Sounds of the Smiths from These Charming Men

Fans of The Smiths will welcome These Charming Men to the Róisín Dubh this Saturday February 7.

The band formed in 1995 in Dublin and  have been playing at the annual Smiths/Morrissey Convention in Los Angeles since 2001. They were requested to appear in Morrissey’s absence at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan in 2004 before an audience of some 35,000 people.

“Basically, I’m a huge Smiths fan,” says Gavin Murphy, who plays the guitar parts written by the innovative Johnny Marr. “The band has always been a labour of love – my brother [Des] is the bass player, and we’d always be jamming the songs together.”

Gavin has been studying Johnny Marr since he was 14 and has his style mastered at this stage. To make things even more authentic, he has the same type of equipment that Marr would have used in The Smiths.

“It’s very much about the attention to detail,” he says.

The focal point of The Smiths will always be Morrissey and singer with These Charming Men, Lee Brady, captures his voice and mannerisms perfectly.

Gavin loves the Smiths as he feels they brought attitude back to music, after it had disappeared in the post-punk era.

That was something young people could identify with as the Smiths were “actually saying something”, says Gavin.

■ Doors 9pm, tickets €12.50/€10 members.