Posted by: detourmag on February 6, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Say what you will about Daniel Johnston – freak, tortured artist, genius, or all of the above – but when the cult folk-hero took the stage in Detroit’s at-capacity Magic Stick, the man came off more like your kooky grandfather singing some songs at a family reunion than a musical legend. Paunchy and graying, blackened eyebrows fluffed to infinity, and smiling in the most endearing way, Johnston’s mental state may be erratic at best, but he’s got the ability to story-tell like no other. Tonight, the crowd sat by the fire and ate up every bit. As Johnston started into fave “Speeding Motorcycle”, the audience - half comic-convention-freak-show, half Arcade-Fire-Fan-Club meeting - clamored to the front to catch a glimpse, just to see if he was real. Throughout his brilliant performance, he proved he was, shaking and warbling his way through classic songs of genuine heartbreak (with and without a fully assembled band, no less). At one point, things even got a bit transcendental, and the reasons for such a huge crowd no longer mattered – whether they were Nirvana obsessives looking for a “Hi. How Are You?” t-shirt; curious film-buffs into the 2005 documentary “The Devil and Daniel Johnston”; or full-fledged Johnston look-alikes who teeter on his every word. What mattered most was the way Johnston gently held each and every one of them in the palms of his jittering hands, softly telling them, “True love will find you in the end.” And in the end, love found them all, courtesy of Johnston’s big, bleeding heart. – Ryan Allen
Comments
No Responses to “Daniel Johnston @ The Magic Stick (2/5/08)”
SHWFLYR
Recent Posts
- What’s On My Mind: The Detour Status Update
- Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy
- Reviews of Golden Silvers, The High Strung, Immaculate Machine, The Sweptaways + More
- Dave Bing Won’t Be The OSHA Man Of The Year, Things Are Different In West Michigan, And Lots Of Newspaper Fun
- Russian Circles @ The Magic Stick [4.24.09]
- Never Let The Jocks Count The Money, Don Williamson Doesn’t Trust The Mails, And Martha Reeves Is A Big Mess O’ FAIL! Tulips Also
- Homemade Not Porn: Detour Talks to Matt Cassatta of These People Comedy
- Felons Love A Fierce Man Purse, There’s No Reason To Poll World Of Warcraft Because Mages Don’t Vote, And Faith Healers Keep Thinning Out The Herd
- Mmmmmmmm….A Statue-Sized Fistful Of Little Roquefort Cheese Morsels Rolled In Crushed Nuts
- Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head (Rebuild! Restore! Watch Silly Vintage Video!)
- The Weekend In Rawk: Russian Circles, Computer Perfection, French Kicks, + More
- Face Punches, Bitch Fights, Skid Row’s Yo Yo Ma, Heavy Metal Canadians + Jews On Film
- Peter Karmanos Talks Wacky, Highland Park Tries To Hide The Evidence, And Matt Stafford Will Be The Next Chuck Long
- The Night In Rawk: Pewter Cub, Black Lodge, The Sugar People, + More
- Rock Lottery Recap
- Detroit Misplaced All Of Its Parking Money, State Parks Look Like Meth-Addled West Virginia Trailer Park, And There’s A Rick DeVos Now
- The Night In Rawk: Rock Lottery, Life and Times, + More
- The Night In Rawk: Parkway Drive, Stick To Your Guns, The Madison Opera + More
- Reviews of Art Brut, Cryptacize, Firs & Spruces, Japandroids + More
- Pulitzer Committee Joins Adolph Mongo’s Imaginary Lynch Mob, A Plot Against The People’s Incinerator, And The Best Toys Were Always Dangerous
- Linking back, 8 May 2009 « archizoo on Mmmmmmmm….A Statue-Sized Fistful Of Little Roquefort Cheese Morsels Rolled In Crushed Nuts Hey kids, Check out http://www.dyspathy.com to get a preview of the new site's look and feel. Let me know what you ...
- Woodwards Friend on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy Shit! Now I have to change my favorites AGAIN! Serously, I can't wait for your new site and I ...
- Julie on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy Oh for kwame's sake why didn't you just sell the place instead of padlocking the doors. Are you taking ...
- cj on What’s On My Mind: The Detour Status Update Congrats and good luck. Now, let's work on getting Woodman to open for X. Cheers!
- Woodman on What’s On My Mind: The Detour Status Update damn you and your restless ass. come back soon.
- david on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy Supergay pitcher & catcher jokes make Mt Clemens smile. I'll just buy the shots, how's that? You just have to ...
- August on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy Hey. I'm sorry. I think it's my fault. See, I found Detroitist (and tried to make everybody I know read ...
- AmyinMotown on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy Cesarean in the sense that it's happening on the fly and done in order to save this baby. There's a ...
- Woodwards Friend on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy "...about the cesarean birth of Dyspathy" Do you feel like you're being untimely ripped from Detour-mag's womb?
- Norm on Detroitist >> Detour >> Dyspathy
One of the most beautiful shows I’ve seen in a along time.
- in a long time - that is