Johnny Marr has announced he will play two special shows in Manchester this year to mark ten years of independence away from The Smiths.
Known for crafting a generation-defining guitar sound with The Smiths, Marr has carved out an equally impressive solo career, bringing his masterful playing to a new generation of indie rock fans.
The former Smiths guitarist will play a two-night residency at Aviva Studios inside Factory International on 6 and 7 December alongside a 30-piece orchestra.
For the first time, Johnny Marr and his band will be joined by a 30-piece orchestra for an expansive celebration of the last decade of Johnny’s solo body of work – 10 prolific years since the release of his 2013 debut solo album, The Messenger.
Led by conductor Fiona Brice, the orchestra has been assembled by Johnny Marr specially for the event and is composed of musicians from across the North.
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Image: Johnny Marr
Image: Johnny Marr
Fans can expect to hear songs from across Johnny’s revered catalogue in what is set to be an emotional and epic finale to Johnny Marr’s 2023 live performances.
Johnny Marr left The Smiths in June 1987 and, according to sources at the time, auditions to find a replacement for him proved fruitless.
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Shortly after Marr left, The Smiths would release their final full-length studio release Strangeways, Here We Come with label Rough Trade.
Over the years, despite no longer being band mates, Morrissey and Johnny Marr would continue to have their spats – leading The Telegraphto describe them as “the two bards of Eighties bedroom melodrama” in a recent article.
Last year, Marr also told Steve Wright on BBC Radio 2 that there was “zero” chance for him to resume any sort of relationship with Morrissey, be that personal or professional – adding that the last time the pair spoke was maybe 18 years ago.
This is despite Morrissey warning Marr to ‘leave him out of interview’, via an open letter that appeared on his website.
“The fact is: you don’t know me,” the open letter from Morrissey to Marr read.
It continued: “You know nothing of my life, my intentions, my thoughts, my feelings. Yet you talk as if you were my personal psychiatrist with consistent and uninterrupted access to my instincts.”
In 2022, Marr released his fourth solo album Fever Dreams Pts. 1–4 to widespread critical acclaim, before touring with the likes of Blondie and The Killers. Now, he brings his live show back to where it all began – right here in Manchester.
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For this special performance at Aviva Studios, Marr is joined on stage by some of the best classical musicians from across Manchester. Together, they’ll reinterpret Marr’s mightily impressive catalogue in A Night with the Johnny Marr Orchestra.
Tickets are available to buy now with standard tickets priced at £45, as well as affordable options from £22.50 and £10. To find out more, click here.
Featured image – Factory International
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New £60m fund launched to fill potholes across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
A new £60 million Pothole Fund has been created to repair more of the city region’s roads and pavements.
The fund – which has been set up by new Mayor Bev Craig, and is to be spent across every borough in Greater Manchester – is set to be a ‘major boost’ to efforts to tackle the pothole problem, as it will be enough to repair and maintain over a million square metres, or around 125 kilometres, of road across the wider region.
Around 2.5 billion trips are made on Greater Manchester‘s roads every year – not only by motorists, but also by buses, trams, cyclists, and pedestrians. So the fund will be used to help keep the highways network ‘safe and reliable’.
The fund will enable transport teams to repair hotspots where surfaces are in poor condition, as well as resurface roads and pavements to prevent them from deteriorating in the first place.
A new £60m fund has been launched to fill potholes across Greater Manchester / Credit: TfGM
Cold and wet winters, more traffic, and heavier vehicles using the roads are just some of the contributing factors to the pothole problem, which is why the fund is being introduced before autumn and winter properly arrives.
The amount each of the 10 boroughs will receive is based on an agreed funding formula, with the allocations being:
Bolton: £6,552,000
Bury: £4,374,000
Manchester: £8,155,000
Oldham: £5,258,000
Rochdale: £5,243,000
Salford: £5,388,000
Stockport: £6,820,000
Tameside: £4,980,000
Trafford: £4,992,000
Wigan: £8,241,000
The extra cash comes from the region’s transport budget, with leaders agreeing to reallocate funding towards highways maintenance, and it fulfils a commitment Bev made in her Mayoral Manifesto to repair more roads and make sure pavements are safe.
“Keeping our roads and pavements safe and well maintained is essential for a growing city region like Greater Manchester,” explained Mayor Bev Craig.
“That’s why I promised to create this new Pothole Fund that will benefit drivers and everyone who uses our roads to get around. Properly maintaining our roads will save motorists money on costly repairs, and by preventing potholes forming in the first place, councils won’t have to spend as much money on emergency road repairs.
“This issue came up repeatedly on the doorstep during my election campaign so I’m pleased that I can do something about it so quickly, building on the significant work already planned by councils across Greater Manchester.”
Featured Image – TfGM
News
Six GMP officers dismissed following racial discrimination allegations
Emily Sergeant
A number of police officers have been dismissed following an internal investigation, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has confirmed.
Following the internal investigation into alleged racial discrimination against an officer on the Bury district – which was launched by GMP‘s Professional Standards Directorate in July 2024 – six officers and two former officers were found to have committed gross misconduct, and a ninth officer was found to have committed misconduct.
The investigation came after a report was made that an officer had been subjected to ‘racist behaviour’ by colleagues in December 2023.
The panel heard how PC Y – who has African heritage and has been granted anonymity – made a complaint after her accent was mimicked by a group of officers. She was also compared to a suspect with similar skin colour, and one of the dismissed PCs made a derogatory comment about her hair.
PC Y was supported and kept updated throughout the investigation, GMP assured, as well as providing evidence at the hearing.
The misconduct hearing lasted just over two weeks, with the panel concluding that the officers breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour relating to Equality and Diversity, Authority, Respect, and Courtesy.
The six officers who have been dismissed are PC Demi Green, PC Heena Rani, PC Lucy Granby, PC Matthew Barlow, PC Matthew Hill, and PC Mohammed Abid, while the former officers who were found to have committed gross misconduct are PC Jake Holt, and former Officer A – who has been granted anonymity.
The panel also found that Sergeant Adrian Bick’s actions amounted to misconduct, as there was no breach of the standard of equality and diversity.
As a result, the six serving officers have been sacked without notice, while the two former officers would have been dismissed had they not already left the force, and Sergeant Bick was issued a written warning.
“No officer or member of staff should have to come to work and experience discriminatory behaviour from the people they serve alongside,” declared Deputy Chief Constable, Terry Woods.
“Everyone has the right to feel respected, valued and part of the same team with a shared commitment to serving our communities and keeping people safe.”
Georgina Pellant -
12th September 2023 
