Johnny Marr played at the Colosseum night-club last night, officially kickstarting his new group the Healers. In a tiny wing of the club Marr took the stage visibly nervous, but after warming up half way through the second song looked every inch like he'd been fronting groups for years. Unfortunately the sound in the small venue wasn't ideal and much of the vocal was lost, underneath the wall of sound the group were pumping out. Between the songs he was asking the sound man to "turn it up", ignoring the inevitable odd punter requesting "The Draize Train" and "How Soon Is Now?"!! The group were excellent Zak Starkey and Alonsa Bevan being the perfect rhythm section to Marr's effortless guitar playing. The music itself was possibly the heaviest stuff he's done so far, but it lacks none of the hypnotic riffs of the Smiths etc. He played harmonica on a couple of tracks, and seemed like he was pleased with the gig, the crowd dancing throughout. He played one encore, an extended anthemic track with a rhythm that seemed to have a mind of its own and left the stage smiling. And no he didn't do "How Soon Is Now!"

Bangin On / Last Ride / Here it Comes / Caught Up / Down on the Corner / Get me Wrong / Coming On / Need it / Another Day / I Need Somebody / Just a Fool

Saw Johnny Marr's new band last night at The Left Wing in Coventry, which is basically a pub annexe of a nightclub. Inside the packed venue (capacity 250) all I could see realistically was Johnny's thinning hair and his sunglasses. So anyway, they sound like a cross between Second-Coming era Roses and the heavier end of Electronic, with Noel Gallagher on vocals. I don't have a clue who the rest of the band are, being:

The former bassist of Kula Shaker, some guy called Andy Grey on guitar, Ringo Starr's son on drums (who shows he is a far far better than his dad), and a percussionist and a keyboardist who I didn't even know was there until he walked off stage.

Bangin' On sounds like a cross between the Roses' Breaking Into Heaven and Oasis' Fucki' In Da Bushes, with lots of chunky guitar riffs and, bar the hesitant vocals from Marr (on what is after all only the band's second gig), a confident sound. However, the swampy, dirty blues-rock they are playing, copied straight from the Second-Coming era Roses, is exactly the same kind of stuff that takes several listens to really hit home. I wasn't impressed the first time I heard Second-Coming, but at first listen, the Healers sound like a band that grow and get better with repeated exposure.

Last Ride sounds like Love Spreads, The Swamp Song, and the Seahorses with some Beatles melodies. Sounds good? Well, its chock full of old fashioned harmonica, the likes of which Marr rarely plays these days, unfortunately. However, it seems at first glance to be quite a slight song.

Caught Up is where the band begin to step out on their own. What sounds like a definite single, cross bred with Electronic's Breakdown, the Roses Daybreak, and some Jon Spencer Blues Explosion stuff, the song moves from a conventional heavy rock number into improvisational hell/heaven a la Janes Addiction's last album. Shifting tempos, bizarre but brilliant solo work and out-of-place contemporary clangs and bleeps from Electronics back catalogue all bring the song into much more than just a normal song.

And for Johnny? Well, he looks like a member of Oasis today. Behind his multi-coloured shirt, his rose tinted Lennon glasses and Gallagher floppy fringe, he smiles, laughs, and does that old finger-dancing, hand in the air riffage familiar to anyone whose seen any old Smiths live videos, as well as huddling behind his harmonica as if it's a lifeline.

The next one, Down On The Corner, is a pedestrian b-side fodder, with a lame chorus and a major disappointment after Caught Up. In fact, if anything it sounds like Warning Sign, the unreleased Electronic track from the Late At Night CD, that isn't much cop in the first place.

I must admit I don't really remember that much of the set. The general impression I've got, apart from being jostled by twats shouting for old Smiths songs, is that this band will improve with age and experience. They are tight, and the drummer is excellent. The material, heavy, swampy, rock with massive riffs, crap lyrics (better than John Squire's though) and a honest, humble vocalist, show that, with repeated exposure their stuff had the potential to be massive. They won't ever reach Oasis-size (even now), but will, I think show Johnny Marr as more than his talent and influence. It sounds like something that really should be heard louds and lots, especially now Johnny's found his harmonica again, and blowing out some classic riffs on it. It sounds good so far, but the juries still out.