MODO-LIVE, I am the Eggplant and Programme present Johnny Marr & James
James first toured with Johnny Marr for The Smiths’ Meat Is Murder UK tour in 1985. Since then, both artists have enjoyed international success across four decades of impressive creative output.
Last year, Johnny released both a book of his own guitar collection - Marr’s Guitars - and the album Spirit Power. Spirit Power encompasses songs from four acclaimed UK top ten solo albums (2013’s The Messenger, 2014’s Playland, 2018’s Call The Comet, 2022 double album Fever Dreams Pts 1-4), plus unreleased tracks. Widely regarded as the most influential guitarist of his generation, Johnny’s impact on popular music cannot be overstated; from his time in The Smiths, The Pretenders, Electronic, Modest Mouse and The Cribs, to his more recent solo releases and movie soundtrack work with Hans Zimmer, Johnny’s distinctive songwriting and guitar sound has been an integral part of the musical landscape for 40 years.
Last month, James’s 18th album, Yummy, shot straight to number one on the British charts, their first studio album to do so. Formed in Manchester in the early-80s, the band built an immediate and fervent following with their jubilant live shows. By the time their third album, 1990’s Gold Mother, spawned a series of global hits - including the anthemic “Sit Down - they had already established themselves as one of the UK’s most exciting guitar bands. Handpicked by Neil Young as openers for a 1992 US tour, James went on to work with Brian Eno for their fifth album, Laid, which saw them impacting the Billboard Charts for the first time while in heavy rotation on MTV’s 120 Minutes. A six-year hiatus in the mid-00s did nothing to diminish the appetite from fans and James reunited in 2007 for Hey Ma, which took them back into the UK’s Top Ten. With an increasingly ardent fan base around the world, James’ ability to traverse new creative terrain with each release, coupled with a gift for writing poignant and frequently prescient lyrics, has endured well past their 40th anniversary. Last month’s release of the politically spirited Yummy cemented their position as one of the UK’s most fiercely respected and unerringly relevant rock bands.
With special guests.
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