Johnny Marr’s a legend. Probably the most loved musician of a generation (in fact, several generations) and definitely one of the most influential. Back in the Eighties, living in The Land That Time Forgot (Penicuik), as a teen The Smiths were monumentally life changing. Their music was like no-one else’s - it was unique, commanding and unmissable, and it could make you see the world differently if you ‘got it’ (which only a few of us in the EH26 wastelands seemed to at the time). Admittedly they had a spotlight grabbing and headline-stealing daffodil-pocketed front man that generally stole the limelight (and our attentions), but as the years have gone by – the last ten or fifteen in particular since the launch of an ongoing, consistent solo career - Johnny Marr has gone from strength to strength and tonight’s excellent showing proved that.
Mrs Gig-Antics and I checked ahead on the weather forecast for the evening, with a ‘small chance’ of rain predicted, and that couldn’t have been more wrong. Johnny Marr has form for bad weather at outdoor Scottish gigs though, like the last time we saw him supporting (and joining) Primal Scream in Edinburgh Princes Street Gardens a few years ago - he had to abandon stage for half an hour mid-set due to torrential rain and lightning above the stage – it was chucking it down but didn’t stop him giving us a phenomenal set in the end.
The Clockworks were worth getting in early for. Not sure if it was the style of songs or just getting into their rhythm as the set went on, but they seemed to grow into their performance as each song was livelier than the previous and by the end they had quite a few of the crowd on their feet cheering them on. They’ve got a familiar sound to them and easy to see why they were supporting here, as there are more than a few Marr-esque similarities and a good few catchy tunes. In checking out more about them after the gig, they’ve got some strong credentials with Alan McGhee signing them a few years ago apparently on the strength of a rehearsal, and I was pleased to see they’ve released an album recently. They’re now added to my gig watchlist, and the album’s been ordered too. I couldn’t see that they’ve ever played Edinburgh so hopefully they’ll change that soon.
As I was swapping texts with my brother-in-law and avid Marr fan, Chico ML who was in touch to find out how bad the weather at Kelvingrove was (and credit to Chico for the snappy liner of "Rain falls hard on a humdrum town"), I was surprised by how quickly the downpour stopped and patches of blue sky even started to appear before Marr’s arrival (biblically torrential in ML at that point and would’ve washed away the stage if it had been the same for us according to Chico). Johnny Marr is Manchester through and through (and therefore forever associated with the city’s reputation of rainy, grey and more rain), I’m going to say his genius and talent knows no limits and he was personally responsible for the dramatic improvement in conditions. Like I said, he's a genius!
I had a sneak look at his recent gig sets as he came on stage to Armatopia to see what we're likely to hear and was pleased to see that we were in line for seven or eight Smiths tunes, as well as a good mix of his own solo material, plus the beautiful Electronic classics he wrote with fellow Manc-legend Barney Sumner (timeless tunes even though they’re more than 30 years old now).
The fact that he’s adding more Smiths songs (and more vocally challenging) to his setlists than he used to play makes me think he’s more comfortable in his own ability as a singer now and maybe more at ease with looking back on what he did with The Smiths. It’s only been the last few years he’s played This Charming Man live (now at over 100 gigs since 2018) - something he hadn’t done since his time in The Smiths over 30 years before I think. A great selection of songs from different eras and albums from their catalogue and a mix of singles as well as a couple of lesser-known album tracks, and even a cover of an Iggy Pop anthem for an encore. A good mix of his solo material across the albums too.
Overall, he looked as comfortable on stage as anyone I’ve ever seen, making it look so effortless to play some of the best tunes ever written. And looked like he was having fun striking a few rockstar poses while he’s at it. I’ve seen him about half a dozen times in the past 10 years or so and this was by far and away the best version of his set I’ve seen yet (from a high bar in the other gigs as well).
Even though the ninety-minute set finished about 10.30 it felt like the sun should still be shining over the fantastic setting for summer sessions in Kelvingrove Bandstand as this was such a glorious show and one of the best gigs of the year for me so far (top two I’d say along with Heavenly in Madrid). Unless he announces a sudden and complete retirement it won’t be the last time I see him play, but I can’t wait for the next time he’s back in Scotland, complete with torrential rain I expect.
Just Marr-vellous.
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