Daniel Johnston and Friends, Nuemo’s April 17, 2008:
i got there in time to catch the last couple of songs by the first act, a nerdy looking asian guy who sat cross legged and hunching over a small acoustic guitar. he played finger style, a lot of jazz chords, songs about girls, talk-singing kind of whispery, lyrics like: ‘you are pretty, you’re using chopsticks wrong, i’d like to teach you how to use chopsticks.’ he’s worth checking out, if you can find out his name, i don’t remember.
then came the Dead Science. the front man gave me a very strong Leonardo DeCaprio vibe, haughty, tall and slender, 80’s new wave haircut. sadly, i could not make out a word of the lyrics. i don’t blame him for this. i have to believe it is the sound engineer’s responsibility. i have heard all the arguments, been in on a few of them myself. i know drums put out a lot of sound, and everything else has to adjust, and the vocal mic can only be so hot or it starts to feed back, yeah, i know. but i have heard singers who sing like normal people, like people sing in the car, singers who don’t have pipes like Aretha Franklin, and they had a full band behind them and the lyrics were audible. it can be done, but for some reason it is the exception in clubs. it is something about which i will bitch to anyone who will listen, and some who would rather not. at least we could hear the lyrics when Daniel Johnston was on, but first more about the Dead Science.
they were a good show overall, the drummer alone is worth the price of admission. he was set up at one end of the stage facing toward the rest of the band in an otherwise standard arrangement. i was near the front of the stage just a few feet away from him. god he’s good, i could just watch him play drums all night, damn! the bass player, who also played guitar on at least one song, was solid and very entertaining when he played his stand up bass and kept bouncing and waltzing it around on stage. there is something to be said for showmanship, they are a fun band to watch.
the crowd was overwhelmingly hipsterish, a lot of the ‘i am unkempt because i don’t care what other people think and yet somehow in my maverick individuality i managed to end up looking exactly like the other 500 maverick individuals here this evening’ crowd. aside from the air of painful self awareness that made me feel like i was back in a freshman mixer, the crowd seemed to be in a rather docile mood, neither happy nor unhappy, maybe hoping for the best, but not feeling overly optimistic, optimism is hopelessly uncool after all, or maybe i’m just projecting.
then out stepped the man. he must have been, or be, subjected to some dreadful meds. his tongue pushes continuously against his lower lip and the inside of his cheeks in a motion that reminded me a fish’s gills. he also has a palsy in at least one hand, i think his left, and maybe the other as well. i saw Brian Wilson play the paramount a year ago or so, and i lined up with some others to get his autograph after the show. he was led out to the lobby looking like he had no idea where he was. they sat him down and he signed a few autographs. when i spoke with him he never looked at me, and i don’t know how aware he was of my presence. the show had been fantastic, played by a large and talented group of musicians while he sat up front behind a keyboard with a computer monitor and sang the baritone Mike Love parts to many of the songs. some other guy handled all the falsetto stuff mr. Wilson originally sang. by comparison Daniel Johnston was fairly lucid, even though he did say we were in Portland, and later could not remember the name of the band backing him. the Leonardo DeCaprio guy tactfully leaned into his ear and whispered the name to him. ‘thanks again to the Dead Science,” he finally managed.
he started the show playing a couple of solo numbers on guitar. his hand was shaking so bad, and the guitar was slightly out of tune, it was a bit much for even his childlike, amateurish style to well contain. then he brought out a guitarist and started just singing songs from his catalog. he gripped the mic tightly in his trembling fist, closed his eyes and sang his heart out, god bless him. though he stayed right on the mic, i think his palsy lent the vocals a slight tremolo effect.
then, as i already mentioned, the Dead Science came out to back him. they did a nice job, very tasteful. they did Speeding Motorcycle. it was the closest the crowd came to rocking all night, a spirited version. one woman asked him if she could take a picture for her teenage son who couldn’t make the 21+ show. he said, “i’m standing right here, go ahead.” up to then i had seen him as a fairly pathetic figure, seemingly scared and disoriented, but when he addressed the woman he seemed quite at ease and confident. he thanked everyone for the good turnout. he did seem eager to wrap the evening up though. i understand he is famous for very short sets. given that, i guess the evening was a virtual marathon for him. he did over a dozen songs altogether i’d say, and came out with his guitar player for a two song encore. he finished by leading the crowd in an a capella rendition of Devil Town. then we filed out into the frigid drizzle of an april night, no demons exorcised.
