About a week after the end of Lent term, my girlfriend and I went to see The Smyths, a tribute band, at the unlikely venue of Cambridge MASH. This was my second time seeing them in Cambridge, but my ninth overall, with the other seven being in local venues in my hometown of Leeds, and almost all at the Brudenell Social Club.

The Smyths don’t find it hard to win over audiences and never disappoint the generations of Smiths fans they perform for; the lead singer really embraces Morrissey’s mannerisms. He emerged with a characteristic quiff and unbuttoned shirt, perfectly mimicking the brash attitude, dance moves, and languid vocals that make the singer who he is. Having formed their tribute act in 2003, the band are well-practiced, and their gig in Cambridge showed them to have a well-honed act without coming across gimmicky. They played through the album Meat is Murder, followed by a setlist of Smiths hits, and it was just as good the ninth time over.

“The tribute act brought a much-loved local experience to the South”

Playing cherished Smiths songs in a venue like MASH, the tribute act brought a much-loved local experience to the South. This small-scale gig and playthrough of the album felt like a fair emulation of what a Smiths gig would’ve been like in the 80s. Hearing some of my favourite songs like ‘What She Said’ and ‘The Headmaster Ritual’ performed live in Cambridge felt like a welcome alternative to seeing the band back home. For me, time in Cambridge is time spent immersed in academics, a far cry from Leeds. But, even in a different city, the band brought their familiar Smiths performance, bringing that feeling of home. The tribute band is also a good alternative to watching Morrissey play live now. Once, some friends and I stood on top of a bin to watch the actual Morrissey play ‘Half a Person’ in Leeds’s Millennium Square (we weren’t about to pay to see him play).

For me, the gig was kind of an out of the student-body experience that brought me back to my hometown. This was only The Smyths’s second time playing in Cambridge, and playing in MASH, home to student clubbing, seemed a rogue choice. This integration of non-typical music into a common student venue reminded me of local student-centred venues back home.

“My nostalgia for local bands with a sentimental setlist… seems to be a symptom of a student bubble that tends to omit other musical acts”

Perhaps I’m just not as immersed in the Cambridge music scene as I am in Leeds, but the infrequency of performances from indie bands like The Smyths seems to highlight the local level of music missing from the Cambridge student experience. Don’t get me wrong — Cambridge is saturated with a great student music scene that spans classical, jazz, and cover bands, and you can’t go through May Week without seeing an ABBA tribute. Yet there seems to be a lack of student engagement with local bands. I’ve been to some great student-organised band nights, but my nostalgia for local bands with a sentimental setlist, like The Smyths, seems to be a symptom of a student bubble that tends to omit other musical acts.

Seeing The Smyths perform bridged that deficit for me, and the novelty of seeing a local band perform in MASH was soon forgotten as their playful, engaging performance took hold. Because of demand, they have a residency at my local venue the Brudenell, and play three consecutive nights of exactly the same set. So, for me, it’s hard to see them anywhere without feeling the nostalgic buzz of the packed local gigs I’ve been to with friends. The band brought with them to Cambridge a remedy for a homesickness I hadn’t realised I was feeling. Going out and seeing familiar music was a welcome return to the sounds I associate with home life, and made it apparent that local indie bands, and tribute acts, shouldn’t go under students’ radars. These gigs are themselves a tribute to the local venues that host them and the communities that rush out to see and support them.

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