Blondie & Johnny Marr: a double dose of nostalgia live in Cardiff

A Sunday night hit of nostalgia fell upon Cardiff Motorpoint as Blondie graced the arena stage for their first UK sprint in four and a half years, along with support from The Smiths’ co-founder Johnny Marr – the band having collaborated with their support act on their 11th studio album, 2017’s Pollinator.

Returning to Cardiff after recently playing at the BBC 6 Music Festival, the Mancunian guitar giant made sure to remind us he hadn’t stayed away too long. Marr performed a mixture of classic Smiths scrapes, including This Charming Man and How Soon Is Now?, his well-known jangly guitar tones the foundation, and made sure to feature a few synth-driven Electronic hits in the setlist too. From his solo canon, Marr additionally experimented with newer tracks taken from the recent Fever Dreams Pts. 1-4: the unsettled pulse of electro-soul number Spirit Power And Soul, the subtle groove of Night And Day and the recognisable, purposely commercial 2014 hit Easy Money.

Johnny Marr - credit Anthony Conway — Johnny Marr – credit Anthony Conway

Witnessing the mighty Blondie perform made me think of how inclusive the band had made certain styles of music. They made early punk accessible to newer audiences, stitched into the fabric of the late 70s New York new wave movement which also birthed Talking Heads. The thunderous Hanging On The Telephone, situated early in the set, felt energetic and timeless, and witnessing the Rapture rap – the genre’s first chart-topping song! – was a high point.

The tour graphics Blondie brought along with them were masterful from every corner of the room. Debbie Harry, still the shining light she was all those years ago, was as striking as the colourful, comic book graphics displayed across the stage. There was a hole, however: guitarist Chris Stein, unable to make the tour due to illness, was missed.

Blondie - credit Anthony Conway — Blondie – credit Anthony Conway

The band played the hits, of course, and that was what everyone had come for – which became all the more obvious in the second half of the encore, when Call Me and One Way Or Another ratched up our dancing and applause.

Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Sun 24 Apr

words EMMA WAY photos ANTHONY CONWAY

KEEP READING: ‘With a wide repertoire of hits, Simple Minds had the 6,000 strong crowd at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff in their palm of their hands.’