Madrid, Spain – Indie rock star Morrissey cancelled a concert in Spain’s Valencia on Thursday because the noise from the city’s traditional pyrotechnics festival left him “catatonic” with sleep deprivation.
The lead singer with 1980s English band The Smiths, Morrissey had traveled for two days by road to reach his hotel in Valencia from Milan, arriving late on Wednesday, said his official website.
“Any form of sleep or rest throughout the night was impossible due to festival noise / loud techno singing / megaphone announcements,” said a statement.
“This experience has left Morrissey in a catatonic state.”
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A second announcement confirmed that the “show in Valencia has been rendered impossible due to sleep deprivation”, disappointing fans of the singer whose UK chart-topping albums include Viva Hate and Vauxhall and I.
The Mediterranean city draws hundreds of thousands of people every March during the colorful Fallas festival, famed for its art, fireworks, and the spectacular burning of giant sculptures.
In contrast, Morrissey concerts are known for ending as damp squibs. According to the specialized website weheartM.com, he scrapped 38 of 84 scheduled performance dates between early 2025 and late January 2026.
A fierce advocate of vegetarianism, Morrissey requests that his gigs take place in vegetarian spaces and was part of The Smiths for their 1985 album Meat Is Murder.
He once quit the stage of the Coachella festival in California after sniffing the waft of meat coming from a barbecue.
