Reviewed on Monday July 20 (photo by Ashley Mar)
Johnny Marr takes the stage in a sharply cut mod rocker’s shirt and blazer. Suffice to say, it’s an outfit he’s grown into over the years – not physically, that is; the iconic guitarist’s frame is as lithe and slender as it ever was. It’s the role of the rock star that sits well upon his shoulders now, more so than at any point in his 33-year career. Once upon a time, Marr was the pale boy looking sheepish to the side of The Smiths’ publicity photos. These days, he walks out to strobe lights and wails from his signature Fender Jaguar guitar.
It’s still that guitar that commands the most power over a Johnny Marr concert, despite the fact his vocals are out front on his growing volume of solo material. These cuts from The Messenger and Playland are lyrically and melodically decent enough, but the six-string flourishes remain the highlight moments, starting with the EBow he plays on opener ‘Playland’. Otherwise, ‘New Town Velocity’ shows off a rather pleasant lower register in Marr’s voice, but the pressing feeling remains of a performer ever so slightly limited – and while the Enmore Theatre crowd is satisfied to nod along politely with the efforts from Marr and his three accompanists, that’s about all the action that happens beyond the front few rows for some time.
Even the unfalteringly polite Marr seems perturbed at the end of ‘Back In The Box’ – “That was intense!”, he shouts sarcastically – and to be fair, the yet-to-be-recorded ‘Spiral Cities’ may turn out to be a latter highlight of his songwriting career. But Marr knows what it’ll take to get the audience moving, and so it proves with an increasing population of classics in the setlist. The Smiths’ ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ is a turning point, Electronic’s ‘Getting Away With It’ maintains the mood, and encores including ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’ and ‘How Soon Is Now?’ inspire smiles and tears in all the right places. It’s difficult to imagine a certain ex-bandmate leading a lengthy crowd-pleasing sing-along to ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ in the same obliging manner as Marr.
While Marr’s manipulative powers have inspired a generation of guitarists, credit is due to his sidemen here for their interpretations of the songs that made him great. With Marr in their number, this is a much better band than the one trailing old mate Morrissey around at the moment – they only lack the frontman. Forgive us, but we’ll ask it one more time: wouldn’t they make a fine pair?
