A very chatty Stephen Patrick Morrissey took the stage at the DAR Constitution Hall at 9 p.m. last night and watched the crowd go crazy as his backing band launched into the seminal Smiths hit “How Soon is Now.” He looked particularly dapper in a red blazer and dark pants. When the band completed the song, he told the crowd “Thank You. Thank you. It’s good to be back at the 9:30 club” in his typical self deprecating brand of humor.

Morrissey, who cancelled two shows in California last week due to laryngitis, was in fine form and ran through a great selection of his arsenal of songs. While he took great care to promote You Are the Quarry, his first record in seven long years, he reached back into The Smiths cannon four more times last night, including note perfect renditions of “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and “Rubber Ring.” And while The Smiths songs elicited the biggest cheers from the crowd, old solo favorites like “November Spawned a Monster” and “Everyday Is Like Sunday” were also very well recieved. The near capacity crowd at DAR was hanging on Morrissey's every word. After “Bigmouth” he told the crowd, “I’m not a professional yet. Not yet. Another 20 years and I’ll even make it on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. You’ll see.”

There were no fewer than four stage invaders during the encore performance of “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” but the last one drew the biggest cheers from the audience. He jumped up on the opposite side of the stage of Morrissey and started to make his way over when security pounced on him. Determined, he would not be denied and Morrissey walked over to him and shook his hand before he was dragged off the stage.

Last night was the first date of Morrissey’s World tour. It moves to Philly on Friday and Saturday and continues through December. For a full rundown of last night click here.