Johnny Marr has seemingly shot down the latest rumor of a reunion by The Smiths, replying on Twitter to a fan’s question about the report of a 2020 tour by the long-defunct band –“Is this crap, mate?” — by simply saying, “Nigel Farage on guitar.”
On Tuesday, fansite morrissey-solo.com posted the following message from “a trusted source”:
Concert industry insiders, not authorized to speak publicly, say concert giant “Live Nation” has won the rights for the long-awaited Smiths reunion to happen next year. We know what you’re already singing to yourself (“stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before”), but because dates and venues are already said to be in the “plotting stage,” this would indicate that a Morrissey-Marr reunion is closer than ever to becoming a reality. There’s no word yet on if all four original members will share the concert stage. Morrissey just completed his “California Son” tour. According to his website, Johnny Marr has no upcoming shows scheduled. Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned.
The report, of course, was deemed ridiculous by many of The Smiths’ fans, not just because of the long and deeply held acrimony among the band’s former members — particularly between Morrissey and the band’s former drummer Mike Joyce — but also the growing ostracization by fans and the media of Morrissey for his anti-immigrant and right-wing political stances.
On Twitter today, fan Nick Tudor asked Marr about the validity of the report, writing, “Need to know pretty sharpish so I can get a loan and sell everything I own to go to every date!” Marr’s only response was to name-check the leader of the U.K.’s right-wing Brexit Party.
Nigel Farage on guitar
— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) November 6, 2019
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Watch: Johnny Marr joins The Cult onstage in Manchester to perform ‘Rain’
- Morrissey ejects sign-waving protester from Portland concert, cancels Seattle show
- Morrissey enlists Interpol for 14-date U.S. tour in support of covers album ‘California Son’
- The absolute best of The Smiths: All 70 songs ranked by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers
Johnny Marr nails it.
Left wing prima donnas
Morrissey has gone from wanting to send Margaret Thatcher to the guillotine to fawning over Nigel Farage.
I know Moz has become a complete tool lately but would be nice if bands could come to grips that we only need you to do a job, not love each other. Show up to work, play and go home. We all work with tools in our life, is it that difficult to do it in yours?
What are you arguing for here? That they put aside their history and personal feelings to entertain us? They owe us nothing.
Quite right mate.