Johnny Marr announces show in Athy's Dreamland Ballroom

Following his 'best of' collective album Spirit Power in 2023, Johnny Marr has announced a concert at Dreamland Ballroom in Athy for 25 June 2024.

A prolific solo artist for over ten years with several previous tenures in the likes of The Smiths, Electronic, The The, The Pretenders, Modest Mouse or The Cribs, Marr released Spirit Power as an anthology to his longstanding, enthralling career.

The full measure of his enduring work is captured on Spirit Power: The Best Of Johnny Marr, a major new collection curated by the former Smiths guitarist encompassing songs from his four top ten solo albums, a scattering of stand-alone singles and two incendiary new cuts, 'Somewhere' and 'The Answer.'

Spirit Power presents a composite portrait of an artist with no less a complete ideology than the celebrated co-travellers who inspired him along the way. It’s a body of work that mirrors Marr’s unstoppable life force, his love of melody and the urge to resist what he calls the “strummy, age-appropriate transition into mid-tempo middle age.”

“It’s a conversation I have from time to time with [Pet Shop Boys’] Chris Lowe, about how much harder it is to write songs that you want to listen to in the daytime. It’s easier to do something that’s perceived as cool if it’s a bit moody," says Marr. "But, for me, the mission with these records was to make songs that you could listen to on the way to school, on the way to the gym, on the way back from work – you know, in the way that you had with, say, Blondie.”

Johnny Marr will perform Athy's Dreamland Ballroom on 25 June. Tickets start from €51.85 inclusive of booking fees, and go on sale this Friday, 23 February, at 10 am via Ticketmaster.