Tribute bands tend to split quite cleanly intotwo camps. Some take the ‘tribute’ label literally, forming bands that show gratitude, respect and admiration in their performances; more influenced by rather than copying their band of choice. Others, like the Smyths, seek to emulate as closely as possible the experience of listening to said group. It makes sense; with a figurehead as iconic as Morrissey, having a fat, middle-aged balding man in a tweed jacket crooning ‘The Boy With the Thorn in His Side’ would be painfully incongruous. And despite the odd waver from their source material (usually on the more famous songs, e.g. ‘her fucking lowness’ in ‘The Queen Is Dead’ and changing the stress of ‘darkened underpass’ in ‘There Is a Light that Never Goes Out’), the Smyths are as close to hearing the Smiths live as anyone born after 1987 is likely to get.
Having seen the Smyths perform Hatful of Hollow last autumn, I understood but was slightly disappointed by their decision to play Meat Is Murder in its entirety. Other than occasional gems like ‘The Headmaster Ritual’, ‘What She Said’ and ‘Well I bloated to me (especially the boringly long ‘Barbarism Begins at Home’ and title track). But, hey, they didn’t write the material, so you can’t fairly fault them for the tracklist. And overall, it was a well-chosen tracklist, balancing fan favourites (‘Cemetery Gates’, ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’) with deep cuts (‘Still Ill’). Saving the best three for last (‘There Is A Light’, ‘How Soon Is Now?’, ‘This Charming Man’) was a good move, leading to a genuinely surprising encore of ‘The Queen Is Dead’. Next year that The Smyths return to the O2 to perform that album in its entirety. If only to hear sorely missed songs like ‘Frankly Mr Shankly’ and my personal favour ite ‘I Know It’s Over’, I would warmly recommend making the trip to Cowley.
