Today’s the 47th birthday of one of the signature guitarists of his generation: Johnny Marr of The Smiths… and, in the ensuing years, The Pretenders, The The, Modest Mouse and The Cribs, among others. In honor of this peerless player, and acknowledging the reason we care so much, we present a full Meat is Murder-era Smiths show, filmed for Spanish television on May 18, 1985, in Madrid.
The concert is one of the more well-known video documents of the band — and for good reason; the quality is superb. You can watch the whole thing in the embedded playlist below, or check out individual parts at Slicing Up Video. Plus, we’ve got a birthday bonus: a short profile of Marr from MTV’s “120 Minutes” in 1987, following the breakup of the Smiths and during Marr’s short tenure with the Pretenders.
Watch The Smiths’ full May 18, 1985, concert after the jump…
Setlist: The Smiths, Paseo de Camoens, Madrid, Spain, 5/18/85
1. “William It Was Really Nothing”
2. “Nowhere Fast”
3. “I Want The One I Can’t Have”
4. “What She Said”
5. “How Soon Is Now?”
6. “Handsome Devil”
7. “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”
8. “Shakespeare’s Sister”
9. “Rusholme Ruffians”
10. “The Headmaster Ritual”
11. “Hand In Glove”
12. “Still Ill”
13. “Meat Is Murder”
Encore:
14. “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”
15. “Miserable Lie”
Encore 2:
16. “Barbarism Begins At Home”
Encore 3:
17. “This Charming Man”
18. “You’ve Got Everything Now”
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Video: Neil Finn, Johnny Marr play Smiths’ ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’
- Video: Johnny Marr joins Hans Zimmer to perform ‘Inception’ score at premiere
- Video: Crowded House and Johnny Marr cover David Bowie’s ‘Moonage Daydream’
- Milestones: The Smiths’ ‘Meat is Murder’ released 25 years ago today
