Johnny Marr Manchester review: ‘Something truly wonderful’
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“This is a nice spot for a concert, I think,” Johnny Marr stated at Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl on Thursday, July 9th, as he reflected on how he made the decision to opt out of returning to school to pursue “stuff” at a spot five minutes away from the venue, further underlining how significant Thursday’s show was for Marr.
As a solo artist alone, Marr has five top ten albums and a career-spanning book in ‘Marr’s Guitars'. He recorded the James Bond theme for ‘No Time To Die’ with Billie Eilish and earned an Academy Award nomination for his work with Hans Zimmer on ‘Inception’. That’s without touching on his legacy as one of the world’s most revered guitarists, thanks to his intricate and rhythmic guitar playing and his legacy as the driving force behind The Smiths. The decision to pursue “stuff” has long since been vindicated, and Thursday night saw 8,000 fans pack out the Castlefield Bowl to witness his biggest headlining show to date.
Castlefield Bowl will only hold that mantle until Wednesday, October 24th, when Marr performs at Wembley Arena, but his performance in Manchester wasn’t to be missed. So much so that even a train driver halted a train on the tracks above the venue to watch last night’s opening track – 'Generate! Generate!' ’. It was a performance that everyone wanted to see, even those driving trains.
With a career-spanning setlist composed of tracks from The Smiths’ catalogue, Marr’s solo works, Electronic and a cover of Iggy Pop’s ‘The Passenger' – one of Marr’s all-time favourite songs – it was an evening where each track became its own experience. ‘Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before’ was delivered with Marr’s bright guitar and tight drumming from Jack Mitchell, who was enjoying a homecoming himself, like Marr.
‘New Town Velocity’ was the perfect blend of melancholy and nostalgia, with the track complemented by visuals of Marr exploring Manchester. ‘Spirit Power And Soul’ was driven by propulsive synths and Marr’s punchy guitar. However, there was also an eye on the future in Marr’s performance. His fifth studio album – 'The Age of Everything' – is due for release in October, and he performed a rendition of the recently released ‘Spin’, describing it as “Our new one'. Don’t worry, it’s not shit." It was anything but as Marr and co treated the audience to a track littered with jangly guitars, a thick bass line from Cornish bassist Iwan Gronow and some flawless drumming from Mitchell.
The opening notes of ‘This Charming Man’ were greeted with deafening cheers from the audience and a euphoric singalong. “Thank you, goodnight,” Marr joked before an acoustic-driven rendition of ‘Somewhere’ with a spacious keyboard line and driving drumming. To provide a further taste of what’s yet to come in October, Marr treated the 8,000 fans in attendance to spine-tingling renditions of ‘All In A Life’ and ‘It’s Time'; ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’ was performed with a rich acoustic guitar part. ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ and ‘Easy Money’ were met with big singalongs and Marr ad-libbing a guitar solo on the former, something that proved to be a regular occurrence last night.
“Thanks for coming out, Manchester. It means so much to me,” a genuinely thankful Marr stated as he wrapped up the main set with ‘How Soon Is Now’ before an explosive encore of ‘Panic’, ‘The Passenger’ and ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ to close out a performance that was something truly wonderful.
You can catch Johnny Marr’s biggest headlining show at Wembley Arena on October 24th. Tickets are available here.