It's not easy to pull-off a Smiths cover act, given that they are a legendry band that is held in high regard by fans.
And with Morrissey being such an iconic front man, it leaves local Liverpool band The Smiths Indeed a lot to live up to.
The Smiths Indeed try to recapture a mid-eighties Smiths gig with their live performance and this is something they execute very well.
Music is note perfect with professional musicians- who have all previously been in successful Liverpool bands such as The Christians- taking the form of Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce.
Jurgen Wendelen is front man Morrissey; he has the same build as a young Morrissey and of course the image.
But he also imitates Morrissey’s mannerisms to the finest detail, even down to the way he holds the microphone.
Most impressively Wendelen - originally from Antwerp - never breaks his Manchester accent even in between songs and vocally he is spot on.
It is obvious this band is fully dedicated to encompassing the spirit of The Smiths.
The Smiths fans are hardcore, to this day if you go to a Morrissey gig you’ll see the audience sporting NHS glass, Morrissey quiffs, and bunches of flowers to swing around - tonight is no different.
Also, the lure of The Smiths is so strong that not only do we have original Smiths fans who most likely saw the band live back in the day; we now have a second and even third generation of fans.
So, it is not an unusual sight tonight to see teenagers with their mums and dads at this Smiths Indeed gig.
The Smiths Indeed are currently touring the Meat Is Murder album in honour of the 25th anniversary of its release. Which tonight brings them to Liverpool's O2 Academy - 2.
They play the album the whole way through which of course includes such tracks as Rusholme Ruffians, That Joke Isn’t funny Anymore and Well I Wonder.
Title track Meat Is Murder is still very poignant and with lines as hard hitting as ‘death for no reason is murder’ it’s understandable how the song converted many Smiths fans to vegetarianism.
The set is divided into two parts, the first being the Meat Is Murder album and the second being a collection of The Smiths hits.
This includes Hang The DJ - which sees Wendelen swinging a noose in the air. They also play Bigmouth Strikes Again, Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now and William, It was Really Nothing, and each song is met with a rapturous response from the crowd.
As the band take to the stage for the encore Wendelen has a bunch of Gladioli with him. He says to the audience ‘you know what this means’- yep, you guessed it…This Charming Man.
They then finished an amazing set with the classic How Soon Is Now.
For those of us who were too young to see The Smiths live back in the 80’s, The Smiths Indeed transport us back in time and are most definitely the next best thing.
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