Gig Of The Week: The Smiths @ Brixton Academy, London 12/12/86

Postponed a month to allow guitarist Johnny Marr to recover from a car accident, The Smiths' 1986 Artists Against Apartheid performance at London's Brixton Academy offered a solid summation of their career to date. Including two encores, the 15 songs ranged from such early favorites as “Hand in Glove” and “William, It Was Really Nothing” to more recent compositions like “Shoplifters of the World Unite.” A recording of the concert proves the quartet were still quite capable of delivering the goods live and the next year would bring another studio album (STRANGEWAYS, HERE WE COME) … but the light was about to go out. Some four years after their formation in Manchester, The Smiths had played what would be their final gig.