Reviews
human cargo said on April 20, 2008:
Daniel Johnston and Friends, Nuemo’s April 17, 2008:
i got there in time to catch the last couple of songs by the first act, a nerdy looking asian guy who sat cross legged and hunching over a small acoustic guitar. he played finger style, a lot of jazz chords, songs about girls, talk-singing kind of whispery, lyrics like: ‘you are pretty, you’re using chopsticks wrong, i’d like to teach you how to use chopsticks.’ he’s worth checking out, if you can find out his name, i don’t remember.
then came the Dead Science. the front man gave me a very strong Leonardo DeCaprio vibe, haughty, tall and slender, 80’s new wave haircut. sadly, i could not make out a word of the lyrics. i don’t blame him for this. i have to believe it is the sound engineer’s responsibility. i have heard all the arguments, been in on a few of them myself. i know drums put out a lot of sound, and everything else has to adjust, and the vocal mic can only be so hot or it starts to feed back, yeah, i know. but i have heard singers who sing like normal people, like people sing in the car, singers who don’t have pipes like Aretha Franklin, and they had a full band behind them and the lyrics were audible. it can be done, but for some reason it is the exception in clubs. it is something about which i will bitch to anyone who will listen, and some who would rather not. at least we could hear the lyrics when Daniel Johnston was on, but first more about the Dead Science.
they were a good show overall, the drummer alone is worth the price of admission. he was set up at one end of the stage facing toward the rest of the band in an otherwise standard arrangement. i was near the front of the stage just a few feet away from him. god he’s good, i could just watch him play drums all night, damn! the bass player, who also played guitar on at least one song, was solid and very entertaining when he played his stand up bass and kept bouncing and waltzing it around on stage. there is something to be said for showmanship, they are a fun band to watch.
the crowd was overwhelmingly hipsterish, a lot of the ‘i am unkempt because i don’t care what other people think and yet somehow in my maverick individuality i managed to end up looking exactly like the other 500 maverick individuals here this evening’ crowd. aside from the air of painful self awareness that made me feel like i was back in a freshman mixer, the crowd seemed to be in a rather docile mood, neither happy nor unhappy, maybe hoping for the best, but not feeling overly optimistic, optimism is hopelessly uncool after all, or maybe i’m just projecting.
then out stepped the man. he must have been, or be, subjected to some dreadful meds. his tongue pushes continuously against his lower lip and the inside of his cheeks in a motion that reminded me a fish’s gills. he also has a palsy in at least one hand, i think his left, and maybe the other as well. i saw Brian Wilson play the paramount a year ago or so, and i lined up with some others to get his autograph after the show. he was led out to the lobby looking like he had no idea where he was. they sat him down and he signed a few autographs. when i spoke with him he never looked at me, and i don’t know how aware he was of my presence. the show had been fantastic, played by a large and talented group of musicians while he sat up front behind a keyboard with a computer monitor and sang the baritone Mike Love parts to many of the songs. some other guy handled all the falsetto stuff mr. Wilson originally sang. by comparison Daniel Johnston was fairly lucid, even though he did say we were in Portland, and later could not remember the name of the band backing him. the Leonardo DeCaprio guy tactfully leaned into his ear and whispered the name to him. ‘thanks again to the Dead Science,” he finally managed.
he started the show playing a couple of solo numbers on guitar. his hand was shaking so bad, and the guitar was slightly out of tune, it was a bit much for even his childlike, amateurish style to well contain. then he brought out a guitarist and started just singing songs from his catalog. he gripped the mic tightly in his trembling fist, closed his eyes and sang his heart out, god bless him. though he stayed right on the mic, i think his palsy lent the vocals a slight tremolo effect.
then, as i already mentioned, the Dead Science came out to back him. they did a nice job, very tasteful. they did Speeding Motorcycle. it was the closest the crowd came to rocking all night, a spirited version. one woman asked him if she could take a picture for her teenage son who couldn’t make the 21+ show. he said, “i’m standing right here, go ahead.” up to then i had seen him as a fairly pathetic figure, seemingly scared and disoriented, but when he addressed the woman he seemed quite at ease and confident. he thanked everyone for the good turnout. he did seem eager to wrap the evening up though. i understand he is famous for very short sets. given that, i guess the evening was a virtual marathon for him. he did over a dozen songs altogether i’d say, and came out with his guitar player for a two song encore. he finished by leading the crowd in an a capella rendition of Devil Town. then we filed out into the frigid drizzle of an april night, no demons exorcised.