Johnny Marr at The Olympia Theatre Sunday 18^th October 2015

Like a sing song in your local pub, Johnny Marr’s gig in The Olympia Theatre was like a giant sing a long affair. It was almost like two different gigs under one venue. On one hand the set was liberally sprinkled with songs from his time in The Smiths and Electronic as well as a blitz speed cover of The Primitives Crash. It was intermingled with songs from his two recent albums. Marr sensibly didn’t try and ape the vocal range of his former band mate Morrissey on Smiths songs like Panic, Bigmouth Strikes Again or The Headmaster Ritual. He stuck to his own singing tone which was more than adequate and was clearly comfortably in his own skin.

Marr is at a stage in his career where there isn’t a need to deal in exaggerated showmanship.  There wasn’t any unnecessary rock star posturing or gratuitous extended solos. The focus was playing in an unfussy manner and there is an understated ease to the way Marr plays guitar.  Marr zips around the guitar fretboard in way that makes the difficult appear simple and that’s what impresses.

There is a risk with some seasoned performers that a live show is too rehearsed and clinical but with Marr that wasn’t the case in The Olympia Theatre. His exuberance shone through during the whole set. Sure, the crowd got carried away during the nostalgia tinged Smiths tunes, it was on Marr’s more recent solo efforts that he appeared most engaged on. Songs like Easy Money, Back In The Box and Upstarts are some of the best Marr has penned and were rapidly deployed. There was even time to try out a new tune Spiral Cities where Marr urged the crowd to “don’t be afraid” as new tunes tend to bring out a hushed indifference from the audience.

It was the more familiar staples that brought out that sense of fun. Encore closer How Soon Is Now? was ushered in by those familiar guitar notes that legions know. As the crowd sang back “Well, the pleasure – the privilege is mine” on There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, it brought a different meaning to the words as they captured that specific joyful moment in time for both crowd and Marr.