The Johnny Marr / James co-headlining tour is a pretty inspired double bill. Both hail from Manchester, and James toured with The Smiths in the ’80s. More importantly, Marr and James’ frontman Tim Booth are exceedingly positive forces in an increasingly cynical, bitter world (and music industry) and come armed with a whole bunch of classic anthems that had the packed Brooklyn Paramount singing along Tuesday night.
Looking cool as ever and playing a variety of guitars (including his own signature Fender Jaguar), Marr alternated between Smiths classics, a couple songs from Electronic (his duo with New Order’s Bernard Sumner), and highlights from his solo career, which fit right in with the songs people were there to really hear. As anyone who’s seen Johnny play over the last 10 years knows, he can sing Smiths songs as well as Morrissey, all while playing some complex parts, and the crowd was going bananas any time he did. I’ve never seen as many phones aloft as during “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want,” which he extended with a gorgeous acoustic intro and extended middle section.
In general he roughed up the edges of a lot of those oldies, including “Panic” and “Big Mouth Strikes Again,” which were absolute stormers on Tuesday. I especially liked his current version of Electronic’s 1989 hit “Getting Away With It,” which turned it from pure disco into something that felt more mid-’00s dance-rock with a great, long instrumental section that I thought was going to turn into “Stop Me If You Think That You’ve Heard This One Before.” (Alas, it did not.) The final song of the night was “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” which Johnny dedicated to his “best mate” and Smiths bassist Andy Rourke who died last year, noting this was the first time he’d played the song in Brooklyn where Andy wasn’t onstage joining him. When the chorus hit there wasn’t a dry eye, or person not singing, in the house.
When I walked into Brooklyn Paramount at 7:30 the place was already full and the crowd all seemed to be James fans, too, and not just for their hits “Laid” and “Sit Down.” People were singing along and swaying to songs from this year’s Yummy (which went to #1 in the UK). At 64, Tim Booth is still a wide eyed, gangly armed, constantly dancing frontman, and the band, which included three guitarists, two drummers and a trumpet player, sounded great. Tim also joined Johnny Marr for the first song of his encore, a cover of Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger.”
Check out photos by Toby Tenenbaum, setlists for Johnny Marr and James, plus lots of fan-shot video, below.
SETLIST: Johnny Marr @ Brooklyn Paramount 10/8/2024
Armatopia
Panic (The Smiths)
Generate! Generate!
Spirit Power and Soul
Hi Hello
This Charming Man (The Smiths)
Somewhere
Walk Into the Sea
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want (The Smiths)
Bigmouth Strikes Again (The Smiths)
Night and Day
Get the Message (Electronic)
How Soon Is Now? (The Smiths)
Easy Money
Getting Away With It (Electronic)
Encore:
The Passenger (Iggy Pop cover with Tim Booth)
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths)
SETLIST: James @ Brooklyn Paramount 10/8/2024
Sometimes
Life’s a Fucking Miracle
Mobile God
Born of Frustration
Zero
Shadow of a Giant
Out to Get You
Way Over Your Head
Laid
Beautiful Beaches
Sound
Sit Down