Some locals were surprised that legendarily quirky singer songwriter Daniel Johnston made a stop in Richmond on June 23 during his recent tour--and at the brand spanking new National Theater no less. You can check out my interview with him at Style Weekly.
For anyone who has yet to catch a show at the National, what are you waiting for? Oh right, a band you like. I'll admit the artist selection has been a little sketchy so far--but those of us who have been there a few times know that this is a great venue and Richmond is lucky to have it. (Great sound, good views from nearly everywhere courtesy of the graded hardwood floors, kicking A.C., and very few patron lines since bars are located everywhere, plus there's no smoking indoors, thank you. Even in the valley of the shadow of Philip Morris, venues are starting to catch on and realize that smoking sections outside are the way to go).
The show itself was short and like Johnston himself, evoked bipolar reactions. People either loved it for the emotionally honest tunes and Johnston's bizarre, whacked out on medications persona (sadly, his arm was constantly shaking from some condition). Others likely thought his voice was horrible, the show was way too short, and the whole idea of placing a mentally ill singer on stage was potentially exploitive.
By the numbers, Johnston's show featured only a brief set of acoustic numbers in the beginning, followed by another short electric set with Johnston backed by a competent group of young hipster rockers, The Hymns, from New York. Sadly, there was no house piano, so Johnston was unable to display his unique piano playing style--sort of a childlike version of Thelonious Monk banging away at fractured, ghost-like chords.
My girlfriend and I got to the show early in order to meet Johnston and his brother/manager, Dick, backstage. As soon as we walked upstairs, Dick told us they were worried about Dan's voice, which had gone ragged from several consecutive shows. Over sitting on a large sofa was Dan,his usual friendly, oddly charming self. He immediately greeted us by saying "Hey look Dick, its John and Yoko" then offering us both a cup of Mountain Dew (those who saw the award winning documentary "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" from 2006 will get the joke).
But what seemed to please Dan most were the boxes of comic books he had just bought from Richmond's Velocity Comics nearby. He had an old friend from Austin, who now lives in Richmond, take him there for some serious impulse buying. There must have been four boxes. I bet the guys at Velocity were stoked.
Having seen Johnston perform before in Long Beach, CA, I can safely say that his shows usually offer the same mix of poignant, near-tear-jerking moments, and totally off key caterwauling (the electric set). The best moments tonight were when Daniel sang alone for the opening set, chugging away on a small custom built acoustic guitar. One of the most memorable songs came near the end, when he sang a near perfect rendition of "True Love Will Find You in the End" from, in my opinion, one of his best albums: "1990." It's a beautifully sad, naive, innocent song that will pull at your heart strings, if you have any.
He closed out the night with an abbreviated sing-a-long to "Devil Town" which fit this city perfectly--what with its ghosts of slavery days past. Oh, and i almost forgot, the ghost of Orson Welles, who once performed on The National stage, could be seen hovering tonight too. He was a wacky fat guy of an altogether different stripe--but I bet even he would've enjoyed the music of Dan Johnston.
The show itself was short and like Johnston himself, evoked bipolar reactions. People either loved it for the emotionally honest tunes and Johnston's bizarre, whacked out on medications persona (sadly, his arm was constantly shaking from some condition). Others likely thought his voice was horrible, the show was way too short, and the whole idea of placing a mentally ill singer on stage was potentially exploitive.
By the numbers, Johnston's show featured only a brief set of acoustic numbers in the beginning, followed by another short electric set with Johnston backed by a competent group of young hipster rockers, The Hymns, from New York. Sadly, there was no house piano, so Johnston was unable to display his unique piano playing style--sort of a childlike version of Thelonious Monk banging away at fractured, ghost-like chords.
My girlfriend and I got to the show early in order to meet Johnston and his brother/manager, Dick, backstage. As soon as we walked upstairs, Dick told us they were worried about Dan's voice, which had gone ragged from several consecutive shows. Over sitting on a large sofa was Dan,his usual friendly, oddly charming self. He immediately greeted us by saying "Hey look Dick, its John and Yoko" then offering us both a cup of Mountain Dew (those who saw the award winning documentary "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" from 2006 will get the joke).
But what seemed to please Dan most were the boxes of comic books he had just bought from Richmond's Velocity Comics nearby. He had an old friend from Austin, who now lives in Richmond, take him there for some serious impulse buying. There must have been four boxes. I bet the guys at Velocity were stoked.
Having seen Johnston perform before in Long Beach, CA, I can safely say that his shows usually offer the same mix of poignant, near-tear-jerking moments, and totally off key caterwauling (the electric set). The best moments tonight were when Daniel sang alone for the opening set, chugging away on a small custom built acoustic guitar. One of the most memorable songs came near the end, when he sang a near perfect rendition of "True Love Will Find You in the End" from, in my opinion, one of his best albums: "1990." It's a beautifully sad, naive, innocent song that will pull at your heart strings, if you have any.
He closed out the night with an abbreviated sing-a-long to "Devil Town" which fit this city perfectly--what with its ghosts of slavery days past. Oh, and i almost forgot, the ghost of Orson Welles, who once performed on The National stage, could be seen hovering tonight too. He was a wacky fat guy of an altogether different stripe--but I bet even he would've enjoyed the music of Dan Johnston.
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