It’s been one wild day in The Smiths universe. The chaos got off to a rousing start when noted Morrissey fan site Morrissey-solo posted the following:
“Concert industry insiders, not authorized to speak publicly, say concert giant Live Nation has won the rights for the long-awaited Smiths reunion to happen next year. We know what you’re already singing to yourself (‘stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before’), but because dates and venues are already said to be in the ‘plotting stage,’ this would indicate that a Morrissey-Marr reunion is closer than ever to becoming a reality. There’s no word yet on if all four original members will share the concert stage. Morrissey just completed his ‘California Son’ tour. According to his website, Johnny Marr has no upcoming shows scheduled. Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned.”
LA radio personality Richard Blade fanned the flames further by sharing this information in a now-deleted tweet. That’s around the same time Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr showed up.
When a Smiths fan addressed Marr directly, asking about a rumored reunion, Marr’s concise response threw a big bucket of cold water on anyone hoping to see him share a stage with Morrissey again. “Nigel Farage on guitar,” he wrote. See the tweet below.
Nigel Farage on guitar
— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) November 6, 2019
It was a cutting remark: Nigel Farage is notorious in England for being a strong Brexit proponent, and has made incendiary statements that get him regularly accused of racism and xenophobia. Marr has made it pretty clear he’s anti-Farage, and all Smiths reunion buzz seems to have been derailed by Morrissey’s well-documented penchant for making racist and xenophobic statements of his own; he even called Farage a “liberal educator.”
The situation was compounded recently when Moz played in Los Angeles and revealed eyebrow-raising tour merch, including a “Fuck The Guardian” shirt, in reference to the respected U.K. news outlet. Doesn’t sound like we’ll be seeing the Smiths gang back together again for a long time, if ever.
