Live Review: Johnny Marr at the 930 Club

Let’s start by saying this is something totally different to me but I quite like the idea of challenging myself. So here goes with my first live review. In opening a record review I normally commence by pondering the roots of my interest in the artist. But that seems a little too, well, biographical and extended for a live review.

Suffice it to say that Johnny Marr is a guitar legend who has blazed his own trail and in the process inspired many of us to pick up a six string. Tonight it is clear why he provokes such cultish loyalty- he is phenomenally talented and is inspired in his playing. His guitar and the energy that it conveys, especially when backed by a swinging band is mesmeric.

But for all his talent there is a predicament facing Johnny Marr and artists of his age- embracing the past while pushing the future.

Day 58: Johnny Marr- The Messenger

And now for something a little different. A new record (well two month old) that has been attracting my attention.

The other night I went to see Johnny Marr at the 930 club and ever since I have found that his new work has not left my turntable. I was already enjoying the record but then seeing him live left a massive imprint. It reminded my of how great live performances expose us to new music in a completely different way.

With a 2 year-old I don’t get to many gigs, and more’s the pity as music is meant to be heard live. I love records and the array of sounds that can be created in the studio. I think the world of production is fascinating and can add something to the experience of music. I would even concede that some bands are studio bands, whose music is built for listening to at home rather than enjoying in the live arena. However live music offers a communal experience that cannot be matched. It is how music was heard for millennia and it is how music is created. Any artist can only write in some version of a “live” setting no matter how much programming and electronic manipulation is going on. When you hear a live performance of a song you hear it in it’s most truthful organic form. You can really hear dynamics as the music is so much louder. You can connect to the artist in a way that is not possible by just pushing play.

Most important in this battery of reasons is the communal aspect. You are connecting to others around you as well as to the artist. You can feel a kinship to those who have similar musical interest. You can identify with each others’ emotions. This allows your experience to be legitimized and reinforced while also allowing you to enhance your interpretation by considering new ways to encounter the music. This communal aspect also relates to the way artist and audience is able to interact. You can hear how the artist is moulding their sound and through the setlist choices get a good idea on how they really consider this new music. In addition the artist invariably will add comments to provide context and background for the songs- for example Marr discussed one song being his reaction to the sneering publication of “Crap Towns”.

All of this enhances the live performance immeasurably and is part of the reason why tours are necessary. They promote records but they also allow people to hear the music in the way it was meant to be heard. They allow the artist to fully realize their vision. It makes me a little sad actually as it made me realize just how much I miss live performance. Too often when I see a gig I am there for the name now. I go because I know I like the artist and I often neglect the fact that they are promoting their latest work. Indeed I went to this gig largely due to the fact it was Johnny Marr. But before I get to the baggage that goes with that vaulted name I want to try to discuss the record on it’s own terms without the clouded bias of his past.

Day 19: Morrissey- Vauxhall and I

Ah now this is a no brainer Sunday record. It aches with melancholy. It spits venom in an indolent manner. It is  laconic and perfectly sculpted. It is in the best Morrissey record and second only to “The Queen Is Dead” even if you include his Smiths output.

It begins with the beautiful “Now My Heart Is Full” which builds slowly to a brilliant chorus. The intertwining guitar and bass intro places the listener in a bereft world, a place of anguish. Then in comes Morrissey foretelling some immediate disaster and the consequences of which will be that “everyone I love in the house will recline on an analysts couch quite soon”. This bleak world could be oppressive in it’s whiny self pity, indeed this is why my wife and so many others can’t connect to Morrissey. However to me the melancholy is tempered by the humor and acceptance that Moz knows he is being ludicrous. The insistence to “tell all of my friends/I don’t have too many/just some rain coated lovers puny brother” is a wonderful turn of dismissive phrase. His lyrics thrive due to this self depricating, cutting wry sarcasm.

Wit aside the music builds momentum as Morrissey implores that “I’m tired again, I tried again” and the song sets up the rest of the album deliciously. “Now My Heart Is Full” is one of my favorite opening tracks because it immediately places you in the world of the record. At once you know what to expect. You know this character, you are aware of the impending depressive musings. Furthermore it is classic Morrissey- there could be no one else that could be singing. Finally this song demonstrates the great atmospheric sound of the record.

From there on the record builds with great song after great song. “Spring Heeled Jim” which investigates a character with undertones of gang violence aided by film samples. “Billy Budd” is a jaunty, up tempo song about the break up of The Smiths which includes some great lines “I took my job application into town/ did you hear they turned me down?” Then the delicious “Hold On To Your Friends”. There simply isn’t a dud on the whole record. But before we go on what is it about Morrissey?