Johnny Marr‘s solo material has always been hit or miss for me, so I wasn’t fully prepared for the rock onslaught he and his band delivered Monday night at the Vogue. Yes, the Smiths songs hit as hard as you’d expect. For many in the crowd, hearing them was the primary draw. But Marr sold the solo tracks like they were standards, turning a show that could have been a game of “waiting for the hits” into one of the best of the year.
The evening began with a propulsive version of The Right Thing Right from newest release, The Messenger. Marr’s guitar was fierce and his band was right in-step beside him. The crowd didn’t wait long for the first Smiths nugget. Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before got the arms up and heads nodding. Marr’s voice, obviously, isn’t Morrissey’s but with classics like Stop Me and the handful of others trotted out, it didn’t matter. Being able to hear them again live did.
Three more new songs followed, including a ripping Crack-Up, before Marr reached back again and delivered Panic. The voices around me were all singing along to the song’s “Hang the DJ” coda. The set then settled back into new material territory — perhaps a bit too long, as it was the one point in the show where the energy wavered. One of the Messenger’s stand-out tracks, the riveting and punchy Generate Generate, got the juices flowing again. That song led into a killer Bigmouth Strikes again. Marr and company closed the main set with a chugging How Soon Is Now? that I can’t imagine ever gets boring to play.
The four-song encore featured a cover of I Fought the Law, Getting Away With It — the one Electronic selection — and two more Smiths tracks. Show closer There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is another song that I could hear every day for the rest of my life and never tire of. Somewhat surprisingly, Marr and his colleagues completely ignored 2006′s Boomslang, though I wouldn’t say many in the audience were waiting for songs from that release.
Ninety solid minutes with a legend. Not a bad way to spend a Monday night.