Johnny Marr at 60: creating an innovative sound at Manchester’s new Aviva Studios
❚ WATCH OUT FOR two live performances of classics and fan favourites brought to life as A Night with the Johnny Marr Orchestra, a new, expanded sound as the one-time Smiths guitarist takes to the stage with a full classic orchestra on Dec 7 and 8. I shall be in Manchester (train strikes willing) to report back.
For two special performances this week at the Aviva Studios, the city’s brand-new exhibition and entertainment complex, Johnny is joined on stage by some of the best classical musicians from the North. Together, they’ll reinterpret his impressive solo catalogue currently selling as a limited double-CD titled Spirit Power which celebrates his songs, bangers, and electric shows from the past ten years, “having put myself under pressure to make singles”.
Celebrating Marr’s solo career: an impassioned photo-book and a UK tour next year
All of which trails a UK tour next spring and helps promote his chunky 288-page hardback book, Marr’s Guitars, packed with spectacular colour photos and his own passionate reflections on how his collection of more than 130 guitars has created his innovative sound. As Johnny says: “There is a human story behind these guitars. Historically, guitars do have this association with certain sounds and songs.”
The composer Hans Zimmer – with whom Johnny collaborated on the Bond soundtrack for No Time to Die – pens an impressively flattering foreword in the book, stressing that “Each artist gets their guitar to tell their personal story.” He is not talking about the sound you associate with metal guitars and a cheesy orchestra, “usually tasteless”, but in Marr’s case his own very particular and sensuous aesthetic. “The guitar lets us reveal ourselves more profoundly than words ever could,” Zimmer concludes.
➢ Final remaining tickets to Johnny’s Aviva Studios gigs this week
➢ Buy the Marr’s Guitars book, his double-CD, his earlier full-length albums and more merch here
➢ Pre-order tickets for Marr’s Spirit Power tour from 2 April 2024 via his Live pages
➢➢ Shapers of the 80s ➣➣ 