Johnny Marr & James

When a show/tour is billed as ‘co-headline,’ that’s usually a misnomer. One act is the headliner, plays last, plays longer, plays the encore, while the other is the opener, plays before, play shorter, plays no encore. It can be construed as a way to boost the headliner into bigger spaces, or an ego-salve for the opener, but it’s not ‘co.’ However, despite all that, Johnny Marr & James were true co-headliners when they came to Brooklyn Paramount on Tuesday, October 8th.

That could be seen from the start, with the long lines before the opener went on, even just for the box office – and extremely long line to enter. There was an announcement that there were no viable third-party tickets, like StubHub, raising the possibility that there had been fake tickets sold? Even the staff at Brooklyn Paramount seemed a bit overwhelmed by the big, early turnout.

But thankfully these were older, well-behaved fans, decades removed from causing problems, as the bill was made of two older acts. Johnny Marr of course came up with the iconic Smiths in the eighties, perhaps England’s greatest act of that era – and so did James, from the same Manchester city, even having toured together back then. But it’s not back then, The Smiths aren’t getting back together, James has changed its many-membered line-up many times, and the fans wanted to go to a classier place like the new Brooklyn Paramount (QRO venue review – though it was still a standing GA). And these artists aren’t just playing the old hits, but releasing great new records (as well as playing the old hits, don’t worry).

Somehow, the once seven-member James has swelled to nine currently, including two younger women Chloe Alper and Debbie Knox-Hewson, which was an impressive sight to see on the Paramount stage (later horn player Andy Diagram would sneak to the other side of the venue to play “Sound”) even before they kicked off with one of those old classics, “Sometimes”. 1993’s Laid was their breakthrough in America, but they’re not one to just do what’s expected. Yes, there was “Sometimes”, breakthrough single “Laid”, and “Out to Get You”, but the show ranged from earlier U.K. hits (1990’s “Sit Down” was their big closer, everyone on their feet) to many from this year’s Yummy (QRO review) – which singer Tim Booth noted had hit #1 in their native country, so the hits aren’t all just from the long-long ago.

Booth is also a true presence on stage. While his shaved head and facial hair once cast him as a Batman villain, draped in loose linens he was a whirling force of love and excitement. He’s someone who stands on the photo pit barrier at the second song, and did it again later (getting a fan to keep him steady). He got a fan to give him his phone (“He shouldn’t have done that, should he?…”) in the introduction to the new “Mobile God”, gently asking that when he goes into the crowd, he wants to see the crowd, not their Samsungs. He also had a great story about “Sometimes”, how back when it was written, a Manchester customs guard asked if the chorus line was connected to the rest of the song, Booth had admitted it didn’t, and the guard replied, “Thought so. I’m a Morrissey man myself…”

But the fans at Brooklyn Paramount weren’t there for Moz, but rather for The Smiths’ “Johnny-fucking-Marr,” who’s had his whole own great career since that band. Most recently, that’s been fronting his own band with records like 2018’s Call the Comet (QRO review) and 2022’s four-part Fever Dreams (QRO review), but he’s also worked with everyone from Modest Mouse & The Cribs to Bernard Sumner of New Order way back when as Electronic. This night, he brought it all out, from Fever Dreams’ “Spirit Power and Soul” to Electronic’s “Getting Away With It” into the encore break. And yes, he played Smiths songs, singing the likes of “Panic” as well as Morrissey (indeed, with similar accent, but did come up on the streets of Panic of Manchester). What was notable was that the crowd didn’t just know the oldies, but also the newbies (one song was introduced as, “A new one – don’t be frightened…”).

For the encore, Marr brought out Tim Booth for a wonderful cover of Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger”, the two shining brightly. It was followed by The Smiths’ “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” to end the night, Marr dedicating it to his “best mate”, late Smiths bassist Andy Rourke, who passed away last year. Marr noted that this was the first time he’d played this song in Brooklyn without Rourke being there with him.

It was indeed a special night, when two artists that have been loved for years, and who still love making music & playing music for the fans, came together to co-headline.