I should say that I got really lucky seeing Morrissey and Patti Smith at the Staples Center last month! He cancelled almost every show before and after mine haha. He was incredible that night, opening with the Smiths classic, "Shoplifters of the World Unite" and from then on it was just a beautiful blend of his music, with Smiths songs thrown in. I didn't even notice that he didn't play This Charming Man and There is a Light Never Goes Out until way later LOL the show was just fantastic. haha
Speaking of his new critically acclaimed album, The Messenger, Marr’s first proper solo record after years either in bands, fronting the Healers or doing other work, Marr admits there are things he learned from working with Morrissey, as well as so many other great frontmen like Matt Johnson from the The, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock and New Order’s Bernard Sumner.
"I think the thing I learned from working with a lot of different lyricists is everybody has their own way," he said. "And I know that sounds like a little bit of a copout, but it was very useful, because Isaac has his way, almost drafting and drafting, then putting it through the ringer again to bring different layers and dimensions to what he’s already written, and that was very interesting to me. Matt would turn his mind inside out and his life inside out and put himself in different physical spaces to do the words. Morrissey was always working on the next thing and collecting his concepts. Bernard Sumner had to be engrossed in a pretty much finished record. Now these are very, very different approaches and that helped me because my approach is different from all those, too. And in some ways having that experience made me realize as long as what I’m doing is good and connecting with people, then how I actually go about it is my own unique way."
He was reminded, being onstage at Coachella on day one, that the music is indeed connecting with people. "We had a really fun time playing the set. Right from the word go, the crowd were really behind me and it felt like there was a sense of expectancy to just have a good time for an hour," he said. "It just clicked and as I say, the crowd were great."
Buoyed by the response at shows like Coachella as well as his new backing band, Marr promised more solo material. "I like working in this group. It is solo and it is my group, but the situation is such it’s not like I’m doing a record that is really sparse or Spartan. I’m fronting a good group," he said. "My name might be over the door, which makes sense, and the concepts are coming, but I’ve got a good sounding group that can play songs that I want to write."
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So, potentially more solo work Certainly better than hearing him playing as guitarist for bands like Modest Mouse (as good as that album is).
BBC Synopsis; In this half-hour Culture Show special, fellow Mancunian and lifelong fan Tim Samuels sets out to find out why The Smiths have such a special place in the hearts of a generation. The Smiths were only around for five years in the mid-eighties, but to this day the sentiment their music evokes is strong. Samuels pays visits to a variety of dedicated fans including fashion designer Wayne Hemingway, poet Simon Armitage, Labour MP Kerry McCarthy and Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher to analyse the look, the lyrics, the issues and the riffs.
confession, for the longest time (I'm talking years) I thought the Smiths were extremely overrated, overhyped and simply not that good. Then A few years ago it just hit me like a ton of bricks because of how vastly different How Soon is Now, This Charming Man, What DIfference Does it Make and Asleep are for example. Doing a bit of research on this band is like looking into the Beatles. So many great songs from all different kinds of inspiration created in five short years during a time of crap 80's pop music is simply astounding. And seeing Morrissey earlier this year and blasting the new Johnny Marr album just blows me away just thinking about it. LONG LIVE THE SMITHS
Yeah, the guitar has a Dashboard feel to it. I'm really liking it, hopefully the rest of the album is this good. I've not listened to The Messenger for a while. It had some standout tracks (Messenger, New Town Velocity...) but largely the shine wore off and it's failed to stick with me.
Johnny Marr will release a cover of Depeche Mode's "I Feel You" for Record Store Day (digital release the following day), with a live performance of "Please, Please, Please..." as the b-side.
went to see Moz last week; pleased to say he's back on form after all the illnesses and cancellations and stuff.
the setlist was way too World Peace-centric though. the pace bombed halfway through:
The Queen Is Dead
Suedehead
Staircase at the University
World Peace Is None of Your Business
Kiss Me a Lot
Istanbul
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Neal Cassady Drops Dead
One of Our Own
Trouble Loves Me
Scandinavia
What She Said/Rubber Ring
Irish Blood, English Heart
Kick the Bride Down the Aisle
The World Is Full of Crashing Bores
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Everyday Is Like Sunday
The Bullfighter Dies
Meat Is Murder
Hello everybody.i woke up thinking about Morrissey....i wanted to Know ( For who bought "Low in high School " ) what you think about this last album
We all Know that he is not a cheerful Man and His hard thought are well shown in His songs....but....
Let me Know Your thoughts.thank you.
Certainly better than hearing him playing as guitarist for bands like Modest Mouse (as good as that album is).