But that wasn't going to happen here in Liverpool - with grown men clambering to the front of the stage just to touch their hero's arm.
He and his band bowed before, rather than after, the set which lasted just over an hour, and following deafening applause, Morrissey flicked his quiff and replied: "That's very civil of you."
From his overwrought vocals to his foppish swinging of the microphone lead, this was Morrissey at his best - and who would have it any other way?
Starting with You Have Killed Me, Morrissey switched back and forward in time throughout the set, including The Smiths' songs Still Ill, Girlfriend In A Coma and - although lacking somewhat without Johnny Marr's axemanship - How Soon Is Now.
