Johnny Marr announces North American tour dates
Music News | Feb 5th, 2013
Ex-Smiths guiarists Johnny Marr has just announced an 18-date North American tour in support of his highly-anticipated solo debut The Messenger (Sire/ADA) due out February 26. The tour will start off on April 11 in Las Vegas, the 3-week trek will include a stop at Coachella and two dates with New Order. He will be stopping at Irving Plaza on May 2nd and then the next night he will be playing in Brooklyn. Pre-sale tickets are now available here.
Available for pre-order on iTunes, The Messenger is receiving overwhelming early acclaim. Time Magazine declares it “excellent,” Details states it “harks back to the eighties with chiming, effects-laden guitars and dreamy vocals,” and Stereogum proclaims “it’s an album that – in both sound and style – hearkens back to Marr’s early days.” Similarly, The Guardian gushes “The Messenger sees him returning to the big tunes and unmistakable, cascading guitar arpeggios that made him the guitarist of his generation.”
The release of The Messenger marks a significant milestone in Marr’s distinguished career. First known for his work as the creative force behind The Smiths, Marr has spent the last two decades collaborating with a diverse array of acclaimed bands, including Talking Heads, Pet Shop Boys, The The, Electronic and more. One of the most celebrated and influential guitarists in the history of contemporary music, Marr was a member of the Modest Mouse line-up for 2007’s We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200. Similarly, Marr joined The Cribs when they hit the U.K. Top 10 with their 2009 release Ignore The Ignorant. Throughout this time, Marr earned recognition as one of the greatest guitar players of all time from such outlets as Rolling Stone and SPIN. With The Messenger, Marr continues to evolve as he steps into the spotlight for the first true solo album of his career.
The 12-song set captures Marr’s musical vision exactly as he imagined, featuring his signature guitar and vocals front and center on a sound that mixes elements of angular art rock, indie and rock n’ roll. The Messenger was written and produced by Marr himself. Based in Portland, Oregon since 2005, Marr returned to the U.K. in early 2012 to commence work on the album. Recorded in Manchester and Berlin, it was mastered at Abbey Road by Frank Artwright who recently collaborated with Marr on the re-mastering work for The Smiths’ box set Complete.
JOHNNY MARR – NORTH AMERICAN DATES
April 11 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Cosmopolitan – The Pool w/ New Order
April 12 – Indio, CA @ Coachella
April 13 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
April 15 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
April 16 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
April 18 – Santa Barbara, CA @ County Bowl w/ New Order
April 19 – Indio, CA @ Coachella
April 21 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird
April 22 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
April 23 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
April 25 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
April 26 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
April 27 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
April 29 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
April 30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
May 02 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
May 03 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 04 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
