Johnny Marr and Noel Gallagher have made it clear in the recent days that they're buddies. Gallagher paid the Smiths guitarist, who worked on his upcoming album Chasing Yesterday some compliments, and Marr returned the kind words by saying that the former Oasis member's new record is "pretty rocking."
The pair continued to solidify the musical bromance last night (Oct. 23) at Marr's O2 Academy gig in London when Gallagher hopped onstage during the encore for two big tunes, Consequence of Sound notes.
"I'd like to introduce someone who has been a friend of mine for 20 years," Marr said. "One of the greatest songwriters from this country. He's a good man, I think he's got a big future ahead of him. Mr. Noel Gallagher." Marr and Gallagher ripped into Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" before polishing off The Smiths' 1985 tune "How Soon is Now." Check out both performances below.
Marr is currently on tour in support of his second solo album, Playland, which was released earlier this month. "I always liked bands' second albums," he told Rolling Stone prior to the release. "I like the Talking Heads' second album a lot. I liked Wire's second album. And I liked Buzzcocks' second album. I couldn't wait to get the follow-up record from my favorite new band."
Hopefully Marr's feelings hold true for his pal Gallagher, who recently announced his second solo effort with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. "It was a major pain in the arse," Gallagher said about the making of Chasing Yesterday, out March 2. "It's not that I've ever had people telling me what to write or what direction to go in, but managing sessions from one end of the week to the other proved extremely difficult. I had all these people looking at me and saying: 'right, what are we doing today?' I was making the whole thing up as I went along."
Marr plays on the closing track "Ballad of the Mighty I" on Gallagher's album.
