Johnny Marr Gives First Solo Performance of The Smiths' "This Charming Man"

Former Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr paid tribute to his old band over the weekend during an intimate concert in London. At the close of his set, which included performances of other fan favorite Smiths records like “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” he jokingly took requests from the audience before ultimately treating the crowd to a rendition of “This Charming Man.” Marr originally did the opening riff for “This Charming Man” as a tease, saying afterwards “that was like a panic attack – an English indie panic attack. Man, I’m just fucking with you,” but ultimately he decided to do a full performance of the record which, according to a report by NME, marked the first time ever that Marr played the song as a solo artist.

Marr had been touring behind his most recent album, Call The Comet, which was released earlier this fall. In a recent interview with Spin, Marr talked about why the Smiths won’t be reuniting.

Watch footage from the concert below and skip to 1:00:17 to see the performance of “This Charming Man.”