Day 9 (October 18): Camden, UK

Johnny Marr, man.

I saw Johnny Fucken Marr!  In Camden, no less.

Those of you who know me, or who have been paying attention, will know that Morrissey was on my yet-to-see/must-see concert list until he (again) cancelled (along with many others) the Nashville gig I was supposed to see (and used as an excuse to go to Nashville back in March) due to 'illness'.

Well, fuck Moz. I saw Johnny Marr.

(BTW, if you are under 70 and you have no idea what I am going on about, well, first, fuck you, because you have no soul.  Second, look up The Smiths on the youtube.)

There are moments when things come together, when planets align or whatnot, and one's brain just goes electric.  I had one of those moments when, as his second track, Marr started to sing The Smiths' 'Panic'. Hearing the familiar opening line 'Panic in the streets of London' and realising I am actually listening to this live in London, well, that was it for me.  The show could have ended there and I would have been satisfied.  The song may then have become a self-fulfilling prophecy, but what the heck, I would have been just happily trying to get to the tube through the panicking throng.

But that was not the only Smiths flashback to earlier, simpler times from 25+ years ago that Marr unleashed on the 3000 in attendance. He also played 'Bigmouth Strikes Again' and ended his hour-long set with 'How Soon is Now'.  There is such a complete and near-mystifying incongruity that songs about paralysing shyness and bludgeoning one's love in her sleep can evoke such a joyful reaction in audience members, even if that reaction was mostly resulting from a recall of their youthful days.  (Man, I used to dance back then.  And not entirely ungracefully, might I add.  Plus, I still had hope...  Wait, no I didn't.  I did dance, though.)

Marr himself alluded to that dichotomy between the subject matter of The Smiths' songs and the response they evoke by prefacing the last song of his 20-minute encore by telling the audience that sometimes it is not what the lyrics say that make a song great.  He then launched into 'There is a Light That Never Goes Out', which became a massive sing-along as the crowd joined in and repeated the chorus with Marr a good half-dozen times.  (OK, I will spare you looking it up:

‘If a double-decker bus crashes into us

To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die

And if a ten-ton truck kills the both of us

To die by your side… Well, the pleasure- the privilege is mine.’)

Here is some pretty bad video evidence, keeping in mind it was taken with the three-year old 'berry, from a way's away:

That dichotomy/incongruity, which permeates The Smiths' catalogue, is a direct result of Marr's music and guitar work.  He turns Moz's dark visions of depression, shyness and potential suicide, through lyrics that sometimes can come dangerously close to being campy, into happy music.  And that is Marr's (and by extension The Smiths') brilliance.  If not brilliance, then certainly his significant contribution to a band which dominated what was then called alternative rock (and college radio and campuses) in the mid-80's.  That is not a bad legacy.

Writing this review makes me realize that I have now basically turned into the MIDDLE-AGED people that would go see The Beach Boys 25 years ago, hoping to hear a live version of a hit they had danced to 20 years or more prior.  There is one substantial difference: Marr played mostly his solo stuff, including material from The Messenger, released earlier this year to critical acclaim.  That material holds up; it certainly does not carry or cause the electricity that The Smiths' biggest hits do, but it is strong in and by itself.

Random observations:

- The Roundhouse is a mid-19^th century, steam engine repair facility transformed into a large concert venue.  It has a gigantic floor area (easily 90 per cent of the crowd was on the floor), with a balcony of 5 or 6 rows of seats encircling the venue.  I was somewhat annoyed at first that the view from the seats was slightly obstructed by a row of steel pillars and, more specifically, that this was not mentioned at all when I bought the ticket on-line.  The annoyance disappeared soon after Marr took the stage.

- Ironically, Moz's autobiography was finally released in the UK yesterday, after a brief, Moz-inspired delay.

- This site is worth checking out if you are a fan of The Smiths and/or The Peanurs; it is effen brilliant: thischarmingcharlie.tumblr.com.