Morrissey Performs The Smiths Track for First Time Since 1997 at Texas Concert

Morrissey sang "Paint a Vulgar Picture" from The Smiths' 1987 album, Strangeways, Here We Come, on Jan. 10 at The Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas. He hadn't performed the song onstage since 1997.

The show marked the opening night of his 2026 U.S. tour. Two concerts got scrapped at the year's start before he launched the run.

The track examines music fandom, the record business, and how executives with greedy appetites exploit tragic deaths for profit. Rolling Stone wrote that the song is “a painfully cynical look at music fandom, the record industry, and how tragic deaths are exploited for cash by greedy executives.”  

"Paint a Vulgar Picture" was one of five tracks from The Smiths that Morrissey delivered in San Antonio. Fans used to hear just two or three songs from the band at his shows. That number has climbed, and some concerts last year featured seven.

Steven Morrissey, 66, skipped material from his upcoming LP, Make-Up Is a Lie, at the San Antonio show. The timing struck many as strange since this was his first concert after signing a deal with Warner/Sire for the release of the new record. He'd spent the past couple of years griping that no label would distribute the album he recorded in early 2023.

The English rock star has had more than 400 canceled, postponed, or shortened sets throughout his career. In 2025, he scrapped 32 of 63 planned shows. Shows later this month will happen in St. Louis, Atlanta, St. Petersburg, and Hollywood. A headline tour in Europe next month includes a date at London's O2 Arena on Feb. 28.

Make-Up Is a Lie arrives on Mar. 6. It contains 11 new songs and a cover of Roxy Music's "Amazona."