You probably know legendary guitarist Johnny Marr best as one of the members of The Smiths. But he also has participated in many other acts such as Electric, The Cribs, and Modest Mouse. Recently Marr has embarked on a solo career of his own. On November 15 he stopped by Brooklyn to play a sold out show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in support of his new album Playland.
Marr had terrific control over the room, bringing his music to life in on his own terms. As a frontman he’s engaging and certainly holds is own vocally. He played lots of new material from Playland (his sophomore solo effort) as well as cuts from his solo debut, The Messenger. Going into the show I hoped to hear a few of The Smiths songs thrown in there, and thankfully he did more than that. He played a handful of Smiths favorites such as “Panic,” “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” and “The Headmaster Ritual.” He also played “Getting Away With It” from Electronic.
Marr really surprised the crowd by bringing out Kirk Douglas of The Roots to play guitar on “How Soon Is Now?,” an unexpected treat to say the least. The encore brought a heartwarming performance of “Still Ill” as well as “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” which was sung by the entire crowd at remarkable levels.
I may never get to see The Smiths (or Morrissey) but at least I am able to have caught the wonderful Johnny Marr.
Setlist:
1. Playland
2. Panic (The Smiths)
3. The Right Thing Right
4. Easy Money
5. 25 Hours
6. New Town Velocity
7. The Headmaster Ritual (The Smiths)
8. Back in the Box
9. Speak Out Reach Out
10. Generate! Generate!
11. Bigmouth Strikes Again (The Smiths)
12. Boys Get Straight
13. Candidate
14. Getting Away with It (Electronic)
15. How Soon Is Now? (The Smiths) w/ Kirk Douglas of The Roots on guitar
Encore:
16. Still Ill (The Smiths)
17. Dynamo
18. Lust For Life (Iggy Pop cover)
19. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths)
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