaption class=”caption” caption–img caption caption–img” itemprop=”description”> Merchandise on sale at Salford Lads Club in Manchester last month. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
The animal shelter-cum-pop-up store was bustling. The dog-sweaters were available in a range of sizes and seemed to be doing particularly good business, as was a purple dog-sized bandana.
Frances Eby, 58, bought a T-shirt which had a famous image of Morrissey with a cat on his head and the words: My life with Fanny the wondercat. Eby was originally going to be called Fanny, she said, after her grandmother, but her parents backed out.
Eby had travelled from Maryland to see the Morrissey show. She was with her friend Diane Seltzer, whom she met in 2007 through a Morrissey message board called Mozketeers. Ive made lifelong friends through Morrissey, she said.
Seltzer, 48, had purchased a necklace which had a pendant in the shape of a cat. The cat had Morrissey engraved on it. She and Eby were planning to go to Saturdays concert with their friend Carol. Carol had not made it to the pop-up store because she was already waiting outside the Kings Theatre.
She had been there since 7am, Eby said. Neither early morning rain nor the promise of animal-themed merchandise could keep Carol from getting a good spot in the crowd.
Shes OK with it. Shes done it many times, Eby said. Shes done it in the snow and everything.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/sep/24/morrissey-pop-up-store-mporium-new-york