johnny marr at wellmont theatre

Johnny Marr debuts Smiths classic live in Jersey as Morrissey begins Broadway run

Johnny Marr had to postpone the first couple dates of his spring North American tour due to visa issues, so Wednesday night’s show at NJ’s Wellmont Theatre ended up being the tour kickoff. While supporting last year’s Call the Comet, Johnny included lots of Smiths songs too, including “This Charming Man,” which was the first time he’d ever played it solo in the U.S. (and only the second time ever anywhere, according to Setlist.fm). He also played “The Headmaster Ritual,” “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me,” “How Soon is Now,” “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” and “You Just Haven’t Earned it Yet Baby.” He also did two Electronic songs, “Get the Message” and “Getting Away with It.” Setlist, and video of “This Charming Man,” is below.

Johnny’s got the night off tonight which is coincidentally the first night of his old bandmate Morrissey’s Broadway run at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre. (Unless he cancels it at the 11th hour.) Could he….ok, no. There is almost zero chance of Johnny making an appearance, but to not point out that they’re in the same general area, well we couldn’t do that. Morrissey is calling these shows an “intimate career-retrospective” but, apart from the “intimate” part will they actually differ from a regular show he does? Stay tuned. His new all-covers album California Son is out later this month.

Meanwhile, Johnny is featured in the latest episode of Ernie Ball’s “String Theory” video series, and he talks about his guitar technique, the origins of Smiths songs and lots more. Watch that below.

Johnny plays New Haven on Saturday (5/4) and Long Island on Monday (5/6) and tickets to those are still available. All dates are listed below.

SETLIST: Johnny Marr @ Wellmont Theatre 5/1/2019
The Tracers
Bigmouth Strikes Again (The Smiths)
Armatopia
Day In Day Out
New Dominions
Hi Hello
The Headmaster Ritual (The Smiths)
Walk Into the Sea
How Soon Is Now? (The Smiths)
Getting Away With It (Electronic)
Hey Angel
Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me (The Smiths)
Spiral Cities
Get the Message (Electronic)
Easy Money
This Charming Man (The Smiths)

Encore:
Rise
Bug
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths)
You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby (The Smiths)

Johnny Marr – 2019 Tour Dates
MAY 03 Fete Music Hall – Ballroom Friday, 7:00PM Providence, RI
MAY 04 College Street Music Hall Saturday, 7:00PM New Haven, CT
MAY 06 The Paramount Monday, 7:00PM Huntington, NY
MAY 07 Higher Ground – Ballroom Tuesday, 7:00PM South Burlington, VT
MAY 08 Aura Wednesday, 7:00PM Portland, ME
MAY 10 London Music Hall Friday, 7:00PM London, Canada
MAY 11 Saint Andrews Hall Saturday, 7:00PM Detroit, MI
MAY 13 The Vic Theatre Monday, 7:00PM Chicago, IL
MAY 14 The Pabst Theater Tuesday, 7:00PM Milwaukee, WI
MAY 15 Harrah’s Voodoo Lounge Wednesday, 7:00PM North Kansas City, MO
MAY 16 Gothic Theatre Thursday, 7:00PM Englewood, CO
MAY 18 Brooklyn Bowl Saturday, 7:00PM Las Vegas, NV
MAY 19 House of Blues Sunday, 7:00PM Anaheim, CA
MAY 20 House of Blues Monday, 7:00PM San Diego, CA
MAY 21 John Anson Ford Amphitheatre Tuesday, 7:00PM Los Angeles, CA