Do You Think You've Made The Right Decision This Time? (20/3/13)

Ahh, the joys of the Internet. At 8.15 I read that Johnny Marr is on stage at the Liverpool Academy at 9.00. I mention to J that "I'd quite fancied going to that." She replies quite pertinently, "Well why don't you?" At 8.45 I'm waiting for Johnny Marr to appear.

Whip thin and cool as hell, clad in burgundy shirt and tightly buttoned grey jacket, at 49 still modelling the smartest haircut in music he commands the stage. He moves in a mix of Keith Richards insouciance and Wilko Johnson electric jolts, a more natural frontman than you would expect. A more impressive live vocalist than you would imagine. Every inch the star. But then he always has been.

Mixing his new album with highlights of his past, using a straightforward rock 'two guitars, bass and drums' line up, the band plough through a muscular, energetic, driven and driving 90 minutes, the more recent material holding its own in the body of the set against the historic numbers.

I had initial reservations about the album 'The Messenger' - thought that it worked brilliantly as an instrumental piece but needed a stronger vocalist, more idiosyncratic melody lines, the input of a Morrissey-esque figure perhaps. Bit by bit it revealed its charms. A strong guitar based pop album with very little to do with 'that band'.

Tonight the highlights of the album stood as highlights of the set, from the opening 'The Right Thing Right' to the closing 'I Want The Heartbeat' with the album's title track, the anthemic 'Upstarts', the oddly Kraftwerkian 'Generate, Generate' and journalist baiting 'Lockdown' all benefiting from the added attack of the live approach.

That these could be mixed with Smiths tracks - a surprise early placing for 'Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before', a brutally psychedelic take on ancient B-Side 'London' and a headlong rush through 'Bigmouth Strikes Again' - made for an incredibly impressive first hour.

The encore though. The encore was transcendental.

A brilliantly faithful take on The Clash's version of 'I Fought The Law', a majestic reading of Electronic's 'Getting Away With It' replete with thoroughly and appropriately blissed out middle section and The Smiths mighty, mighty 'How Soon Is Now'.

Obviously there's no way to follow that.

But there is.

'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out' - grace and beauty, one of the most honest love songs of the 80s, strike that - of all time, by one of the men that wrote it. Heavenly.

I once saw Morrissey open a set with 'How Soon Is Now' and thought "How can he follow that?" The simple answer is he couldn't. The following hour and a half was purgatory. On this form Morrissey needs Marr far more than Marr needs Moz.

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