The Smiths Ltd, Smile Bar and Venue, Huddersfield
The Mancunian tribute band revisit Morrissey and Marr’s greatest hits at a West Yorkshire venue going from strength to strength.
Smile Bar and Venue in Huddersfield was the place to be for fans of The Smiths on Friday night when top tribute act The Smiths Ltd delivered a superb rendition of the band’s best loved hits.
The original, iconic Manchester group formed in 1982 but split in 1987 and their chances of them ever reforming, as the likes of the Stone Roses and Oasis have done in recent times, are virtually zero.
Yet tribute acts are all the rage these days and bands such as The Smiths Ltd afford fans the chance to bathe in nostalgia and re-live all their greatest hits with unerring authenticity.
There are numerous tribute acts to the original act and The Smiths Ltd, bona fide Mancunians, are as good as any.
They formed in Manchester in 2009 and now play at venues and festivals all over the UK, with Friday’s show attracting a decent-sized crowd to Huddersfield.
Owned and run by husband-and-wife Richard and Marie Harrison, Smile Bar and Venue is Huddersfield’s home for live music, tribute nights, comedy and events.
With a 650-capacity main hall and an intimate upstairs cafe bar, they host over 100 live events a year and welcome thousands of music lovers through their doors every month.
The venue has gone from strength to strength under Richard and Marie’s ownership and now hosts over 60 tribute acts per year.
The Smiths Ltd played a fine set lasting the best part of two hours and including all the original band’s greatest hits.
Frontman Johnny Turner bears an uncanny likeness to Morrissey, not just with his quiff and dress sense but essentially in how he carries off the Smiths’ tracks quite brilliantly.
Tracks such as Hand In Glove, Shoplifters of the World Unite, Is It Really So Strange?, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, Panic, Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now and There Is a Light That Never Goes Out went down a storm.
Turner got the crowd on their feet and had people dancing, and singing, along to every word of every track on a brilliant night’s entertainment.
The Smiths Ltd are currently touring with dates in Preston, Leeds, Carlisle, London and Glasgow coming up before the end of the year and many more dates in the diary for 2027.
After their terrific show in Huddersfield, they come highly recommended.