Concert Review: Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr put on a great show. I saw him Saturday night at the Roseland.

To be fair, that was expected. He is a fantastic guitarist and has been a huge influence on rock. It is generally pretty cool to see legends play. I wasn't expecting how fun it would be.

Full disclosure: not only was this my first time seeing him live, but I have not kept track of his many projects following The Smiths. Press photos often have him looking a little dour, which kind of goes along with my previous level of familiarity.

I didn't know that he smiled and told jokes. I was not surprised that he played a lot (I think about two hours) and well. It was wonderful to see how much he was enjoying himself, and to hear the energy from the band and the crowd, and to always be glad for another song, no matter which song it was.

Marr played some Smiths songs and that highlighted the difference for me. While there is a definite emotional truth in feeling that you are wasting time on people who don't care about you, or that you don't belong, there is only ridiculous vanity in thinking that you know how Joan of Arc felt or that anything you are being asked for would make Caligula blush. Marr's singing is fine on its own, then even better because you can believe that he gets the joke.

(I am tempted to say he is more down to earth, but there are themes on Call the Comet that deal with the future and the universe and it can feel kind of metaphysical; it just doesn't feel pompous and twee.)

So it is not just that Johnny Marr is a great guitarist and a good singer, but also he is utterly delightful.

In post-concert listening I have really enjoyed Call the Comet. Favorite songs include "The Tracers", "Hi Hello", and "Spiral Cities", but I also want to mention "New Town Velocity" from 2013's The Messenger and "Easy Money" from 2014's  Playland. I can also see that I really need to check out Electronic.

Let me also call out the coolness of the band. Yes, they are under his name - which probably draws more attention - but it feels like there is a good harmony of relationship and unity of play there. That included Doviak who played keyboards and guitar.

There was also the distressingly familiar (I can't figure out whom he reminds me of) Iwan Gronow on bass and Jack Mitchell on drums. They were all wonderful and I am really glad I was there.

The Call the Comet tour continues through December, but the last US date is October 22nd in Philadelphia. Go if you can.

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