For many the name Daniel Johnston has been synonymous with the Kurt Cobain “Hi, How Are You” t-shirt that the grunge icon sported in the 90’s, a vaguely referenced enigmatic songwriter on the fringes of the public’s consciousness due to mental illness and long term incarceration in various mental institutions, but since the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston which won much international acclaim, it now conjures up the image of a fragile, troubled soul who has overcome adversity with an unwavering belief and credence in his art and music.
This resolute belief in his art and music wasn’t always reciprocated, but through sheer determination he got his music circulated to prominent musicians who recognised his talents and vision, his songs have been covered by an illustrious role call of artist and prominent musicians, so that his songs have transcended his cult following. Due to recent improvements in his health and massive increase in exposure, he has been able to play to bigger audiences, in tune with his idiosyncratic bitter sweet and at times harrowingly beautiful, candid pop songs that narrate the story of his life in a incomparable fashion.
Backed by such fellow luminaries as Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, Jad Fair of Half Japanese (both of whom he has collaborated with in the past), Scout Niblett, James McNew of Yo La Tengo and Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub, the stage was certainly set for something special.
Glasgow’s beautifully lit, Old Fruitmarket with its high arching ceiling and old fashioned decor set the scene nicely. Jad Fair backed by James McNew and Norman Blake opened proceedings with his slightly disjointed and odd pop songs with no discernible time signatures or tuning which certainly kept the audience on their toes.
Next came Scout Niblett, silencing the audience with her piercing vocals (you could literally hear a pin drop); her raw, sparse minimal take on the blues, occasionally verging into grunge, as sparse as the compositions may be they were certainly no less captivating for it.
The ever amiable Norman Blake then took to stage in jovial mood (absent was the full folky beard he sported during his performance at Tigerfest); he was aided by James McNew on bass and backing vocals, it was all rather haphazard and spontaneous (in a good way) with a few stop starts and an impromptu keyboard solo in the middle of ‘Neil Jung’ which Norman declared to be “a bit rubbish”. Blake even interrupted a song to acknowledge someone carrying drinks walking in front of the stage. Norman brought both luscious harmonies and an air of happy-go-luckiness to proceedings which all added to his charm.
Mark Linkous followed, trying to provoke more of a reaction from the crowd for ‘The Hometown Boy’ which the crowd duly obliged as Norman snuck off stage rather than bask in his own glory.
The dark and brooding figure that is Mark Linkous brought his minimalist melancholia to the fore, later joined by Daniel Johnston on backing vocals for ‘Most Beautiful Widow’ giving the audience there first glimpse of the man and vocalising their support.
Daniel took to stage for a brief solo set, opening with the bittersweet and ironic song ‘Mean Girls Give Pleasure’, ably accompanying himself on a strange scaled-down guitar with no headstock, considering his often nervous disposition he seemed comfortable flying solo, with the aid of his song lyrics in front of him for safe measure.
After a brief intermission, the main event was upon us, the stage awash with talented musicians and an array of weird and wonderful instruments, including a tiny organ which looked like typewriter. Although all talented musicians and songwriters in their own right, no egos were pervading or vying for attention; it was certainly Daniel’s show. Playing a career-spanning set including teasing and puzzling the audience in equal measures with his introduction of ‘Speeding Motorcycle’, asking what song they all want to hear, in typical candid fashion he introduced his next song by relating a nightmare where he was sentenced to death for trying to commit suicide, ‘Casper’ is ostensibly a simple tale about the cartoon character but with some dark undertones about the nature of Casper’s death.
It’s not all doom and gloom however, Daniel teased us again with a joke which he had planned on telling, but was since banned by his father from ever telling again, it also supposedly made the local paper – although he never divulged the nature of the joke leaving the crowd perplexed and inquisitive. Daniel was in fine form throughout, gelling well with his backing band; in particular Scout Niblett’s backing vocals augmenting Daniel’s plaintive tales. He again relates the background of a deeply personal and heart-wrenching song ‘Story of an Artist’, where he overhears his mother telling a neighbour that he’ll never be successful with his music, he then overhears a melody in an advert and incorporates it into the song, proving to be one his most poignant autobiographical tales, and an example of channelling the negative into a positive.
From the quiet and contemplative to full-on rock with ‘Rock this Town’ with the band getting to crack it up full tilt and later on the dynamic ‘rock’ n ’roll’ when Daniel sang “oh that rock’ n ’roll…it saved my soul” you know it was no hollow platitude.
As an encore we got one of his most fragile, insightful and beautiful songs in ‘True Love Will Find You in the End’, and considering most of his tales are punctuated by unrequited love and loss, it’s nice to hear his belief in true love hasn’t turned into cynicism. Given Daniel’s well documented and dangerous preoccupation with the Devil, it was probably apt that he finished the night with ‘Devil Town’ leading the crowd through an a cappella rendition that proved to be a hearty sing along and uplifting experience for all involved, marked by a standing ovation and rapturous applause. In the past this may have prompted a more fragile and nervous Daniel to head for the nearest escape route, but on this night among friends, a genuine warmth resonates through the venue reflected in his smile as he left the stage.