Post by katyr on Nov 7, 2009 9:42:05 GMT -1
Thought I'd bung up a quick review since I know he has a fair few fans on here.
Interesting gig last night at the Brudenell. Never seen the place so packed out.
Kicked off with a 3 piece student band, who were absolutely fucking terrible. Awful. That kind of... how to describe it... slightly ska sound with 'amusing' lyrics and put-on London accents and boring, boring, boring music. Highly irritating.
Laura Marling was incredible. She's sold the place out on her own a couple of times, but because she didn't announce she was supporting until the night had already sold out, very few people knew who she was. I'd thought she was an odd choice of support, but actually it wasn't at all. She has her own battles with depression, and that forms as big a part of her onstage persona really as it does Daniel Johnston's. She's the tiniest thing, you'd not have picked her out in the audience. Scraped back bleached hair, no make-up, very fragile looking. She looked as though she'd spent the entire day lying in bed crying, kind of a weary sad exhausted frailty to her face, and her voice. Completely mesmerising, there were a handful of us in the front row who couldn't take our eyes off her. Unfortunately beyond that, everyone else talked over her entire set, and she was SO quiet, some of her songs barely whispers and then wow, the soaring vocals in places. But it was annoying people were so disrespectful. But they missed out, one of the most intense performances I've ever seen, and the girl is all of what, 19? Brilliant.
Daniel Johnston came on with an out of tune banjo and a book of lyrics on a stand. The first part of his set he did solo that way, and it was incredible. Really moving. He could not play the banjo for shit (Stephen, guitarist in my band, turned round to me and mouthed "He plays like you," wanker) but he has an intensity to his performance, and it's hard not to be touched by his sincerity, his love for what he does, and his incredible courage. There was a girl standing just in front of us who literally sobbed the entire way through the first few songs. Pretty intense.
After a short break he came back out, and my heart instantly sank to see he'd brought out the three student fucks who'd played first. They backed him for the rest of his set, and although they were much less annoying when they weren't singing, they looked so smug to be up there (entirely undeservedly) with Daniel Johnston that I couldn't look at them. And (for me anyway) it all went a bit downhill from then on. He played very few of his own songs, must have done at least 4 or 5 Beatles songs. I have absolutely no patience for people covering Beatles songs, having spent years playing folk nights and suchlike, I don't care who the fuck they are. So my attention started to drift. It was Daniel Johnston, yeah, fucking amazing to see him in the flesh for sure, but flick the switch in the brain and you're basically watching a mentally ill old man reading Beatles lyrics from a book and shouting them over the top of a shit student band. Ya know? Sacrilegious as that might sound.
Thinking there'd be no encore, I wandered outside for some air, JUST as he played 'True love will find you in the end' apparently... I fucking missed it. That got me told then.
I'd sort of expected there'd be a fair few people there to laugh and gawp at him, a few more voyeurs, but it wasn't like that at all. There seemed to be a huge amount of respect for the man, which was cool. I mean, the man is a complete legend. Really. Not everyone gets how brilliant he is, and I can understand that, but the influence he's had in music can't be denied.
Interesting gig last night at the Brudenell. Never seen the place so packed out.
Kicked off with a 3 piece student band, who were absolutely fucking terrible. Awful. That kind of... how to describe it... slightly ska sound with 'amusing' lyrics and put-on London accents and boring, boring, boring music. Highly irritating.
Laura Marling was incredible. She's sold the place out on her own a couple of times, but because she didn't announce she was supporting until the night had already sold out, very few people knew who she was. I'd thought she was an odd choice of support, but actually it wasn't at all. She has her own battles with depression, and that forms as big a part of her onstage persona really as it does Daniel Johnston's. She's the tiniest thing, you'd not have picked her out in the audience. Scraped back bleached hair, no make-up, very fragile looking. She looked as though she'd spent the entire day lying in bed crying, kind of a weary sad exhausted frailty to her face, and her voice. Completely mesmerising, there were a handful of us in the front row who couldn't take our eyes off her. Unfortunately beyond that, everyone else talked over her entire set, and she was SO quiet, some of her songs barely whispers and then wow, the soaring vocals in places. But it was annoying people were so disrespectful. But they missed out, one of the most intense performances I've ever seen, and the girl is all of what, 19? Brilliant.
Daniel Johnston came on with an out of tune banjo and a book of lyrics on a stand. The first part of his set he did solo that way, and it was incredible. Really moving. He could not play the banjo for shit (Stephen, guitarist in my band, turned round to me and mouthed "He plays like you," wanker) but he has an intensity to his performance, and it's hard not to be touched by his sincerity, his love for what he does, and his incredible courage. There was a girl standing just in front of us who literally sobbed the entire way through the first few songs. Pretty intense.
After a short break he came back out, and my heart instantly sank to see he'd brought out the three student fucks who'd played first. They backed him for the rest of his set, and although they were much less annoying when they weren't singing, they looked so smug to be up there (entirely undeservedly) with Daniel Johnston that I couldn't look at them. And (for me anyway) it all went a bit downhill from then on. He played very few of his own songs, must have done at least 4 or 5 Beatles songs. I have absolutely no patience for people covering Beatles songs, having spent years playing folk nights and suchlike, I don't care who the fuck they are. So my attention started to drift. It was Daniel Johnston, yeah, fucking amazing to see him in the flesh for sure, but flick the switch in the brain and you're basically watching a mentally ill old man reading Beatles lyrics from a book and shouting them over the top of a shit student band. Ya know? Sacrilegious as that might sound.
Thinking there'd be no encore, I wandered outside for some air, JUST as he played 'True love will find you in the end' apparently... I fucking missed it. That got me told then.
I'd sort of expected there'd be a fair few people there to laugh and gawp at him, a few more voyeurs, but it wasn't like that at all. There seemed to be a huge amount of respect for the man, which was cool. I mean, the man is a complete legend. Really. Not everyone gets how brilliant he is, and I can understand that, but the influence he's had in music can't be denied.