5 Reasons to Come See Johnny Marr (and James) Next Friday (10/11) at Franklin Music Hall

Just last month Johnny Marr released Boomslang (2024 Deluxe Edition), a reissue of the long-out-of-print 2003 album from Johnny Marr + the Healers, the (sort of) solo debut of...

Just last month Johnny Marr released Boomslang (2024 Deluxe Edition), a reissue of the long-out-of-print 2003 album from Johnny Marr + the Healers, the (sort of) solo debut of the legendary Smiths guitarist (and the album and special edition, which includes 7 bonus tracks, fucking rule).  The re-release coincides with Marr’s double-headlining tour with almost equally iconic English rockers James (although, thus far, setlists have, sadly, not included any Boomslang tracks), which will find itself at Franklin Music Hall next Friday, October 11th.

Johnny Marr’s put on a number of amazing shows in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection over the past decade+, including headlining gigs at The Trocadero, Union Transfer, and Theatre of Living Arts, in addition to a 2022 stop opening for The Killers at the arena, and James’ only area appearance in recent history had them double-headlining Franklin Music Hall with The Psychedelic Furs in 2019, which proved to be one of best things we saw all year.  While I would hope many of our readers already plan on attending Johnny Marr and James’ upcoming Philadelphia performance, if – for some reason – you’re still on the fence, here are five reasons you should definitely come out next Friday.

1. It’s their first tour together since 1985!

The first and only time James and Johnny Marr previously toured was in the first quarter of 1985, when James was supporting The Smiths on their UK tour behind legendary sophomore LP Meat Is Murder.  And although this tour will likely be slightly less iconic than those 1980s dates, Johnny Marr is still playing a handful of numbers from the early years of The Smiths nightly, including “How Soon Is Now?” “This Charming Man,” and “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.”

2. The shows so far have looked brilliant…

Anyone who’s been checking setlist.fm, has surely seen that the double-headlining jaunt has each artist performing setlists well into the double-digits.  Marr’s sets include classics from The Smiths and Electronic (Johnny’s project with New Order’s Bernard Sumner), alongside half-a-dozen of the most anthemic tracks from his four solo albums, while James’ performances boast a mix of classics (“Sound,” “Laid,” “Waltzing Along”) and an impressive collection of newer material, including a large handful of tracks from their 18th studio album, Yummy, which dropped earlier this year courtesy of Virgin.

3. There’s no better way to celebrate a reissue…

The recent re-release of Johnny Marr + the Healers’ first and only LP captures Mr. Marr’s output four years after the final release from Electronic, and four years before the first Modest Mouse album to include Johnny as an official member.  Boomslang embodied a post-Britpop swagger that could be said to combine the sonic aesthetics of Marr’s previous bands (which also included The Pretenders and the The) and also provided Millennial Smiths fanatics likely their first chance to see the man live in person (I know I did twice.), with sets that featured an epic solo rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” an official studio recording of which is available for the first time on Boomslang’s deluxe edition.

4. Even his latest work is fucking great.

2023 saw the release of Spirit Power: The Best of Johnny Marr, a compilation of the (now) singer/songwriter’s favorite and most celebrated tracks from his four solo albums, along with two new songs, most notably “Somewhere,” a track that Marr penned while playing arenas with The Killers and which has hooks more than sufficient for filling 20,000-capacity rooms… or 100,000-capacity festival grounds.

5. If you’re still not convinced, just check this shit out…

This summer had Johnny Marr making a plethora of festival appearances which would seem to prime him for these double-headlining dates.  This pro-shot video captures Marr at Belgium’s Rock Werchter, where he kicked out an hour-long, fat-free set including recent bangers like “Spirit Power and Soul” and “Somewhere,” in addition to nearly half-a-dozen songs from the bands that made him a guitar legend, and an Iggy Pop classic (and not the one that you heard him play at Union Transfer in 2014…)

*Get your tickets here.

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During the day Izzy Cihak teaches transgression, subversion, and revolution at Temple University. At night he haunts Philthy's best venues to cover worthwhile acts for Philthy Mag. Morrissey is everything to him and, in their own heads, all of his friends see themselves as Zooey Deschanel.

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