Gig review: Daniel Johnston

Published on Thursday 5 November 2009 17:58

DANIEL JOHNSTON **** QUEEN'S HALL, EDINBURGH

"I HAD a dream," declared Daniel Johnston, "that this guy was sentenced to death for attempting to commit suicide. The guy was me!" That was the extent of the dream, and its retelling inspired warm chuckles in the audience. Right there, though, you have the dichotomy in Johnston's work: his songs are the work of a fantastical, child-like imagination which deals in simple, vivid imagery, but nearly every one is coloured by the most despairing moments of his debilitating bipolar disorder.

Those who have seen the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston will be aware what an unpredictable character the 48-year-old, California-based singer-songwriter can be, but there was very little evidence of that here. Alone with his guitar, he seemed measured but confident, although backed first by a solo guitarist and then by support band, The Wave Pictures, he did develop a twitch in his hands, at first gentle but then so pronounced he had to clasp his shivering mic stand for support.

And through it all, his voice got more and more excited. You felt that Johnston was enjoying this show more than anyone in the room, a show with few lows but absolutely radiant highs in the buoyant Speeding Motorcycle, our very special Christmas wish True Love Will Find You in the End and the night's single most heartbreakingly optimistic line, Silly Love's "you must be wrong if you think you don't love me". Life-affirming, in so many ways.