December Gig Round Up And News On Lytham And Brit Fest 2024

This month I was in Manchester to see Johnny Marr and his orchestra

Known for crafting a generation-defining guitar sound with The Smiths, Johnny Marr has carved out an equally impressive solo career, bringing his masterful playing to a new generation of indie rock fans. The Smiths were one of the most influential groups from Manchester and influenced iconic bands such as The Stone Roses and, latterly, Oasis.

Some of the best classical musicians from the city joined Marr and his band on stage for the first of two performances at The Warehouse in the brand-new Aviva Studios in Manchester.

The thought of having a band perform with an orchestra is not a new one; the idea either works immedicably well or falls at the first hurdle. Thankfully, with the incredible acoustics of the newly built Warehouse and the finesse of conductor Fiona Brice, the sound was perfectly balanced. The songs, particularly those from The Smiths, lent themselves to the sometimes mournful, moving yet majestic movements that Brice and Marr provided.

As Marr himself observed, the concert was the first rock show to be performed at the new arts venue, and tonight was part of the musical history of Manchester.

How Soon Is Now might have been absent without Morrissey’s distinctive vocal, though Marr’s sweeping guitar chords were more than compensated by the orchestra's string section by adding a new dimension to the song.

Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me a slow-paced, string-driven ballad about loneliness dripped with emotion as a lush serenade from the orchestra greeted the arrival of The Smiths song.

Marr’s own solo work showcased that he is still a competent songwriter. Easy Money found an uplifting groove, while New Town Velocity came against a backdrop of Marr revisiting the streets where he grew up in the city.

Remembering the famed Hacienda club, Marr took the audience back to those hedonistic days by performing the track Getting Away With It, a song he wrote as part of Electronic, the dance supergroup formed with Marr and Bernard Sumner of New Order.

As a photo of the late Andrew Rourke shows, the Smiths bass player was shown on the video screen fittingly. The night ended with There Is a Light That Never Goes Out. The Johnny Marr Orchestra proved that, as far as the music is concerned, light will never go out where the atmosphere has been blissful, beautiful, and breathtaking.