Johnny's voice was great! They played so well.

Me first; for no reason. I'm pleased to hear it went so well. Get Moz on board!!!

Marr is the guilty one for the smiths to break and never reunite again.

And what a pitifull career they both have made compared to staying together.

He and Andy were old pals before the smiths.

Well...i know it's over.

Sensational is the word! What a fantastic night, just unbelievable. Hearing Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke playing How Soon Is Now together just sent shivers down my spine. And when Johnny kicked off his Healers set by playing There Is A Light... I thought I was dreaming, I couldn't believe it.

It wasn't just Johnny and Andy though, the whole night was brilliant. Doves, Badly Drawn Boy, Elbow, Johhny Marr, Andy Rourke, New Order (playing a Joy Division set only - how good is that?!), and all of them jamming and playing with each other, mixing and matching, quite incredible. They even found time to do a Lou Reed cover and a Fall cover.

The closer was everyone above plus Shaun Ryder and Bez jamming to Wrote For Luck for about 20 minutes. To see all those Manc legends playing together - in Manchester and on the same stage - I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing.

Can't wait for next year. Same again please Andy, and well done.

And before anyone starts slating Johnny and Andy for trying to steal Moz's thunder, or trying to reform the Smiths, or anything else like that, don't bother. The pair of them can do what they like. It was just a special night that put a smile on everyone's faces - and a few tears in a few eyes too.

This is so unfair!
Why I must live in Finland?.....

Marr and Rourke's versions of TIALTNGO and HSIN were astonishing. Pity Moz's present band can't match them. Johnny and Andy were excellent. Marr remains an immense talent.

Is it just me or is Andy Rourke morphing into ex radio one dj Mike Read?
It's nice to hear that one half of The Smiths were reminiscing; but I could never be as blown away as when I heard Moz sing 'There Is A Light ...'
It's not really a question of the band doing justice to the musical arrangement for me, more a question of hearing Morrissey sing those words.
But still, bless Johnny for giving the fans something to shout about.

Word on the street is that Granada TV filmed the whole thing and there will be a DVD of the show sold for the charity once the lawyers hash things out. Yay!

Not all of us could afford to pay £40 for those tickets.
However i am happy for everyone who did get to go and to hear it went so well.

Any excuse for Morrissey to tour or even play sporatic shows is cause for celebration. I'd no more miss a Smiths re-union show than I would pass on picking up a diamond I found in the street and pocketing the bastard.

That's the Pro of any such re-union.

The Con would be the set-list. Seeing Morrissey perform yet again will always be a treat, but knowing full well they'll only be sticking to Smiths songs is more than very disappointing, as there is so much exciting work in his solo catalog he doesn't even play anymore, it would be sad to have sit there and listen to the Smiths.

If ever there should be a re-union to herald, it's when the Boorer/Whyte/Day/Cobrin line-up takes the stage again and the walls start fucking shaking again.

Fire is better than nostalgia. I can see where the Smiths themselves would have fun re-visiting that time in their lives again, but musically, vocally and lyrically, Morrissey's solo career spanks the Smiths like they were Degrassi's Zit Remedy.

Would anyone happen to have an audio clip
of their performance? It would great to
hear how they performed.

Being at the M.E.N gig on Saturday night just rolled back the years. As Johnny said, it was 19 years since he was last on the same stage as Andy.. and what a lifetime that really is.

I was still at School when I first heard of The Smiths in late 1982.. and boy what a different world we lived in then.
Music was Truly a religion for many kids in those days, days when life was still uncomplicated by the likes of Women, Work and Mortgages.
Those exciting Saturday morning trips to the local HMV in town with my £1.50, cautiously selecting another 7" single to add to my collection. (by the way; no Cd's in those days.. you were posh if you had a Microwave, Mobiles got babies off to sleep.. and come to think of it, you only really saw a Video Recorder at School, and if your Mam and Dad could somehow afford one.. it would cost them around a Months' wages to buy one). Sunday nights at home taping the Radio 1 Top 40 on my battered old recorder, which for the younger people reading this.. meant sitting quietly because believe it or not, when you played it back you could hear yourself humming along to the music, or would hear your Mother telling you to "TURN THAT F***ING RACKET OFF!!". If you were lucky enough to possess a portable Cassette player in those days, the batteries wouldn't last for one side of the tape.. (if somebody had sellotaped those two little batteries to the tip of a Space Shuttle on re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere, they still couldn't generate enough power to turn those little wheels for a full album).
Top Of The Pops on a Thursday night was the talk of the School on Fridays.. (saying that we had just about managed to get a Fourth Channel onto the Telly by then.. so not much in the way of competition).

That was 1982 in my world, and incredibly, the same world where Morrissey, Marr, Rourke and Joyce playing together existed too.

Seeing Johnny flick that slightly long fringe of his shoulder to shoulder with Andy once again on Saturday Night brought it all back for me.

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.

Well, hi everyone!
I went to Google Earth fo find the Manchester Evening News arena, just for virtually go there and be there for a while cos I´m in the other side of the planet, Brazil, precisely. And, I have a band wich outrageously did a cover from I KNOW IT´S OVER on a tribute album called "Romantic and Square Is Hip and Aware". Anyway, all I wanna say is that: " - Johnny, technology these days, can just erase that rubish from your arm"

In 2007 when Sanctuary has gone down and no longer exists or gets bought by someone who
drops Morrissey. We might be seeing a 3rd Smiths member in the above picture. With Zak Starkey on drums.

Could you see the tears in Johnny's eyes, regretting that fateful day he walked out?

They surely look much cooler than they ever did in Da Smiffs? what a great shot

Like a fool, I turned down a chance to see Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians at Manchester Academy on Sunday 29th. My mate went and has just emailed me today, saying that in a select crowd of less than 200, was Johnny Marr on the front row - 'Who
should be directly in front of me but Mr Johnny Marr. An ideal man to have in front
of you at a gig, of course - view unimpeded...'.
Johnny was also polite enough to dole out an autograph before hobnobbing with the mighty Hitch.
This can only teach me a lesson, to do the decent thing and go to gigs even if you are going under sufferance.

The Smiths were not just an ordinary pop group - they were something unique and beautiful. There is no way they could ever reform because of what has happened since 1987.

Morrissey is writing wonderful music with Alain, Boz and Jesse; Marr and Rourke are doing nothing much in particular of any note. Such is life.

We have the Smiths records, we can watch Morrissey sing them live, and we get to listen to his new material soon enough. Why would anyone want Morrissey to go through the humiliation of climbing back on a stage with Andy Rourke and co? The Smiths was 1983-1987. It brought together a bunch of very different people and resulted in something epoch-defining, but it just wouldn't work with the Morrissey, Marr and Rourke of 2006; it would only sour the memory of the beautiful music they made. Given so much of the Smiths' memory has already been tarnished thanks to the acrimonious financial disputes, all we can hope is that those men never stand on a stage again and call themselves "The Smiths."

broken