Last night, Apryl and I caught a performance from the legendary “troubled artist” Daniel Johnston at the Lakeshore Theatre. The venue was small with an under 400-seat theater, which made it the perfect setting for an up close and personal show. Daniel came onto the stage alone with acoustic guitar in hand and immediately went into “Funeral Home”. After a short set of about 4 or 5 songs, Daniel put down his guitar and before walking off stage, told the audience not to go anywhere because he had a band.
Sharks and Seals, the band who opened up the show, came onto the stage soon followed by Daniel, who performed the rest of the evening without guitar. Not that there was any reason for Daniel to pluck on the strings since Shark and Seals is a six-member band complete with organ, cello, and violin. With the full band, Daniel’s songs really shined, each one revealing themselves to be pop classics on the same level as the songs of Brian Wilson or The Beatles. Some of the songs that I recall him playing with the full band include “Rock This Town,” “Life In Vain,” “Mountain Top,” “True Love Will Find You In the End,” “Fish,” “Love Not Dead,” and “Rock `N’ Roll”. As an encore, Daniel performed “Devil Town” a cappella with the faithful audience singing back up. Easily, the best and most memorable show that I’ve seen all year long. Heck, I would even say that it ranks as one of the all-time best shows I have ever experienced.
If you haven’t seen the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, I highly recommend you add it to your next Netflix list.