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Two giant black-and-white photos of James Dean loomed over Morrissey during his show Friday night at the Palladium Ballroom. But the images were misleading.

JASON JANIK/Special Contributor

Morrissey reaches out to fans as he performs at Palladium Ballroom on Friday.

True, the 48-year-old British singer shares traits with the brooding star of Rebel Without a Cause. But for all his melancholia, "The Pope of Mope" can be wickedly funny in a way James Dean never was.

That humor proved to be key. When Morrissey performed in 2004 at Fort Worth's Will Rogers Auditorium, he seemed genuinely surly and aloof. Friday – playing his first Dallas show in 15 years – he was in much better spirits. The anger was more of a gag than anything else.

"Am I ugly enough to be on the cover of Rolling Stone," he blurted out, apropos of nothing. "You have to be very, very ugly for that."

In The Smiths' "Panic," he added comic new lyrics to his famous "Hang the DJ" chorus: "Anyone will do – take your pick. Kill them all!" he yelled.

He ad-libbed silly vocals in a half-dozen songs, including an Elmer Fudd imitation in "You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side" and a gibberish scat in the encore, "The Last of the Famous International Playboys."

But the wackiest moment came in "Let Me Kiss You," when Morrissey unbuttoned his shirt, flung it into the crowd and stood bare-chested making maniacal faces at his fans. He was part clown, part sex symbol and loving all of it.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Morrissey concert without a few glum moments, such as "Life Is a Pigsty," from his year-old CD Ringleader of the Tormentors. But more telling was another tune from that disc, "At Last I Am Born," in which our hero moves past self-loathing and finds a new lease on life.

Tormentors is one of the strongest albums in his 20-year solo career, and he wisely played a half-dozen tunes from it. But he also pumped new life into a slew of Smiths classics, including back-to-back renditions of "Girlfriend in a Coma," "Everyday Is Like Sunday" and "The Boy With the Thorn In His Side." The set-ending "How Soon is Now?" turned into an act of high drama as drummer Matthew Walker pummeled his gong as if he was beating a dirty rug.

Morrissey got fine backing from his black-clad five-man band. But the most potent instrument was Morrissey's own voice. At times tender and operatic, it also had a jazzy swagger that recalled vintage Frank Sinatra.

Sure enough, when the show ended, Ol' Blue Eyes boomed over the speakers singing "That's Life": "Each time I find myself flat on my face, I pick myself up and get back in the race."

It could be Morrissey's official theme song. Twenty-three years after "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now," he's finally tapped into the power of positive thinking.