Showing at The Alban Arena…Forty years ago, The Smiths released The Queen Is Dead, an album that would come to define a generation. A ferocious blend of jangling guitars, mordant wit, and lyrical vulnerability, the 1986 record became a cultural touchstone — not just for disaffected youth of the Thatcher era, but for anyone who ever felt out of step with the world.
Now, in 2026, its legacy burns brighter than ever. To mark the album’s 40th anniversary, The Smyths, will play the album in full along with other Smiths classics and Morrissey solo favourites in a blistering 90 minute set, both at home and in their International shows. Formed in 2003, The Smyths have spent over two decades bringing The Smiths’ music to life for audiences across the globe. “We’re not just remembering The Queen Is Dead — we’re reminding the world why it endures.” It will be more than a concert.
It will be a fitting celebration of a band that changed lives, and an album that remains timeless. Four decades on, The Queen Is Dead still pulses with life, defiance, beauty, and sadness. And thanks to The Smyths, that light — and that spirit — refuses to go out.
*This is a standing event*
