Johnny Marr

The latest gig on our A to Z Musical Tour was ……

Johnny Marr strode on to the stage and looked to the heavens.

Where 20 minutes earlier, the grey skyline across Glasgow had tipped rainwaters onto the expectant audience, the clouds had now dispersed to be replaced by a hoped-for, blue-sky summer’s night.

He thanked the audience for our part in the weather change and asked if we could maybe do the same in Manchester!

Glasgow was welcoming a guitar hero back into town, and Johnny Marr was equally happy to be back playing in front of an always appreciative fan base.

Those standing in the Kelvingrove Bandstand amphitheatre were to be treated for the next hour and a half to a heady mix of songs reflecting the four decades and more where his work has shone brightly with The Smiths, Electronic and his own solo work.

Many, maybe even the vast majority of people, awaited the opening chords of every Smiths song so they could join in the verses and choruses of tunes written long ago but never forgotten, and always cherished.

He didn’t disappoint them with a curtailed version of their Greatest Hits sprinkled randomly throughout the set, including Panic, Big Mouth Strikes Again, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out and This Charming Man.

A look across the bobbing heads and waving arms of the audience would testify again to the enduring memories The Smiths have for those who followed their five-year status as one of the most influential bands of the early to mid-1980s.

It shouldn’t be forgotten though, that some of Johnny Marr’s best work has been outwith The Smiths, and the collection of songs played last night from his time with Electronic and his own solo output, remain on a musical par with anything recorded with the more illustrious band.

After an encore that included the Iggy Pop cover The Passenger, he was left on stage alone to take a final bow and say farewell to the city with a customary wave of his guitar.

On this performance, it’s understandable why he has been in such demand to work with other ‘well kent’ individuals and bands over the years. There are few frills to his playing however, he brings a certain gravitas to everything he does and we, the audience, benefited hugely on the night.

Until the next time my good man.

Support Act

40 mins of finely honed indie rock from another of Ireland’s musical exports.

The band have spent much of the year touring the UK and Europe (We were due to see them in Vienna but van trouble on the way from Zurich put an end to that on the day!)

Playing tracks from last year’s debut album Exit Strategy, ( see review here ) the band maintained the interest of the audience throughout their set, despite Glasgow’s summer weather doing its best to dampen the atmosphere.

All the band, James McGregor (vocals/guitar), Sean Connelly (guitar), Damian Greaney (drums) and Tom Freeman (bass), showed a collective spirit in bringing the album tracks to life, while retaining the basic song structures that may have been unfamiliar to many watching and listening to the band for the first time.

Playing Enough Is Never Enough to close with hopefully shows there’s no sign of an Exit Strategy in the near future. Definitely a band to put in the Watch This Space category.

Warm up DJ

Big thanks as ever to DJ Tam Coyle who kept the crowd entertained with some very apt music, especially as the night threatened to get a bit damp. Always good to have your spirits raised with some fine tunes from the past.