If you can’t get Morrissey and Johnny Marr to participate in your Smiths reunion, maybe a whole orchestra will make a decent substitute. Maybe that’s the thinking behind an ambitious new venture that features a few members of the titanically important Manchester band. Over the weekend, Smiths drummer Mike Joyce teased some sort of collaboration with bassist Andy Rourke and second guitarist Craig Gannon. And as it turns out, that collaboration will be a series of orchestral versions of old Smiths songs.

The Manchester Evening News reports that the three former Smiths will team up with the Manchester Camerata Orchestra, a series of three big UK concerts that will give an orchestral makeover to the Smiths’ songbook. The Manchester Camerata Orchestra had success in recent years with its Hacienda Classical series, interpolating old rave hits to big crowds, so this seems like a logical next step. Three concerts have already been announced, with a full UK tour to follow.

Everyone involved promises an “epic production,” and it will include, at the very least, the following Smiths songs: “Hand In Glove,” “How Soon Is Now?,” “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out,” “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side,” “A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours,” “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want,” “Oscillate Wildy,” “Shoplifters Of The World Unite,” “Girlfriend In A Coma,” and “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me.” There will be guest singers, but none have yet been announced.

TOUR DATES:
6/28 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
6/29 – London, UK @ Brixton Academy
7/02 – Edinburgh, UK @ Usher Hall