It’s hard to believe that the final concert by The Smiths was 38 years ago, even before their final studio recording Strangeways, Here We Come was released. And in that time, guitarist and songwriter extraordinaire Johnny Marr can’t escape the long, long shadow that the quartet left on the music scene. He did time as a hired gun with notables like Bryan Ferry, Talking Heads, Beck, Billy Bragg, Pet Shop Boys among the standouts. And, he was an adjunct member of a few bands too; Modest Mouse, The Cribs and The Pretenders all benefited from his mastery of the frets.
After a debut record credited with his band The Healers, he decided to just strike out using his own name and has released a handful of records. Though I was a huge Smiths fan (and I assume anyone reading this publication would also qualify), I had only seen Marr play twice. Once was on the US tour of The Queen Is Dead, and then he was a special guest when Dinosaur Jr celebrated the 25th anniversary of their excellent sophomore record, You’re Living All Over Me. I knew he (understandably so) was working in Smiths songs into his concert, but with a vocalist as distinctive as Morrissey imprinted all over my memory, I was curious how the Marr-sung versions would sound.
With “Panic” as the second song, I needn’t have worried; while he’s not consciously copying any of Steven Patrick’s mannerisms, the song rings clear, sounds great and doesn’t come off like karaoke attempt, which was my biggest fear. The solo material sounded good too; lyrically it was a bit weak at times but sonically, songs like “Generate! Generate!,” “Hi Hello,” and “Walk Into The Sea” were strong examples that show he’s still got it from a songwriting and guitar playing perspective. And on some songs like “This Charming Man” which have a pretty intricate guitar line, he concentrated on the singing and left the heavy six string lifting to James Doviak.
The back half was stacked with collaboration works and Smiths songs, and highlights included “Get The Message” from Electronic’s debut record, the project he did with Bernard of New Order. It was a bit of gamble for Marr to tackle “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” with just a 12 string acoustic guitar and his voice but it held up admirably.
For the last few dates of the tour, the slot for “The Headmaster Ritual” has been swapped out for “Bigmouth Strikes Again.” The energy given back from the crowd was palpable, but I’d have preferred the lead track from Meat Is Murder that features one of Andy Rourke’s best bass lines. “This is the best I’ve felt all day and that’s saying something.” Marr was clearly having a great time and genuinely was appreciative of the fans that packed the old theatre. He closed down the evening with Tim Booth coming out to sing a cover of Iggy’s “The Passenger” and “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” left everyone with on a high note as they filed out.
To be honest, I haven’t thought of James in quite some time and was surprised to learn that I still have a CD copy of Gold Mother, a record I haven’t pulled out in decades. I guess I may not be alone as Booth mentioned that their latest record Yummy had topped the UK charts and that clearly there are many differences between the US and the UK. The other surprising bit was to see nine people on stage. Not sure that the songs needed four guitarists or two drummers (but then again, drumming in a suit coat is really only the expert territory of Jim White) and some songs were augmented by violin or cello.
Striding out on stage in a confident manner (and when that coat looks like it was harvested from a yeti, one needs supreme confidence), Booth took immediate command. Still in great voice, he and the band also took command of the building. During “Life’s A Fucking Miracle” he hopped down to stroll through the seats and dance with fans; later on Andy Diagram suddenly popped up from upper boxes on far stage left and played his trumpet from that perch, and Booth matched him by making his way up to the edge of the balcony and giving a fan a private serenade.
The band seems to right at home with melodic songs and big hooks, a pop sheen that aligns slightly to The Killers, but on “All The Colours Of You” they take clear aim at the rot of the US as embodied by our 45th president. Of course “Laid” was played and got a huge response but I was a bit surprised that they didn’t end their set with “How Was It For You?” a song seemingly tailor-made to close out a set and ask a rhetorical question. Maybe next time James!
