Johnny Marr has heavily criticised and ridiculed the ‘Classically Smiths’ gigs that were previously planned.

Just one day after the proposed set of shows had been announced they were immediately shut down.

The concerts, that were set to debut this summer were cancelled in emphatic fashion and now Marr has said: “What a farce. That was so obviously about money.”

Original members Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce, plus the ‘fifth Smith’ Craig Gannon, had announced to partly reignite The Smiths and planned to reword the band’s back catalogue for a touring concert series: “I’m massively excited to be playing with Andy and Craig again, but introducing a full orchestra into the mix takes this to another level,” former drummer Joyce said at the time of announcing the shows before promising to bring the tracks to live venues “in a way they’ve never been heard before”.

However, in his damning assessment of the situation, Marr continued in his interview with Mojo: “The legacy was being plundered… I wasn’t consulted and that tells you all you need to know, I think.”

He added, “It felt like being burgled by someone you used to know. It’s a good job those guys weren’t running the band when we were actually together, else we would never have been able to get one concert together.”

At the time of the cancellation, Joel Perry of production company Bad Production Ltd. said in a statement: “In response to recent comments in the press, the planned Classically Smiths events will now, no longer be taking place.”

However, following much criticism, Rourke then distanced himself from the news and has called the announcement “false statements” before adding: “At no time did I give my consent for anyone in connection with this Classically Smiths project to act on my behalf or my name, and nothing was ever confirmed, approved or contracted by me or my team.”

Blimey, what a mess.