PRIMAL SCREAM/ JOHNNY MARR
Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, August 10
Two British indie institutions come together for a thunderous double-header
THREE songs into their set, Johnny Marr and his band are forced to leave the stage owing to a heavy electrical storm. It’s been a dismal week for outdoor happenings across the UK – severe weather has led to several cancellations – but tonight Edinburgh gets off with nothing more serious than some diverting drama. After a 15-minute delay, Marr strolls back onstage, grabs a guitar and launches into “This Charming Man”. Thunder? Lighting? Pah! He’s “Johnny, Johnny, Johnny Fucking Marr” as the crowd chant throughout his set, and a fair chunk of Primal Scream’s as well.
Despite such lively endorsements, Marr only conclusively made the transition from sideman to frontman relatively recently. He has always looked the part – tonight, he’s sporting a Paisley shirt, tight black trousers and a black bomber jacket – but it’s only since 2018’s Call The Comet that his solo material has finally cohered in a way that brings sustained heft and substance to the style. Perhaps as a consequence, Marr has become a more assured singer of late; his warm, Mancunian baritone even sounds uncannily like his former collaborator on “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”. Tonight’s set – drawn from Smiths, Electronic and solo records – feels like the whole package. Of course “Bigmouth Strikes Again”, “How Soon Is Now?” and “Get The Message” still thrill, but the handful of songs he plays from Call The Comet stand up alongside his earlier musical compositions.
Speaking to Uncut last year, Marr said: “I’m always trying to move forward. I’ve got a healthy disdain and a wariness of anything too classic.” It is a sentiment that Primal Scream similarly espouse, but here they are, on a tour to support a careerspanning singles compilation, Maximum Rock’n’roll, that even extends as far back as their first two records. Alas, we’re not treated to “Velocity Girl” or “Imperial”, dusted off for earlier shows on this tour. In that sense, it’s very much business as usual from the Scream. They open with “Movin’ On Up” and “Jailbird” – a terrific statement of intent, but one that sounds weirdly thin here. Things change when the band begin to trigger samples, adding guts and texture to the Suicide drones of “Miss Lucifer” and “Higher Than The Sun”. By the time they’re into a 15-minute version of “Come Together”, augmented by recordings of gospel choirs, brass and more, they achieve lift-off.
On record, Screamadelica is where Primal Scream came of age. But as anyone who saw them live around the turn of the millennium will attest, it is the nine-piece touring band – enhanced by Kevin Shields and a brass section – that defined the modern-day Primal Scream as a potent, focused live act. “Kill All Hippies” and “Swastika Eyes”, both from that period, are livid collisions of avant-rock and distorted electronics. In the midst of it all there’s Gillespie, posing like fury in his pink suit.
The key, as ever with Primal Scream, is their collaborators. Tonight they are joined by Johnny Marr for a splendid gallop through “Loaded”, “Country Girl” and “Rocks”. But Marr is arguably too charismatic a presence for this, the chanting of his name threatening to derail “Country Girl”. At least his guitar adds further ballast to Primal Scream’s sound.
So where next for the Scream? Maximum Rock’n’roll provides a full summary of the story so far. Do they have one more album in them as good as Screamadelica, Vanishing Point or XTRMNTR? Here’s hoping.